In my work as a copywriter, clients sometimes ask me to review their ads to help them improve their sales results. Here I'll talk about some of the most common small business advertising mistakes, so you can troubleshoot your advertising and get a better Return On Investment from your marketing.
Layout
Many small business ads look like a shopping list, this is the biggest mistake to avoid.
I'm sure you've seen these ads; company name at the top rather than a compelling headline. Dry copy which doesn't manage to get your interest. There is nothing to induce you to do business with this company, even remember it. No call to action is given, just the company address and phone number.
We all know these ads don't work. They just don't get people's attention. Readers want to know one thing: what's in it for me?
This is a much more effective ad layout:
You need a headline to lead in, it doesn't have to be all that clever, just clearly state the biggest benefit of your product or service to the consumer.
Coupon or contact number at bottom right (called the "anchor point" of the ad).
Your company name and address should go in the bottom left corner. Your reader will look for it once you have made your case.
If there are illustrations or photos in your ad, follow them with headlines. This will create a narrative structure to your ad and keep readers moving down the page.
Bullet points briefly outlining the benefits of your product or service is a good idea. While long form copy can be effective as well, it's a lot harder to write.
What are your ads like? Are they lists or do they have a story to tell followed by a call to action? If you are using the former style, I promise you'll get more results by changing things up.
Failing to Test and Track Ad Response
You should always test and track your ads. Even a slight change can generate many more sales for the same product or service. Testing and tracking can help you to cut out what isn't working and keep what performs well.
How to Track Advertising Response
It's easy to track your advertising, you can just ask people who call how they heard about your business. If you are publishing many different ads, you can get more complex with your tracking using one or more of these techniques.
Coded coupons in your ads Different coloured reply-paid postcards Different department numbers Asking your callers to mention an offer or ask for someone by name etc.
Online advertising makes things even easier. There are plenty of ad tracking tools which you can use.
One of my clients a while back tracked their advertising response rates and found that their expensive print ad campaign was bringing in almost no responses, while a nearly free flyering campaign was generating a lot of business. They were able to drop the print ads and save a lot of money while having a more effective advertising and marketing campaign.
What To Test
You should test these things in your ads:
Headlines, Offers, Body Copy, Guarantee and Price
Headlines are the most important, test and fine tune these first.
If you hit on something which works well, stick with it until you find something which works even better.
Just making sure that your ads are working well can dramatically increase your business; you may want to think about taking on a in-house copywriter. This can make a lot of difference in your advertising return on investment.
Not Making The Most of a Powerful Guarantee
A lot of small businesses fail to offer a strong guarantee in their ads. You need to do this, since a guarantee can increase your response rates by 50% and up.
Guarantees put your customers at ease about buying from you. Your confidence in your product or service will increase their confidence as well.
Here's how to use a guarantee in your ads in a way that gets responses:
1. Your guarantee should make specific promises about results.
Avoid boilerplate like "satisfaction guaranteed". Use more distinctive copy like:
"If you don't love our product, we'll pay you to go to our competitors"
" Enjoy a minimum 50% increase in website traffic within 60 days or your money back"
"Send $45 to [Your Company Name and Address]. If you're not satisfied, we'll send you back $50."
2. Test Your Guarantee
In my work as a small business marketing consultant and copywriter, I often work with clients to develop a powerful guarantee. Sometimes the business owners are hesitant, what will happen if customers try to take advantage of a money-back offer? The simple answer to this is to test. Test small at first (one ad with the guarantee, versus one ad without). Keep track of the difference in sales results and any returns or refund requests. If it works, keep doing it!
In almost every case, a good guarantee will bring in much more in sales than you'll end up paying out in refunds. Fine tune your guarantee (wording, conditions and so on). You may see a huge difference in sales between a 30 day and 60 day guarantee.
3. Make your guarantee highly visible
Make your guarantee a headline, you want prospective customers to see this.
What can you offer prospective customers in terms of a guarantee that will make them more interested in doing business with you? - 16069
Layout
Many small business ads look like a shopping list, this is the biggest mistake to avoid.
I'm sure you've seen these ads; company name at the top rather than a compelling headline. Dry copy which doesn't manage to get your interest. There is nothing to induce you to do business with this company, even remember it. No call to action is given, just the company address and phone number.
We all know these ads don't work. They just don't get people's attention. Readers want to know one thing: what's in it for me?
This is a much more effective ad layout:
You need a headline to lead in, it doesn't have to be all that clever, just clearly state the biggest benefit of your product or service to the consumer.
Coupon or contact number at bottom right (called the "anchor point" of the ad).
Your company name and address should go in the bottom left corner. Your reader will look for it once you have made your case.
If there are illustrations or photos in your ad, follow them with headlines. This will create a narrative structure to your ad and keep readers moving down the page.
Bullet points briefly outlining the benefits of your product or service is a good idea. While long form copy can be effective as well, it's a lot harder to write.
What are your ads like? Are they lists or do they have a story to tell followed by a call to action? If you are using the former style, I promise you'll get more results by changing things up.
Failing to Test and Track Ad Response
You should always test and track your ads. Even a slight change can generate many more sales for the same product or service. Testing and tracking can help you to cut out what isn't working and keep what performs well.
How to Track Advertising Response
It's easy to track your advertising, you can just ask people who call how they heard about your business. If you are publishing many different ads, you can get more complex with your tracking using one or more of these techniques.
Coded coupons in your ads Different coloured reply-paid postcards Different department numbers Asking your callers to mention an offer or ask for someone by name etc.
Online advertising makes things even easier. There are plenty of ad tracking tools which you can use.
One of my clients a while back tracked their advertising response rates and found that their expensive print ad campaign was bringing in almost no responses, while a nearly free flyering campaign was generating a lot of business. They were able to drop the print ads and save a lot of money while having a more effective advertising and marketing campaign.
What To Test
You should test these things in your ads:
Headlines, Offers, Body Copy, Guarantee and Price
Headlines are the most important, test and fine tune these first.
If you hit on something which works well, stick with it until you find something which works even better.
Just making sure that your ads are working well can dramatically increase your business; you may want to think about taking on a in-house copywriter. This can make a lot of difference in your advertising return on investment.
Not Making The Most of a Powerful Guarantee
A lot of small businesses fail to offer a strong guarantee in their ads. You need to do this, since a guarantee can increase your response rates by 50% and up.
Guarantees put your customers at ease about buying from you. Your confidence in your product or service will increase their confidence as well.
Here's how to use a guarantee in your ads in a way that gets responses:
1. Your guarantee should make specific promises about results.
Avoid boilerplate like "satisfaction guaranteed". Use more distinctive copy like:
"If you don't love our product, we'll pay you to go to our competitors"
" Enjoy a minimum 50% increase in website traffic within 60 days or your money back"
"Send $45 to [Your Company Name and Address]. If you're not satisfied, we'll send you back $50."
2. Test Your Guarantee
In my work as a small business marketing consultant and copywriter, I often work with clients to develop a powerful guarantee. Sometimes the business owners are hesitant, what will happen if customers try to take advantage of a money-back offer? The simple answer to this is to test. Test small at first (one ad with the guarantee, versus one ad without). Keep track of the difference in sales results and any returns or refund requests. If it works, keep doing it!
In almost every case, a good guarantee will bring in much more in sales than you'll end up paying out in refunds. Fine tune your guarantee (wording, conditions and so on). You may see a huge difference in sales between a 30 day and 60 day guarantee.
3. Make your guarantee highly visible
Make your guarantee a headline, you want prospective customers to see this.
What can you offer prospective customers in terms of a guarantee that will make them more interested in doing business with you? - 16069
About the Author:
About the author: David B. Ascot has important information concerning sales lead generation methods that will help your company expand through online lead generation.
