Small Business Marketing Tips
Accountable Advertising
March, 2008
Last month we talked about developing a clear profile of your ideal client. When you know who you're talking to you have a much better chance of making contact. You can use the right language and speak to their problem.
This month I want to talk about the biggest money wasting mistake that most business owners make. It's your advertising. Not that I'm against advertising - far from it! If you want customers, you've got to go get 'em! But most ads are ineffective, and that's wasted money. So let's talk about how to make effective ads.
First, the message. We talked about getting clear about the real service you're selling - the benefit, the problem solved, the feeling the customer gets. We covered identifying the ideal client. So why do most ads not even mention either one of those points? You'd think that most of the ad would be taken up with the benefit, wouldn't you? But no, most ads give all their space to the business name and some pretty picture or graphic.
Guess what? No one cares about you, your business or your pretty picture unless you give them a reason to! All of us - you, me and your potential customers - are tuned into radio station WIIFM. That's "What's In It For Me?" Unless your ad touches one of THEIR problems and/or promises THEM a benefit, the readers don't even notice. Your ad become part of the advertising clutter that we all tune out.
Why do most businesses waste most of their precious ad space on their logo? I think it's an ego thing. We're proud of our businesses and we love to see our name in print. Because it's important to us (and our family) we make the mistake of thinking it's important to everyone. And it's not.
Here are the three parts of an effective ad. First, an attention getting headline that either identifies a problem or promises a benefit. Short, powerful, pointed right at your ideal client. Second, the body of the ad elaborates on the headline theme, making an emotional connection to your prospect. Third, you have a call to action. That means you tell them what to do! Right now! Pick up the phone and call, go to our website, send in this coupon, do something! Don't make them guess what to do. The size of the ad you buy determines how much room you have for each part.
Now some of you might be thinking, "But, Wes, nobody does ads like that!" And you'd be wrong. There are $100 million business built on ads like that, and there are people making 7 figures just from writing ads like that. Do you know why? Because they work.
That leads me to the second point in effective advertising - measuring results. Most small businesses don't try to measure the results of their advertising. They don't even ask "How did you find us?" That's one big reason why they continue to waste money on ineffective ads. They don't know that they're not working!
So we can add a fourth point to the characteristics of an effective ad - it's measurable. Some methods that companies use include a special phone extension, a unique PO Box, or a coupon code that's used with the response that tells you that the customer came from the ad. But you can get started by just asking.
It's important to keep statistics on your ads so that you can improve them. Sometimes small changes in a headline can increase response by 3 or 4 times. Keeping track of response allows you to do what the big advertisers do - test one ad against another and slowly improve the response as you test little changes in the format and wording.
So let's stamp out ineffective advertising and start getting your money's worth. Remember, target your client, describe the benefit, give a call to action, and measure the response. You'll be glad you did.
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