By Jimmy Vee & Travis Miller

Small, medium or large – which one do you go with? It’s not size of your…umm…err…advertisement that counts, it’s how you use it that really matters. This is real truth in this little clichéd conversation.

Why all focus on ad size? Ad size is really only valid in print advertising. There are plenty of other marketing avenues that don’t require size differentiation, right? How about radio, cable and network advertising? Well let me start by saying this…if you are buying anything other than an advertising medium that requires a size specification, you better have one big budget.

When I say big budget, I’m talkin’ 8 to 10 G’s a week to spend on radio. That is dollar figure you would have to shell out in a small to medium media market in order to effectively dominate with an electronic ad campaign.

Subsequently, as we alluded to before you have to dominate one market segment and audience before you go spreading your message and ads all over place. This practice of spreading your dollars and ads all around to multiple media outlets in small quantities is something we call “Spray and Pray;” it’s highly ineffective. A little here, a little there, just marking your territory like a dog would do. But guess what? We can’t really tell where dogs mark, only dogs can. So if your target audience is dogs you are on right track. Keep it up! If not…keep reading.

You probably aren’t spending 8 to 10 grand weekly. If you are, call me, and we’ll talk about best way to use that money. So now we are left with marketing choices that require us to decide: is bigger better?

Bigger is not better, period.

The Internet is all too often mistreated and misunderstood as a “place to be,” or “something to be on.” Many companies treat Internet like a billboard, but it’s not. People don’t surf by and see your web site. Your web site is a destination – but not ultimate one (unless you sell your product online).

Thinking of Internet as a billboard or a place causes companies to design web sites that have too much or too little information. For example, a web site that is nothing but a big advertisement is a waste – only people who will visit your site are people who already know about your business, so why big advertisement? And when people do visit, they’re not likely to return. On flipside, a web site that goes on and on and on about history, people, all of services you offer, can quickly contain too much information for it to be valuable.

Rather than thinking of Internet a place to be or something to be on, think of it as a tool. For most companies, their web site is not (or shouldn’t be) main thrust of their marketing efforts. It is one tool in arsenal.

The way to hone tool to be as effective as possible is fairly simple. Start by determining what your web site should accomplish for YOUR BUSINESS. What net output do you desire? If there isn’t really anything you expect to receive from your customers via your web site, you may not need to “be on Internet.”