While this media series has outlined the different media available to you, what’s happening the line between advertising and “not” advertising blurs is an explosion of opportunities for your messages. This section will give you .some ideas and “out of the box” thinking for your media decisions. And remember: not every idea here is for you! You have to select based on your objectives. If media is a means of contacting your customer, you have to think about the places where you can touch those customers and prospects, not just “how.”
Non-traditional places. You wouldn’t leave door hangers in a neighborhood where you’ve just designed a project. Nor would you, like the roofer doing a new roof, ask permission of the homeowner to put up a sign as they are doing the work. But “non-traditional” places means thinking about places where you wouldn’t expect – but relate to your work. For example, if you practice architecture, you may do a presentation at a local Rotary Club about your latest project, and the particular problems you solved with your design. You generally wouldn’t think about Rotary Clubs as a media, but it is!
Locations where your service is shown. For example, unlike an HVAC contractor, who can place a sticker on the water heater for the homeowner to call when they need service, a professional designer cannot put a sticker on the design of a kitchen. Or can they? When you finish designing a kitchen, for example, you can take a photo of your work, and then use your photo on your website, in an ad, in any of the media we have been discussing. So rather than using the location, you take the location to the media!
Locations where the service can be purchased. If you have a showroom, you can show your work on the wall. If you work with a showroom, you can prepare a tabletop display that shows your photo, with a little background about yourself, which can be placed in an appropriate place within the showroom.
Minimize non-prospect waste. Not everyone is your target. That is probably the biggest obstacle to thinking creatively you will encounter. When we ask clients who is the target for this message, they often say, “everyone!” Nothing is further from the truth. Based on your service, you should clearly define who is most likely to be your prospect (i.e., new home buyers might be more likely to require design services than people who have been in the home for a couple of years).