Before you call your friendly media sales rep or start writing copy, do your homework. A great place to start is with a SWOT analysis. Take a deep and candid look at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

● Strengths: What are you truly superior at? Is it your people? Your location? Your no-questions-asked-money-back-if-not-totally-satisfied guarantee? What do you offer that your competitors don't? Promote your strengths.

● Weaknesses: This is where you ask yourself if you're as good as you think you are. What areas do your competitors beat you? Is your customer service department up to par? Consumers are unforgiving. You will not get a 2nd chance. Plug the holes in your ship before setting sail.

● Opportunities: Times of challenge often produce the greatest opportunities. What new trends do you see over the horizon? What is it that your clientele wants? Your odds of success will greatly improve if you give people what they want.

● Threats: Luxury retailers found out that when tight on cash, consumers buy what they absolutely need, not what they want. Many of these high-end marketers closed their doors. Prepare yourself for any attack that might threaten your survival.

Once you've objectively given yourself a SWOT analysis, you can begin crafting your campaign. The place to start is with your message. While most businesses start with the choice of media, you must understand that media is the wrong place to start. Developing a sound message is the most important component of your campaign.

In developing your message, find your USP - Unique Selling Proposition. Without a finely tuned USP, your ads will ultimately fail. What most people miss about a USP is the "U"...unique! For your message to stand out and make an impact, it needs to be uniquely yours.

Understand what advertising should accomplish. Webster's definition of advertising is “to tell about or praise (a product, service, etc.) publicly, as through newspapers, handbills, radio, etc., so as to make people want to buy it”. Most advertisers love the first part…telling people about their product. This is why most advertising fails. Telling alone doesn't make people buy.

There are two sides to the purchasing coin…logic and emotion. Consumers make their decision to buy on the emotional level first, and then back up their decision with logic. Most advertising provides the consumer with plenty of logical reasons but little to no emotion. Do your ads convey emotion? Are you reaching deep into the hearts of those coveted customers? Make sure your messages reach the emotional level.

As you start building your ads, resist the temptation to include clichés. When it comes to advertising, a cliché is a statement that every business makes but no consumer believes. Have you noticed that every advertiser has the very best selection, the absolute lowest prices, world-class customer service and the friendliest sales staff?

Rather than loading your ads with clichés, use words that are powerful, colorful, descriptive and relevant. If well crafted, your message will transcend all media. Spend the time necessary in developing a message with meaning and real benefits for the consumer.

Only after you've developed your core message should you look at media. And when it comes to media, you have two choices: You can go where all of your competitors are and try to out spend them or, you can “go where they ain't”.

Realise that no media is good or bad. They all work if used properly. In “going where they ain't”, you could schedule your ads on a different station, different time of day or use a different medium all together. Imitation might be the greatest form of flattery, but it will not generate the results you want from your campaign. If you look and act the same as your competitor, consumers have no reason to choose you.

Every advertiser wants to know what the very best medium is. You'll find the greatest response rate from what you use consistently, provided you take the time to craft a message that truly benefits the consumer.