If you are a small business owner, chances are you think about advertising.  A LOT.  Not just about how to get the biggest bang for your buck, but also what kind of advertising messages are most effective.

There are two basic styles of advertising – Transactional and Relational.

In this post, let’s take a look these styles and what each offers.

TRANSACTIONAL ADVERTISING

Advertising used to promote a sale, event, or price point items.

Look at this TV example from Moon Nurseries:

Advantages:

• Creates a sense of urgency – “limited time offer”
• Allows for promotion of surplus inventory and discount pricing
• Gets traffic through the door of your business

Risks:

• Rise in sales will be short-term
• Done too often, customers get used to it and will just “wait for the next sale”
• No long-term branding effect – if your competitor offers lower prices, you will have a mass exodus of customers

RELATIONAL ADVERTISING:

Advertising used to promote your brand and make customers feel good about your business.

Look at this example from Tim Horton’s Coffee:

Advantages:

• Long-term investment in brand building  = substantial impact in customers’ minds
• Allows a customer to imagine herself interacting with your business
• Creates deeper connection with customer, for longer-term brand loyalty

Risks:

• Greater temptation to try and say everything in one ad, diluting the impact of the message
• Takes longer to build your audience – advertisers often “chicken out” early in the process

Start listening to radio and television ads more closely and try categorizing them into these two styles.  What works better, and why?  Which brands are doing a good job?  Do you have a preference of one style over another?

In the next post, we’ll look at how and when you should be using each type of advertising.  Used correctly, they can have a profound effect on your bottom line.