Black Belt Business Skills Test for Martial Art Advertising

Developing posters & advertising for Martial Arts.

THE SELF ASSESSMENT TEST IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

Paul Griffin@ 22^nd Jan 2008-01-22

A fantastic poster but it only generates a couple of enquiries!

I have sat at my computer many times and created a poster with excellent pictures, highlighting what we do, how we do it and contact details etc. When I have got the poster so I think its brilliant I then spend hours going round to shops and paying to have it displayed in their window. I’ve even watched passers by look at the poster but not many people actually respond to it. Having invested time and money and wanting to increase numbers fast I do get so irritated when it all goes to waste.

Making your analysis try watching TV and look at the adverts and notice the difference in technique. Sometimes you don’t know what they are advertising until the end of the advert, others use humour etc. How many adverts do you see that are droll and mundane? Not many if any. The other issue to note is look at how the adverts change depending on the time of day and target audience. The one thing they all have in common is that they all make you THINK about their product or service.

Effective advertising is about understanding people and what makes them respond to your advert to create an enquiry. Over the next few paragraphs I will reveal some ways that will improve your posters and advertising. Initially we have to break our own mind set so we are not blinded by what we like ourselves, we are martial artists and know what we are looking at, the people who will make the enquiries probably will not.

Adverts are used to create enquires most people will phone and will not just turn up. With this in mind here are some tips you should know when you design your advert:

The advert or poster is directed at the person who makes the decision.
People are lazy so if you can’t read it in 10 seconds it won’t get read.
Use a strap line to excite and make the reader THINK.
Don’t put too much information on the poster keep it short.
Don’t use images of sparring it could be interpreted as fighting.

Your market is the whole of your local community which covers all your local population. The problem is it is very difficult to create an “effective” single advertisement that will appeal to everyone and it is better to break the advertising down and aim at certain target audiences within your community to increase the amount of enquiries from your adverts.

To help you identify with target audiences and who the “usual” decision makers are is important as the adverts have to be aimed at them. I have devised the following list to help:

Children 5 to 11yrs Decision Maker “Mother”
Children 12 years up Decision Maker “Themselves”
Young Women Decision Maker “Themselves”
Young Men Decision Maker “Themselves”
Male Senior Citizens Decision Maker “Themselves”
Female Senior Citizens Decision Maker “Themselves”
Middle Age Men Decision Maker “Themselves”
Middle Age Women Decision Maker “Themselves”

Each group on the list have a different range of issues that will effect whether the decision maker will enquire or not. To get you on the right wavelength we need to consider the following:

· Mothers will want to protect and keep their children safe

· Mothers could be put off if they see a sparring photo as it may seem like fighting.

· Mothers can be made to feel secure with the right comments like “qualified tuition”

· Senior Citizens can be put of by a photo of a high kick or sparring

· Young people are inspired and attracted by fit bodies and attractive people

· All advertising needs to be changed as people get used to it and ignore it this is called “ad-blind”. Changing adverts prevents people becoming “ad-blind”

Other seasonal effects and other target audiences are also worth considering. At Christmas many tend to over eat so January advertising may focus on losing weight, Summer may focus on toning up for your vacation etc.

The strap line is the main feature on your advert; its purpose is to make the reader think and create an enquiry. It needs to hit the point home in as fewer words as possible and get them to read the rest of the advert including the phone number.

Having got the attention of the reader with the strap line and image, the rest of the advert has to be relevant and reinforce what the benefits are i.e. Free lesson, self defence, get their black belt. The poster needs to focus on simple benefits for the reader, do not tell them about you or your club. Your advert provides a selection of compelling reasons to inspire the reader to pick up that phone and call you ASAP.

BBI Self Assessment Ad-Test

The idea of the feature and self assessment test is to help educate instructors and get them thinking on the right business wavelength to help them create more success.

Name: *
E-mail Address: *
How often should you change your advertising? *
Who is the usual decision maker for young children? *
What is the function of a strap line? *
In addition to the strap line what details need to be on the advert? *
In addition to a photo and strapline what other details should be on your poster? *
What works best on adverts & posters? *
In a newspaper where would you place your advert for Mothers to see? *
When placing you poster where would be the best place for senior citizens to see? *
What do you think is the best strap line? *
What is the function or purpose of a advert? *


* Required