"I wish I could afford marketing like that!"

Ever find yourself thinking that? When you watch something big on television, such as the Super Bowl, you see companies pulling out all the stops to air what they feel are the best commercials for their products. The commercials wind up being more talked about than the game much of the time, because businesses pack millions of dollars into these 30-second spots designed to be funny, or edgy, or whatever will get them noticed. As a business owner, you may be a little envious of the marketing abilities of these companies.

But should you be?

I'm not going to bash every commercial on television, because there's certainly some that are brilliant, and effective. But the point of advertising and marketing is to bring in more sales. That's it. There is no other reason to advertise or market your product or service. While people are talking about the commercials after the Super Bowl, how many of them are buying?

Do you buy a particular brand of beer because a bunch of frogs keep saying it on TV in a funny way?

Does a guy in a goofy costume get you out the door to go get a burger?

When a talking dog tells you to go get a taco, are you going to do it because he says so?

Some commercials are wildly entertaining, I'll admit that. But how many of them are doing what commercials are designed to do, which is increase sales? As a marketer, it drives me nuts to sit through millions of dollars worth of wasted money while watching the big game.

It can be disheartening to think that you'll never be able to compete with the "big boys". Well maybe you can't in terms of production value, but you can certainly put together effective marketing campaigns that can rival what they do in terms of return on investment.

The key is doing the basics of marketing:

1. Know your audience. Understand what they want, what they need, what they're thinking, and how they talk. Speak to them on their level, and you will see how effective you can be.

2. Solve their problems. The reason somebody purchases something is because it is useful to them. Your marketing campaigns need to show how your product or service solves a problem that they are currently suffering from. It creates worth.

3. Make it urgent. Get them to buy now! It does you no good to show them there's a problem and then not motivate them to solve it now with a good call to action. Demonstrate to them that this can't wait any longer - they need to buy from you now before the problem gets worse!

4. Make it user-friendly. It makes no sense to drive people to a website, and then they have no clue how to buy from you. Make everything you do clear, concise, and to the point. Don't cram in more information than what is necessary. If it's too difficult, they will lose interest, and you will lose a sale.

The next time you watch television, pay attention to the commercials. See how many of them actually motivate you to buy their product. You'll be surprised how many do not make you want to buy. It will also comfort you and give you the confidence to go out there and put together a marketing campaign that will blow the big companies out of the water at a fraction of what they are paying - just by sticking to the basics of marketing!