Advertising

Advertising for small businesses is a minefield and something of a two-edged sword that cuts both ways – and sometimes the backswing can be fatal.

Let me explain.

There’s no doubt that when done properly, advertising is an extremely effective and profitable marketing strategy. But if it’s NOT done properly… then it’s a great way to lose lots of money very quickly. And perhaps the worst thing of all from the business owner’s point of view is you can’t know upfront what your results are going to be but you still have to stump up all the money upfront and then just wait and see what happens.

And unfortunately, for most campaigns nothing much does happen… and this then leads most business owners to conclude that advertising doesn’t work.

But in reality it does work if you stick to a surprisingly small number of rules.

The Three Rules of Profitable Advertising

Rule Number One is to remember the person selling you the ad on the other end of the telephone or sitting across the desk from you is NOT on your side. They’ll tell you they are, but it’ll pay you to remember their job is to sell you advertising space, and NOT advertising results.

Many of them are paid on commission, meaning the more they sell you, the bigger their paypacket at the end of the month. This is why they’ll try to sell you the biggest ad they can, claim you need to run it at least seven times so people “become aware” of it, and tell you it needs to be in full colour with lots of fancy (and expensive) “creative” services involved.

Clearly, this does not bode well for anyone seeking to run an ad. If you understand the rules of how to write an ad, you’ll find you can write a smaller ad, run it in black and white, and test it just ONCE to know if it’s worth running again.

Rule Number Two is to understand the “rate card” cost of an ad is a fiction and bears no relation to reality. The real cost of an ad is what the rep can get you to pay for it.

In other words, if you’re prepared to haggle, argue and ultimately walk away, then you’ll find the cost of your advertising suddenly and mysteriously dropping like a stone.

Experienced media-buyers can often get ads placed for perhaps 20% to 25% of the “rate card” cost. You profits ultimately depend on your Return on Investment (ROI), and slashing the cost of your ads is a great way to increase your ROI.

Rule Number Three is to remember the other way to increase your Return on Investment is to increase conversions.

And, counterintuitively, an effective way to do this to stop selling in your ads, and instead start giving things away.

Obviously you want something in return for your time and trouble, and that’s the potential customer’s contact details so you can then begin a relationship with them and market to them over time. This strategy is variously called “permission marketing” or “lead generation marketing” and while seems to be risky and more expensive upfront, is actually less risky and more profitable in the long term.

Written by Chris Cardell of Cardell Media