Advertising is one of the most important components of your marketing strategy because it helps you promote your business and provides an effective way to communicate with your customers. Listed below are some helpful tips to keep in mind when you are developing an advertising campaign for your business.
THINGS TO DO
- Familiarize yourself with the government rules and regulations for marketing and advertising.
- Fully and clearly disclose all pertinent details for the promotion, product or service that you are advertising.
- Use illustrations that are the same as the product being sold.
- Charge the lowest of two or more prices that appear on a product.
- Make sure that you have reasonable quantities of any products you are advertising at a bargain price.
- When holding a contest, disclose all details required by theCompetition Act before potential participants are entered.
- Make sure that your sales staff is familiar with these "Do's and Don'ts". Your business can be held responsible for representations made by employees.
- Only use the words "sale" or "special" when the price of a product has been significantly reduced.
THINGS TO AVOID
- Avoid confusing "regular price" or "ordinary price" with "manufacturer's suggested list price"; they are not the same.
- Don’t use "regular price" or "ordinary price" in an advertisement unless the product has been sold at that price for a substantial period of time or a substantial volume of the product has been sold at that price.
- Make sure that you don’t run a "sale" for a long period of time or repeat it every week.
- Don’t increase the price of a product or service to cover the cost of a free product or service.
- Avoid making any claims about a product or service unless you can prove them, even if you think they are accurate.
- Don’t sell a product above the advertised price.
- Remember not to delay the distribution of prizes when running a contest.
- Avoid fine print disclaimers. If you do use disclaimers, make sure that the message of the ad and the disclaimer are not misleading.
- Avoid using terms or phrases in an advertisement that are not meaningful and clear to the ordinary person.
(Source: Canada Business Ontario)