Congratulations on your new venture! Making the move to start your own businesses is great, and Ink Waves is here to help. We know how exciting it is, and how scary it can be. If you’ve developed your business plan and/or attended some seminars on starting up, you know how important your marketing and advertising decisions are.

We love what we do here in Toronto and we’re inspired by your move to design your brand identity, create a logo, develop your business stationery and cover all the bases. We can offer printing services in addition to graphic design and Internet advertising and consulting. Together we’ll review your budget and develop a marketing plan that fits – including your web solution, direct mail brochure or catalog, publication ads, menu, flyer, and we’ll teach you how to gain and use customer information for future marketing and advertising. Your experience and expertise gets your business going, ours lets people know about it.

There are many good “online only” agencies out there. But like design firms, interactive agencies often tend to focus on media and creative (copy and design) to the exclusion of offer and the other components vital to the success of your campaign.

Besides, why limit yourself? Sometimes a banner ad is the right strategy, but there may be times when direct mail or email or social media will better enable you to reach your target audience. Since we’re experts in both online and offline marketing, we’ve got you covered – and with us, you’re more likely to get the results you need.

Our fees are based on the size and scope of the marketing project you require. We offer full service, or a solutions depending on your specific budget and needs.

We develop true partnerships with our clients, which go beyond fees. We care deeply about our clients’ success. Our 92% year over year client retention rate speaks to the satisfaction our clients experience in working with Ink Waves.

Mogo’s team has a unique and successful process that stems from a genuine understanding of the marketplace. By combining our entire client spending, we are able to negotiate rates that benefit all our clients. The media process starts with planning and ends with results. Ink Waves commits to every client, putting our marketing minds to work on each and every project to ensure success.

Online advertising allows all ad buys to be “direct response” because we can quantify the results so easily. Broadcast and print advertising can be trickier, but there are ways of creating response mechanisms in all media. There is a segment in the advertising world that is known as “direct response” (DR) advertising, which is repetition, oriented and usually based on hammering frequency and using remnant inventory. We are here to help you determine the best method to get the results you need.

In running a business, you have a lot to worry about. Specializing in media is just not something most clients are set up to do. Studying media markets, however, is all we do. We can negotiate better rates, better placement, and more return for your dollar because we understand the market.

Yes, we can. Ink Waves recognizes the importance of messaging appropriately within different media channels, and we have developed “Creative Best Practices” to assist our clients. Ink Waves also has relationships with a number of creative specialists, from writers to producers to voice talent, and we are here to help match you with the best partner for your needs and budget.

At Mogo, we pride ourselves on the extensive campaign management we offer. You can get back to running your business with confidence knowing that Ink Waves is managing your advertising campaigns closely. We help you determine the best way to spend your marketing dollars, negotiate the lowest prices, and make sure everything runs correctly. In addition, we handle calls from media reps for you.

It is if you are selling an expensive product or service and you are offering quality and prestige. But if you are selling a bargain-priced local service, an expensive commercial may actually work against you, by making your service look expensive.

In many cases, yes. People trust other people more when they can see them. And when they’ve seen you on television, they feel as though they know you.

Commercials that attempt to get the prospect to “call now”. The viewer calls the advertiser and he or she takes it from there.

No. For example, I don’t think it makes much sense to advertise a restaurant that way. But for business people and professionals who offer local services, who can benefit from talking to prospects on the phone and are looking for quick results — Immediate Response is probably the way to go.

Also called “brand” commercials, they don’t attempt to get anyone to “call now”. They just try to get them to feel good about the product or service. Good image commercials are usually more expensive to produce than Immediate Response commercials and take longer to work. Commercials often contain elements of both Immediate Response and “image” advertising.

With Immediate Response commercials, if your offer is good and your commercial is well placed, it should produce at least a few calls the first time or two it runs. If it runs several times in different programs and nobody calls, probably nobody is ever going to call. Something is seriously wrong.

As a television commercial once put it, “Hire me and I’ll tell you.” I don’t give specific, step-by-step, instructions here on how to build an “immediate response” commercial. In general, though, the principles of construction that I use to build commercials for local business people are similar to those that national “direct response” advertisers use to create their commercials. They sell “Dream Bed”, “Bamboo Steamer” and “Ginsu Knives”; I sell the services of lawyers and dentists and other advertisers. We share the same goals — we want viewers to call now!

In addition to the cost of making a television commercial, advertisers book time with television channels and pay each time the advertisement is broadcast. The cost of commercial advertising time on TV channels can range from $100 to many thousands depending on the length of the advertisement and the time it screens. If an advertisement screens during peak time in a programme that attracts a large audience, the placement cost of the commercial will be more expensive than if it were shown late at night or during the day.