Getting the message across to your target market

Advertising. Sometimes I think of it like the sea. You move closer to the edge with the intention of testing the water for a little paddle, but then the tide starts to rise and, before you know it, you are up to your neck in proposals, meetings and people you have never met from organisations you have never heard of all claiming that they have the readership that are waiting to become your new clients.

There's newspapers, business publications, leisure magazines, radio, television, billboards, bus stops, public transport, the back of car park tickets, theatre programmes, medical appointment cards etc. - and that's before the lines start to blur with advertorials, sponsorship opportunities, presence at events and support of charities. And let's not '¨forget online.

Parish magazines

I'll never forget when I first asked for an advertising proposal for a new service that was ready to be launched. Admittedly I did not give a budget - I wanted to see all the ideas and possibilities - but when I was presented with it, my jaw hit the floor. I know there are firms that can afford a six-figure investment in this sort of marketing activity, but I have never worked for one.

From parish magazines to national titles, it is safe to say, I could write a book on the amount of advertising opportunities I am presented with on a weekly basis, but for the purposes of this column, let's start with the traditional press display advertising.

One thing is clear, unless you have a substantial budget (we are talking a good few thousand pounds) this is not the marketing tool for you because successful advertising depends on repetition. If you were a retail outlet promoting a sale, a full-page advert in the local paper every day for a week should provide the short, sharp promotion that will cause a stir, but in professional services we need to have more longevity.

No one wakes up in the morning thinking "I think I will buy some time with my solicitor this morning", so we need the continual drip drip of reminding people we are there when they need us. In advertising terms, this can be very expensive ­- or lucrative, depending on which organisation you work for.

Informed choices

For me, the key to advertising is to clearly identify who you see using the service that you are promoting. How old are they? What do they do for a living? What is their income? If you are targeting a busy working mother in her early thirties

who lives in an urban area and

is at a period in her life when every penny counts, an advert in a high-end glossy country living magazine with a £5 '¨coverprice is unlikely to reach her. A retired lady who lives '¨in the heart of a village, however, may well have such '¨a magazine on her coffee table, so what services would she

be interested in? I would suggest wills and probate, property, family and maybe dispute resolution?

So, for me, in order to avoid being overwhelmed and seduced by all the press advertising opportunities just waiting for your money, keep focused on who it is you want '¨to be getting the attention of and work back from there, getting all the evidence and information to support '¨your choices. SJ