Essential advertising tips you need to use

What happens when you notice your sales are not as strong as they used to be? Do you start cutting costs or do you focus on other ways to generate awareness for your company? While you may want to start cutting costs on things like your office supplies, the one place you need to avoid cost cutting is with your marketing and advertising budget. We all know the phrase, "you need to spend money to make money." This is extremely true when it comes to marketing and advertising. If you aren't getting information out there, people will not know your company exists and they won't be able to provide you with sales to keep your cash flow strong. Here are essential advertising tips you need to know in order to stay in business:

Tip # 1 - Market to your existing customers
One mistake you could be making is ignoring your existing customers. Are you marketing your products to them? If you aren't showing them that you need their support and that you appreciate their support over the years, you will lose them. Most businesses aren't doing enough to build relationships with their existing customers, leading to a number of problems. Your existing customers make up 80% of your existing cash flow, so you better start paying better attention to them and let the, know just how much you really do appreciate them. Send out thank-you mailers, email newsletters, and other things to your existing customers to let them know how much you really do appreciate them.

Tip # 2 - Educate
A great way to advertise without money is to start writing blogs and informative articles. Head to social media sites and start getting involved in the discussion boards. Your customers need to know you have a voice and that you have some great information to share. Start educating your customers in order to build a reputation for your company in the industry. Watch the newspaper and consider adding in some editorials once and awhile when there is a story closely related to your industry or business. Include your brand information in order to start building your reputation and generating awareness for your company.

Tip # 3 - Conferences and Events
To advertise to people that are interested in your company, attend conferences and events. This provides you with a great networking opportunity where you can reach out to your customers and learn more about them. You can also form relationships with some of your competitors and use this to your advantage. If you are fortune enough to land a speaking assignment at a conference, you need to become a great public speaker in order to generate the right type of audience and interest for your company.

Tip # 4 - Online trainings
To build a stronger image for your company, try offering online training courses and seminars. You'd be surprised to see how many people will pay for online training courses as it will help them do their jobs better and easier. Look for particular things you can offer with the training courses and make sure you are providing your customers with value. If you don't want to do an online training course, look into community colleges and other places where you can teach night or day courses related to your industry. This gives you a change to market your message to more people and to build a great reputation.

Tip # 5 - Contribute to your market
Don't just sit back and let competitors gain all the attention. Start contributing to your market. Use social media to help you get started with new advertising tools and try launching a new online campaign if your print marketing efforts aren't working.