Alexander Davies Associates

This is the quandary most businesses come across, be they large conglomerates or SMEs. Despite what most marketing, PR or advertising gurus will tell you, there is only one 100% effective form of advertising: 'Word of mouth' the good old recommendation from someone who has used your services in the past, which is not a great help if you are a start-up.

So what else is there to get your product or service noticed? PR, media advertising in its various forms, joining various business associations, all can work if you can afford to spend enough and/or have the time and personality to get your message over, either face-to-face or online. Just be practical and have a basic understanding of the market you are targeting. Who wants/needs your services/product? Is it better than anything else available in your catchment area? Is the price right? Once you have these basics under your belt you can start thinking about how you are going to get in front of the decision makers and let them know that they need you in their life.

The easiest and in many respects the cheapest form of advertising is PR. Depending on your market place, it can take the form of a circular to the local press, or to a b2b journal associated with your target audience. Of course it will need to have something of interest in it! A local garage owner has associated his self with a breast cancer charity and sponsored a fashion evening to help raise funds. He got his company's name and interviews on local TV, radio and in the local press. The evening was a great success, and subsequently he has had a 50% increase in enquiries from the female section of the population. Next come mail shots. Find out who the decision maker is it s often the secretary not the boss. People like the personal touch, follow up with a phone call and keep it light and don't be pushy, a friendly call makes more of a positive impression and at least it leaves it open for a follow up phone call a month or so down the line.

The most common form of advertising is in the local press. This can prove to be very hit and miss - you have to design your advert to get the maximum impact from the smallest of spaces, usually in mono with a printing process that acts like blotting paper and if there is colour it looks like someone has wiped the pavement outside the local curry house with it. Obviously this is a tongue in cheek generalisation of local papers, some are worse.

Monthly glossy county lifestyle magazines have become popular throughout the country over the last couple of years, either as FOC's from your local supermarket or paid for from newsagents. With circulation figures bandied about from 5k up to 50k, some actually work; they do tend to hang around gathering dust in allsorts of odd places. Never take the rate card figure as gospel; there is always room for manoeuvre. That salesperson has a target to meet, so negotiate.

B2B publications are much more targeted and actually might be seen by the person you are trying to impress and because of this tend to be more expensive – but worth it!

Directories, Yellow pages, Thompson, Yell. com, Google etc. Help, where to start... then there is the minefield of local radio, TV and websites. If you're a plumber or electrician then listings are necessary, but for the rest of us it is the place for copier sales trainees to get our number from. If you are selling goods then a website can be a great asset, and they make nice window dressing if done well, but often they are there just because somebody thought that it would good idea to have one because they can.This is where advertising agencies come in; our job is to try and make your money go that bit further and guide you in the right direction. Apart from design production costs we earn our keep from the media where we place your advertising. This commission is usually 10% and deducted from the invoices sent to us by the media.

For this we fight your corner, getting the best position on the best page, usually at a lower rate than if you went direct, then afterwards we sort out the problems when the advert has been put in upside down, or on the sex line pageSit happens!

Alexander-Davis Associates are based south of Cambridge been in business since 1982. We have worked with some of the country's leading companies and organisations including the world's largest animal heath business and the odd Stately home. Most of our current clients have been with A-D for over 10 years and two have been with us since the agency's conception.

Why am I still in advertising and design after 30 years? Because I love it. It's certainly not the money, only the top 10% of the industry makes decent money, the rest of us monkeys do it for love and the government – well it seems that way at times. There's nothing better than seeing a well designed advert you have done in print or getting praised by a client because you have turned a visual from the back of a fag packet into a leaflet that does the business.

Alexander-Davis Associates provides a start-up package for new businesses from £350.00 for a basic pack of logo and stationary design, upwards to £600.00, which includes producing electronic artwork for a 6-page DL leaflet. Photography, illustrations, copywriting, and print not included but can be quoted for. But the sky's the limit

T – 0870 777 6370
F – 0870 777 6368
E – mail@alexander-davies.co.uk
W – www.alexander-davies.co.uk