I was with a major supplier to the industry the other day and asked their marketing people what their biggest challenge is.  The answer: "being everywhere with a limited budget."

This marketing group gets it.

When I hear a marketing or sales group tell me, "We only do 'rifle shots,'" I know what that means: it means they perceive that their budget is very tight, so they are only going to go where there is business.

Good luck with that strategy.  For it will cost just as much, likely more, to know exactly where business is, as it would cost to do a broader based approach.  More than likely you will miss prospective business because you are not where all the prospects are.

Yes, we know we don't advertise pulp and paper machinery for sale in "Better Homes & Gardens" but beyond that broad filter, you really do not know where your customers might be.  So, the key is to be wherever they may be, within reasonable limits.

So, first things first, to get noticed you must be where your customers and prospects likely may be.  

The next challenge is what to say once you are there.  Advertising needs to be catchy and simple.  This is a problem when working with companies managed by engineers (and I ought to know since I am one).  They want to put everything about their product in a 162 x 162 pixel button advertisement.  It is far better to have three or four catchy words in large type than to try to tell your whole value proposition right off the bat.  Of course, it takes lots of work to distill your value proposition to just a few words--but it is worth it.  At Paperitalo Publications, we have many formats and locations to do this, all of which can work for you.

As you know by now, we are also believers in Internet radio.  This still gets some hesitant reactions when we bring it up, but it is worth looking at.  Consider this--if your company had a 30-second commercial on every radio program we will deliver in 2016, based on history and projections, by the end of the year, your message will have been listened to for 50,000 minutes or 833 hours.  This is the equivalent of giving a twenty minute presentation at a major conference to an audience of 2,500 people.  Ever seen 2,500 people attend a presentation?

Everywhere, all the time--to the limits of your budget.  And be there with a stand out, simple message.  Get them hooked and you will then have all the time you need to deliver your full message.

Jim Thompson is CEO of Paperitalo Publications.