Advertising is part art and part science. The "art" part, the creative strategy and execution you use, is something that no two people seem to agree about completely.

Some people like to run ads that "break through the clutter" - that means, having your ad get noticed amid the thousands of ad messages the average person is exposed to every day, even if the ad has to be "weird" or "freaky." I saw a print ad like this the other day for a prestigious dermatologist - there he was was, in a nice suit sitting in his large office. A raw salmon head with big, dead eyes, standing on-end on a dinner plate in front of him. The photo was "creepy" but it got my attention.

I read the ad because marketing's my business -- it turned out it was about some salmon-oil beauty treatment the doctor developed -- but the question is, was the ad more offensive and "off-putting" than productive? Only time will tell, but it's expensive time.
Some people play it safe and take the straightforward approach. But there's another saying in advertising, "Safe is dull, dull is deadly" -- meaning maybe no one will notice your ad at all.

And then sometimes you "hit a homerun" - that means you create a great ad concept that wows readers and really drives sales.

Well, no matter what your creative execution, the "science" part of advertising you can control, and that's "targeting" your ad - putting it in front of as many people in your target market as possible. That's all about choosing where to run your ad.

First, you need to decide who your customers are, then find the best media to reach those people - that means print, online print, radio, billboards, direct mail, etc. If you ran an ad for your business in Time Magazine, hundreds of thousands of people might see it, but very few would be potential customers. You'd be paying for a lot of "waste" -- that's people who don't, can't, and won't buy what you're selling. That's pretty obvious. But when you start looking at healthcare-industry related media, deciding which is best is tough. Many have similar readerships, and of course, cost is an issue.

The simple rule of thumb is to find the most customer-rich media that has the lowest cost-per-thousand - that means the amount it costs for each thousand people you reach.

The more a medium focuses on your exact customer profile, the more efficient it is. If I may, take DOTmed as an example. Our text ads are highly-targeted because you choose to run your ads in the exact equipment categories where your customers go every day. There's virtually no waste, and almost no clutter to break through, because only a maximum of 6 ads appear on any given page.

Now DOTmed.com may not be the only place you can efficiently advertise, nor should you necessarily rely on one vehicle to convey your message. But whatever your media mix, staying focused on your core customers will generate the best return on your investment.