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Grab Your Share of
Untold Amounts of Advertising
Dollars
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by: Kathleen Gage
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Title: Grab Your
Share of Untold Amounts of Advertising
Dollars
Author: Kathleen Gage
Email: kathleen@turningpointpresents.com
Word Count: 851
Copyright: © 2004 by Kathleen Gage
Web Address: www.kathleengage.com
Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article
in your newsletter,
on your web site, or in your print publication
provided you include
the resource box at the end. Notification would be
appreciated but is
not required.
Grab Your Share of Untold Amounts of Advertising
Dollars
By Kathleen Gage
If you advertise in any way, the following
information could show you
how to find and utilize untold advertising dollars
you may not be
aware of.
In the mid 80’s I was an account executive for a
radio station
located in Santa Rosa, California. During that
time I became very
familiar with what is referred to as co-op
advertising.
Co-op advertising is a great source of advertising
dollars. And there
is so much of it available to people, yet most
people know very
little, if anything, about co-op dollars.
Interestingly, I was one of the only reps at the
station who made
sure my clients knew about this benefit. The
reason was simple, there
was more work involved in getting my clients set
up, and yet, there
was financial gain for both my client and myself
by taking time to
help them stretch their marketing dollars.
Co-opting is where you put in money for
advertising and the
manufacturer of a product you sell also puts in
money. Often it is as
much as 50% of the campaign. It is a great way to
stretch your
advertising campaign and to beef up your
campaign.
Unfortunately, even though the money is available
if conditions are
right, many people either aren’t aware of this or
if they are
they think it’s too much work to meet the criteria.
Granted, in some
cases it is, but often utilizing co-op money is a
great way to stretch your
marketing budget.
There are many co-op-advertising opportunities
available if you plan
to do advertising on the Internet. Not all are
good investments
though. Check opportunities out very carefully
before making a final
commitment.
Using co-op dollars is an excellent way to build a
stronger
relationship with your retail suppliers and to
generate a lot more
traffic in your store or on to your web site. If
the overflow of
business is handled correctly you will increase
your sales and
profits.
The great thing about using co-op dollars when you
are dealing with
standard media is that your account rep can handle
the paperwork for
you. Many retailers hesitate using the “hidden”
dollars due
to feeling intimidated by the paperwork, the
unknown.
Not only can the rep help you with the paperwork,
they can also help
you to build the campaign. However, before you
trust them completely,
find out what their experience is, what successful
campaigns they
have spearheaded and get some references. Take the
time to do some
research upfront to save money over the long
run.
The reality is, if they are professionals in the
truest sense of the
word, they will be more than willing to take much
of the paperwork
burden off of you by handling it. After all, the
more value an
account rep creates for their clients the greater
chance for an
ongoing business.
Co-op dollars are not limited to retail
businesses. Often, there are
hidden dollars for non-profits. There are city and
state funds that
are set aside to help various organizations
increase their visibility
and reach.
One nice thing about using co-op dollars from a
large manufacturer is
that brand names do attract customers to your
business—that's why
you offer them. Advertising specific well known
brands will increase your foot traffic. Harley
Davidson has an amazing co-op program they offer to
their retailers. It is a primary reason they have
done so well. They encourage advertising based on
specific guidelines.
It is to the advantage of an advertiser to utilize
these dollars.
Manufacturers in virtually every industry want to
help with
advertising costs. They are very aware that when
you correctly
advertise their brand name product you will
probably sell more of it,
thus increasing your orders.
The disadvantage of co-op advertising can be the
restrictions set by
the manufacturer. Often, they have such rigid
guidelines about how to
design the ad that you may lose all control of
creative expression.
For example, their logo may have to be positioned
in an exact
location in order for them to co-op the
campaign.
If you are working with someone who claims to be
an expert at
advertising and they know nothing about co-op
dollars they are not
the expert they claim to be. Be aware.
Areas that you need to be educated on are program
terms and
reimbursement schedules. In some cases it can take
months to receive
reimbursement for a co-op campaign. In other
cases, the company you
are cooping with will send the money directly to
the media source. Be
sure to check this information out in order not to
run into a cash
flow problem.
Advantages of co-op advertising
- Extra money to advertise
- Account executive can do the paperwork
- More frequency
Disadvantages of co-op advertising
- Restrictions by manufacturer
- No guarantee it will work
- Limited creativity in ad copy
Before making a final decision, research your
options on co-op
advertising. You may be pleasantly surprised with
what you discover.
About the author:
Kathleen Gage is a business advisor, keynote
speaker and trainer who
helps others gain marketing dominance and
visibility within their
market. Get Gage’s FR*EE report “Learn How One
Salt Lake City
Based Business Consultant Made Over 100k from One
Idea” by visiting
www.kathleengage.com
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