Advertising: the basics

Here's how I increased my sales through advertising

Michael Welch started his business, Black Circles, in November 2001. The company, based in Scotland, links more than 700 independent tyre fitters across the UK. When contacted through its call centre or website, it locates the customer's nearest and cheapest tyre fitter. Here, Michael explains why advertising is so important to his business.

What I did

Find the right media

"We needed to start advertising from day one to attract customers. I started by looking for places to advertise which I thought would reach our target market, such as car magazines like Revs and Max Power. The readers of these types of magazines are a captive market - as fast-car enthusiasts and owners, they need to buy tyres regularly.

"I got the circulation figures and the demographics of the people that were reading these magazines. This included information such as their salary, age and the type of car they drove. I then broke our potential customers down into similar categories and decided which magazines would target them best. With advertising, your approach should always be targeted, never random."

Make the most of the budget

"At the moment we spend around £25,000 to £30,000 a month on advertising and our turnover is £3 million. We manage to convert about 70 per cent of our advertising spend into sales.

"After a few months of a particular campaign we analyse how it is working and then either pull it or continue to do more. Our sales team always ask each new customer how they heard of us so we can tell which advertisements work.

"When they start out, many businesses don't think they can compete with larger firms when it comes to advertising, but they can. As long as you're clear about the message you want to get across and know which media is right to reach your target market, a small business' advertising can be as successful as anyone else's."

Write a good advertisement

"We use an advertising agency but I oversee all of the work they do. In the early days I thought that they were the professionals and they would know best but ultimately you need to have control of the advertising messages and your brand image. In the beginning our unique selling point was that we were cheap but we wouldn't sell at those prices now. Our unique selling points now are excellent customer service and value and all our marketing is designed to reflect this.

"Our strapline is 'Think tyres, think Black Circles' and all of our advertisements are black and white. We try to keep it simple because in general the industry is synonymous with being a bit of a rip-off. We did have some campaigns that weren't as successful in the beginning because we didn't have much experience. Now we have the luxury of having the time, money and knowledge to be able to experiment and find out what works. The key is not to bet too much on one campaign but to build up slowly. I would definitely like to do some radio and TV advertising in the future because it will expose us to a much bigger market."

What I'd do differently

"Perhaps I would have extended the magazine advertising sooner and thought about brand development earlier. However, the cost of advertising means that what you would do in an ideal world isn't always possible in the beginning."

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