by Kendall Blair

Created on: May 22, 2008   Last Updated: May 29, 2008

Marketing has a large effect on small business. Without marketing, many small businesses would go unnoticed. Therefore, small business marketing is a necessary medium. The problem lies between all of the many marketing choices. In small business, you are bombarded with sales calls, emails, and direct mail. All claiming that their form of marketing is best suited for your small business. Companies will suggest that if you use their services, your sales will skyrocket in a matter of days. Watch out for these types of predators. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

There are many effective ways to market a small business. It is up to you to decide which marketing tactics will draw in clientele. Each individual small business is trying to reach a different target market. When looking into marketing approaches, you must decide which approach is best suited for your target market. If you are trying to reach teenagers, then radio is probably the way to go, seeing as the teenage audience is probably not reading the local newspaper on a day to day basis.

Young adults are usually on the Internet. So, when you are marketing toward twenty-something's, your best bet would be Internet advertising. Baby boomer's still read the newspaper, however the newspaper industry is slowly dying, so if this is your target audience you may want to try more than one approach. Direct mail is a great way to reach the elderly. Another good choice for senior citizens is magazines or individual subscriptions such as AARP. Knowing your clientele well is the most effective tool to marketing your small business effectively.

Each type of marketing has its pros and cons. Once you have decided to market to your audience through direct mail, you must ask yourself, where and when is the best time to use my advertising budget? Direct mail is very specific. It is imperative to directly target your market. This can be challenging but, with the help of direct mail professionals, you can effectively reach your desired market. Make sure that you enlist the help of professionals. This is one task that you should not try to take on, on your own.

Using the radio as your advertising source brings up barriers. When is the best time to reach your target market? When marketing to teens, you must research the time of day that they will be listening to the radio. This will probably be in the car, on their way to and from school. That said, each local market area is unique. Use different sources to find

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