Winning New Business Through Advertising

Winning New Business Through Advertising

Winning New Business Through Advertising

Most small businesses' advertising techniques simply don't work.I know that a big claim I've made, but I stand by it and I'll tell you why. It's very hard for most small businesses to make advertising pay, and it does depend to some extent on your industry.I'm not saying don't do it -- because once you "crack the code", it's outrageously profitable. But what I am saying is it takes more time, thought and planning than you expect.So, in the main, it's the rule rather than the exception to find Yellow Pages and local media advertising for small businesses is a waste of time and money.There are a couple of reasons for this... first...Small Business Owners Don't Know How to Write Ads! That's OK -- nor do the Yellow Pages, local media reps, or, indeed most marketing agencies. They don't know anything about effective advertising techniques. That statement is going to get me into a lot of hot water. I don't care about that. Because it's true.Here's how it works: sales reps from local media or the Yellow Pages are NOT advertising or marketing experts with your best-interests at heart. No, they're salespeople selling YOU media.Their job is to sell you media -- advertising space -- not results. That's the direct opposite of everything I do for my clients, where my sole aim in working with them is to make them money (always ethically).And as they're paid commissions on the ad space they sell, it's to their advantage to sell you as much space as they can. Big ads, lots of "creative" expenses, and 4-colours to bump the price up!The more money you pay for your ad, the more money they get in commissions. It's as glaring a conflict of interest as I ever did see. Nice work if you can get it. And this is why...Small Businesses Pay too Much for Their AdvertisingAnd so they fail to make a decent Return on Investment (ROI) on it. All because of -- bluntly -- badly thought-out advertising techniques and duplicitous practices on the part of commissioned sales people.OK, so you were skeptical. I was as well, when I worked this all out. But take a look at your local newspaper and Yellow Pages. Look closely at the ads. Now, let me read your mind... ok... it's coming... yes...I see it... you're looking at a load of ads which have the companies' names and logos at the top... a few words... and wind up with something weak like "we give great service... call us if we can help".As advertising techniques go, having your name and logo as the first thing your readers see is right down there at the bottom. I know it might come as a surprise, and might even hurt a bit but...No one cares about your logo except you and your graphic designer. More to the point, they don't care about your name, or how long you've been in business. Worse: they don't care about YOU, sad as that might make you feel.All They Care About Is Themselves!And to write a compelling and successful advertisement, you need to be using the advertising techniques the pros use.Because you ought to be advertising so you're offering to take care of them -- solve their problems and make everything in the garden rosy for them. Your name and logo is irrelevant.Write your ad in language they use. Aim it at them and offer them a clear and unambiguous benefit for a) reading the rest of the ad. and b) responding to it.How To Make More Money From Your AdvertisingThe secret to making more from your advertising? Pay less for running it. Not the most exciting of advertising techniques, I know. But it's the best answer I know. Your ad's success is measured by the Return On Investment (ROI).ROI is the cost of running the ad divided into the money you make back off it. If your ad costs you 100 and you make 200 in sales, then your ROI is 200/100, or 2:1.The key to making higher profits is to maximize your ROI. And you can do this in two ways.You can either increase your ad's response rate (takes work, but can and should be done); or you can reduce the cost. If you can get the same ad for 50, then your ROI is now 4:1.And getting advertising cheaper is much, much easier than you think - as often as not, it's no more difficult than just sticking to your guns and playing the ad rep at his or her own game.

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