Before starting writing your advertising and promotion plan think of a message that you want to send to your targeted audience. After that, look at the promotion possibilities offered below and decide which to emphasize in your advertising and promotion plan.

Advertising. You should think of advertising in terms of media and which media will be the most effective in reaching your target market. This is the best approach to advertising. First, you have to decide how much of your annual advertising budget you are going to spend on each medium.

Decide what percentage of your annual advertising budget you will be able to invest in each of the following points:

·        The Internet;

·        Television;

·        Radio;

·        Magazines;

·        Telephone books/directories;

·        Billboards;

·        Bench/bus/subway ads;

·        Direct mail;

·        Cooperative advertising with wholesalers, retailers or other businesses.

It is not only the cost of your advertising that should be included into your advertising and promotion plan. You should also think of your projections about how much business the advertising will bring in.

Sales promotion. You may incorporate sales promotion activities into your advertising and promotion plan, which contains:

·        Offering free samples;

·        Coupons;

·        Point of purchase displays;

·        Product demonstrations.

Marketing materials. Among the most common marketing materials there are a business card, brochures, pamphlets and service sheets.

Publicity is one more method of promotion that should be used in every business. Decide how you plan to generate publicity and include this into your advertising and promotion plan. Except press releases, take into consideration the following items:

· Product launches;

· Special events, comprising a community involvement;

· Writing articles;

· Getting and using testimonials.

What concerns your business' web site, describe how your web site fits into your advertising and promotion plan.

Tradeshows. If you choose the right tradeshow, it can be an incredibly effective promotion and sales opportunities. Enlist it in your advertising and promotion plan as well.

It is nothing but your imagination that limits your promotion activity. Everything should be involved into your advertising and promotion plan, whether you are going to teach a course, sponsor a community event or conduct an email campaign. Always remember that an occasional and unconnected promotion of your product or service will fail. You have to plan and carry out your promotion activities that will communicate with your potential customers.

Small businesses often have miniscule (or non-existent) promotion budgets. However, it does not mean that they cannot design and implement effective integrated advertising promotion plans.

There is no too small business to effort a marketing plan, a part of which is the advertising and promotion plan. After all, if your business has customers or clients, you need to communicate with them about your products and/or services.