There is no point having a business if you are not going to promote it. It can be the best business in the entire land, but if no one knows about it then you might as well not exist. You have to spread the word, and by far the most popular way of doing that is through advertising.
That’s not to say that other techniques don’t exist. You have the choice of trade shows, digital marketing, and even just good old-fashioned word of mouth. Advertising, however, is still king if you’re wanting to make a big splash in a relatively short amount of time.
It follows, then, that if you are going to invest in advertising - and it’s not inexpensive - then you should be making sure you get the most for your money. Frugality is never more important in business than when you are up against a big-spending industry like advertising; if you don’t keep your head firmly on your shoulders and control the purse strings, it could all begin to unravel alarmingly quickly.
To make the most of your ad campaigns, you need to keep a few cardinal rules in mind.
1. Imagery Matters
You might obsess over the text of your adverts, but it’s imagery that is actually going to make the biggest impression. There’s a reason that DRTV - i.e. direct response television - is still the cream of the crop when it comes to advertising. Your text should be punchy, but the imagery you use and the feeling that it invokes is all the more essential. It’s important not to focus your resources in the wrong place; go with the overall appearance of the campaign rather than focusing on the fine details. Also keep in mind that your imagery needs to grab attention in a short time span; think people flicking through the TV channels or turning the page of a magazine. What are you going to do to ensure they pause and take a deeper look?
2. Some Advertising Methods Are Junk
Here’s a statistic that might surprise you, given how often this method of advertising is suggested as a good idea: the average clickthrough rate of banner ads online is just 0.06%. So why are they still sold? Why are businesses still buying them? This is a truly atrocious rate of return. Most people choose to display these ads on the most popular website they can afford, but it doesn’t matter how many people see your ads if less than 1% are going to bother to click through. The return on investment just isn’t worth it, especially not with tools like Adwords available to make the process of online advertising far more reasonable.
3. Controversy Doesn’t Sell
As Pepsi leadership recently learned the hard way with their incredibly unfortunately tone-deaf ad featuring Kendall Jenner, some subjects should be verboten when it comes to advertising. Buzz doesn't always equal sales. Don’t be tempted into thinking that creating a storm will be beneficial; some publicity is bad publicity, so spend your money in a way that isn’t going to trash your business reputation.
I hope you enjoyed this article about essentials to ensure that your business ad campaign is worth the money.
Interested in more articles about startup advertising?
Read My Posts:
- Reach Out For ROI With Reddit
- 4 Tips To Optimize Your Email Marketing
Published by Michael J Schiemer
Owner of Bootstrap Business
Money - Marketing - Motivation
Digital Marketing | SEO | Social Media
Mike Schiemer Builds Better Business
Share This On Social Media:
