【正文】 . Most people think that advertising and promotions are one in the same。 there is, however, a distinctionbetween the two. While both advertising and promotions use thedifferent media formatsprint, radio and televisionas a way ofconveying a message, promotion enpasses much more. It is themethod of advertising and can entail munity involvement. Thiscould mean sponsoring a Boy or Girl Scout troop, allowing nonprofit organizations to use your facility, such as, letting thehigh school drama club use your parking lot for a car wash fundraiser, sending an underprivileged child to day camp or involvement in any type of positive munity activity that willbring attention to your business.While advertising is a way of keeping your business is the public39。s eye, promotions are a way of signaling that you areconcerned and mitted to the welfare of the munity and itsresidents. This mitment may be one of the most effectivetechniques for building customer loyalty. People tend to be moresupportive of businesses and organizations that give something tothe munity rather than those that just take from the munity, never giving anything in return.Now, let39。s look at how to develop an effective advertising program and promotional program for your business.The Key to a Successful Advertising and Promotional PlanAdvertisingAdvertising plays an important role in successful businessventures. It entails identifying and selecting the media thatprovide the greatest amount of exposure for your business anddeveloping effective, yet appropriate materials for each medium. It is more than running an ad in a local newspaper, on a radio ortelevision station or just simply hanging a sign outside yourbusiness and waiting for the customers to purchase your product or service. It requires that you know your product or service that is, the selling points and that you develop literature that can arouse the customers39。 consciousness levels to the pointthat they are curious enough to investigate it, and then raisestheir need or desire levels to the point that they are willing topurchase it.Advertising keeps your product or service in the public39。s eye bycreating a sense of awareness. Yet this awareness alone will notensure the success of your business. Thus, advertising not only has to be effective, it also has to be a continuous process. When developing an effective advertising strategy for a franchise, review the national advertising materials the franchisor has developed and determine if they can be appliedregionally or locally. If they can, select the media that willprovide the greatest amount of exposure and the most effectivemeans for promoting your franchise. If the national materials areinappropriate, you may need to modify or develop your ownmaterials. Remember, however, that you may have to get thefranchisor39。s approval to use these materials. As a courtesy,regardless of the advertising policies in the franchise agreement, allow the franchisor to review these materials.Once you are satisfied with the advertising materials, select themedia that will best market your business. Since advertising can be costly, try to use a medium that is cost effective, yet willeffectively market your business. If this is not possible, then be prepared to spend what is necessary to promote your businesseffectively the oute will be worth the investment. It may be a good idea to mix the different media formats that youuse. For example, design a brochure that describes your product or service, emphasizing its selling points (special features).Place copies of the brochure in strategic locations of yourbusiness to use as customer handouts. Or, devise a customer survey. The survey should focus on whether customers like theproduct or service, the quality of the product/service, ways toimprove it, the quality of service provided by stafftheirfriendliness and courtesy. Place the survey with a selfaddressed, stamped envelope near the checkout counter and askcustomers to mail in or return the survey when they e back.Review their ments with staff and implement those suggestionsthat are practical, cost efficient and can improve the overallquality of service your business provides.Other media formats to use are: * newspaper, radio or television ads (newspaper advertising is the least expensive and television advertising is the most expensive of these formats). You probably will need professional advice and assistance when developing ads for these media formats. * business cards. * classified ads in the local newspaper. * direct marketing. * telemarketing (this format can be expensive, also). * Yellow Pages advertising. * sampling mailing or distributing free samples of your product or a flyer about your service to the public. * advertising in munitybased magazines or newspapers.Whatever media format you use, be willing to invest the moneyneeded to develop an effective ad campaign.PromotionsAs discussed earlier, promotion entails more than just selectingthe media format to market your business. It can, and oftentimesdoes, enpass munity involvement. This involvement can rangefrom sponsoring a Boy or Girl Scout troop to hosting a charity ball for senior citizens or allowing nonprofit organizations touse your facilities.Your approach to promoting your business should enpass more than creating a sense of awareness about your business. It shouldinclude a mitment to munity involvementthe desire to givesomething back to the munity and its residents. An excellent way to foster this type of involvement is to meet with munityleaders to find out