Leverage Advertising Dollars With the RADAR Project

Culpeper Star Exponent

Business Monday

January 14, 2013

Jim Charapich

Online marketing is a growing method of reaching an audience with your business message. When Facebook went public, one of the largest opportunities for them was to grow online advertising. Now I see sponsored ads in the middle of the news feed. I cannot easily distinguish them from other facebook posts but I do look at them actively and passively.

A press release by Chantilly-based research firm BIA Kelsey stated, “Retail Ad Spending in Local Markets to Exceed $26.8B Nationwide in 2013”.  Online ad spending is projected to grow significantly in the coming years. This is certainly a result of the accessibility of online resources and shopping via mobile smart phones and tablets.

As business, the options for advertising are varied. Print, media, radio, and TV advertising all play a very important role in the marketing mix. However, online advertising can engage an audience in new and very powerful ways. Like it or not, our behaviors are being tracked online. As business we have opportunities to reach new and interested customers with almost surgical accuracy. In addition, the reach for clients is well beyond historic geographic limits.

The case for online advertising is compelling. So where to start if you are a small business? How can a small business compete in the online world of advertising? Where should a local business advertise to gain the best return on investment? Are there behavioral, geographic, income, and other criteria that one can use to target a new and evolving audience? How could a small business know if their ads are being read and acted upon?

There are many questions when adapting to the new world of online marketing. The Culpeper Chamber has been working on these issues for a few years and has introduced a new opportunity for businesses to work together to leverage online marketing. The program is called the RADAR Project and is aimed at bringing businesses together to pool their advertising dollars for online marketing. The first target of interest is Northern Virginia.

Our members have an opportunity to use the resources of local media members in the Chamber to develop a joint online marketing effort. One of the challenges of online marketing directed into a large metro area, is that to make an impact the budgeted dollars need to be above most small business budgets. By pooling the dollars and creating a way to bring attention to the ad partners, small businesses leverage pooled dollars for a greater return and greater visibility.

We often relegate regional advertising to government-run tourism efforts (which has its place). However, the benefits of businesses learning the new marketing tools to deliver their messages the way they want them delivered, can produce a more relevant return on their investment. This is especially true in an effort to reach outside of our rural area to attract more metropolitan customers. By pooling business resources, reaching into the larger markets in a real possibility. Contact the Culpeper Star Exponent or the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce for more information about the RADAR project.