“Advertising is the ability to sense, interpret … to put the very heart throbs of a business into type, paper and ink.”  Leo Burnett

Advertising, marketing, publicity, promoting, publicizing, social media, networking … Do you need it? Where do you start?

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as “an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”

The most important part of that definition is “delivering value.” The ability to pinpoint the value of a product or service for one’s customers is one of the most important places to start your marketing campaign for any type of business. Doing business based on value delivered gives companies the means to get an equitable return for their efforts. This means that if you figure out the value of your service or product to your customers, you will attract more customers, get them to actually buy, and keep them happy even after they buy so that they can tell their friends and even come back for more.

So why will a customer buy goods or services from you rather than your competition? Simply, your product or service must be beneficial to them. It must have benefits that will improve their lives. Features are the specific attributes of a product or service that distinguish it from the competition; benefits are the ways in which it improves a customer’s life or business. The key is to emphasize benefits rather than features. People want to know what’s in it for them and these are more powerful motivators to buy.

Next, the customers need to know you exist. If they do not know about you, then they cannot buy from you. Advertising (and other forms of marketing) puts and keeps your name in front of prospects. Advertising is critical for getting customers to know and remember you exist, besides adding credibility.

A very good place to advertise here in the Crescenta Valley is our Foothills Community Business Expo on Sept. 12. This is the biggest networking event held in this area. The Foothills Community Business Expo is held every year at the Verdugo Hills Hospital and over 65 vendors set up in the council rooms of the hospital to display and network with the other participants and the general public that attends at no charge.       There are only a few booths left and we usually sell out, so the quicker you get your booth application to us the better spot you will have at the expo. If your business does not get a booth, we still hope you will attend for free and support the businesses.

Hope to see you there!
Important CV Chamber Dates: Sept. 12 – Foothills Community Business Expo; Sept. 22 – Running the Foothills 5K; Oct. 10 – Business mixer at Bonners Party Supplies.       Please contact our office for more details on any event. How to reach us: (818) 248-4957/ crescentachamber@aol.com / www.LaCrescenta.org / 3131 Foothill Blvd., Ste. D.

  julia rabago