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According to Small Business Administration, 5% of an entrepreneur’s gross sales should be budgeted for advertising. That might not sound like a lot, but if your advertising is efficient, it can provide a health return on investment.

For example, and I know I’ve mentioned this before, but your advertising needs to be targeted. It must speak to one target market only. If you have more than one market, then you need more than one advertisement. Don’t delute your message — or you won’t communicate at all.

Another thing to keep in mind is where does your target market hang out? Do they read newspapers, magazines, ezines, blogs or something else? How do they respond to marketing messages in these various media? Some markets actually like to get marketing messages texted to them on their cell phone! (I’m not one of them, of course. I can’t stand text messaging!)

The more you know about your target market, the better and more effective your advertising will be. You’ll know what key words and jargon to use — and not use. You’ll know where to place your advertisements for best effect. Even better — you’ll know how to develop, improve and position your products and services so they actually attract customers and clients to them!

Some other things to remember when it comes to advertising:

How Much You Spend Is Not Related to Your Results
According to Roy Williams of Entrepreneur.com, “how much you spend and what you can expect to see in return are not directly linked by any kind of mathematical equation.” That means that it is possible to have great results on the cheap and horrific results that are costly.

Consistent Repetition Increases Results
This is why regular blog posts and ezines are so effective. The more your target market hears from you, the more likely they are to remember you and the more likely they are to like and trust you. And, people buy from people the like and trust.