Bella Vista Business Association Directory

Bella Vista Business Association By Dave Woods NWA Democrat-Gazette I've spent the better part of my professional life working in the marketing and advertising industry. From my early days undercutting the kid down the block on the price of the lemonade at our neighborhood stands, to becoming Google certi ed in digital marketing and campaign management, it's been quite a ride. And, by the way… I sold more and won the neighborhood lemonade war thanks to help from my grandparents, and a church newsletter. I even spent several years managing marketing and advertising for my parent's pig racing business, Swi y Swing Racing and Swimming Pigs, a successful fair and carnival attraction that toured North America. Yea… I know, really? All true and I wish I still had the T-Shirt to prove it. Since my lemonade stand days, I've worked in radio, television, newspapers, magazines, digital, and for a successful advertising agency, where I managed digital accounts for a dozen clients including casinos, a drug store chain, colleges, attorneys and a couple banks. I've worked in marketing for chambers of commerce, convention and visitors bureaus, not-for-pro t organizations and private business owners. It's been a great time and valuable learning experience. Marketing your business and determining how to advertise it – and who to advertise it to - is important and a tough decision. Organizations, such as the Bella Vista Business Association (BVBA), can provide you with valuable resources. e members of this organization and those like it, have all been faced with advertising and marketing decisions. How much to spend? When to spend it? And, most importantly, how do you know if it's working and a wise use of your resources? Great minds can disagree on the answers to all of the above questions. I have dozens of friends in radio, television, cable, newspaper, magazine, outdoor and direct mail marketing. Truth be told… I've used them all. Is one more engaging that the other? I have my personal opinions. It all depends on who you are attempting to put your message in front of, and via what media are potential consumers most receptive to receiving it. When it comes to advertising and marketing, I'm all in. I've spent the last decade working with business owners to bring them the advertising solutions needed to grow their businesses. Every media channel has value and can bring customers to your business, your job is to determine which combination of those is the best t for you and will provide the greatest return and customer encouragement. e best bet is to come up with campaigns using a combination of media that reaches the potential customers you want. At one point it might be a daily or weekly newspaper and digital. Other times it may be magazine or a business to business (B2B) directory. Promoting an event may require a gorilla marketing campaign or social media to reach interested folks. Coordinating a good media mix is essential. Any good media consultant, no matter what media they are working for, should tell you to not put all of your eggs in one basket. A great media representative will work as a consultant and bring you solutions tailored to your needs and not simply "sell" you what they are "selling" that day. Here is what I know. You have to decide the best media mix for your business, products and services. Who do you want to reach and what is the best combination of channels that are going to provide you the best return on your investment. When it comes to advertising and marketing, just make sure you pick partners you trust and who have listened to you. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't think there are any "dumb questions." ere are not. It's your money, your investment and you deserve to understand the expectation for the campaign's success, and how to measure the return. It's not rocket science and don't be scared. Any riotous provider of advertising solutions will ask a lot of questions before they ever attempt to sell you something. ey will, a er they understand your speci c business needs, explain the features and bene ts of their proposed solutions and make you feel 100 percent comfortable with your decision. I hope the information found in this directory provides an opportunity to have a conversation with business associates, partners and friends about your marketing and advertising goals. Any questions about this directory ... give me a call. If you have questions about achieving your marketing and advertising goals, contact BVBA member Amber Dicken of e Weekly Vista and the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette at 479-263-4981 or email her at adicken@nwadg.com. Media mix in marketing, advertising a great plan I 4 – 2018 Bella Vista Business Association Directory

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