By Doug Smith

Last week, on my way home from work, my wife called me and wanted me to run by the store to pick up toothpaste and bread.  (Yeah, I thought it was a weird combination as well)I was amazed at how many different brands of toothpaste are on the market.  I stood there trying to digest all of the options until I finally grabbed a tube of Crest Mint Gel and headed towards the bread, where it wasn’t any better.  There were low calorie breads, breads with vitamins, breads with iron, breads for kids, wheat bread, whole grain bread, and…..well, you get the point.  I grabbed a loaf of Wonderbread and made my way to the register to check out.

With all of the options available, why did I choose Crest and Wonderbread?

I’m sure some of the other toothpaste options would do a good job and some other kind of bread would taste good, but when I was faced with too many choices I went with what I knew.  (I bet you can think of a situation where you did the same thing)

Think about your business.  I’m sure you have multiple competitors.  What are you doing to make sure you are the one chosen when a prospective customer is ready to buy?  Are you only targeting the prospective customers who are closest to purchase or are you making the effort to reach the larger pool of potential customers who are NOT yet in the market for your product/service?  Do you want your potential customers staring at five or six options and hoping they choose you, or do you want to be the one they think of first when they need your product or service?

If you are not consistently telling your prospective customers who you are and how they can benefit by doing business with you, you risk losing them to your competition.  By putting together a well thought out marketing strategy and sticking to it month after month, you increase your brand awareness and thus increase your odds of standing out from the competition, which will lead to increased sales.

Doug Smith is a Senior Account Executive for WREW Rewind 94.9 in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky.  Doug can help you with any radio advertising, event promotions, online coupons and other online marketing.  You can contact Doug at  (513) 535-9123 or dosmith@hubbardinteractive.com