by Andrew Molz, founder of Andrew Molz Agency LLC
Many small businesses don’t get the success they want from advertising due to availability of very little resources. The results are simply flat due to a lack of good ideas for improvements. Whether the ads are put in a local newspaper, a famous periodical or posted on a website, the money invested should gain the desired outcome. There are some common mistakes small businesses and professional service providers make when designing and running their ads, which leads to complete failure.
Bigger is better is believed in by many. That’s exactly what some of the small firms think when they want to advertise their product. They think bigger and select a medium where they need to invest a lot of money, but do not reach the targeted market. Like if a company specializes in designing diet plans and wants to help out people who have had disappointing results from their individual diet plans; and the company chooses to advertise a full page in the local paper instead of running an advertisement in a health magazine. Obviously not many of the dieters will notice the advertisement and the advertisement doesn’t get the desired results. Reason being is because its not targeted exactly to the specific audience they desire.
So the point is to come up with the best campaign, which will increase the probability of the ad getting viewed and the right customers trying to buy the product or sign up for the service. Studies and research can be carried out on the market and targeted audience can be narrowed down. Once getting the list of newspapers, magazines and online blogs meant for the customers in mind, find out how many readers they have and the cost they ask for posting the ad. Special deals are offered by them from time to time and can only be found by watching for them.
It is estimated that everyday people are subjected to around three thousand ads. That is a huge number and if someone desires to be noticed, they should certainly be different. Not only the services and products sold should be unique in the market, so should be the advertisement. For example, if a business selling mattresses says, “We sell mattresses”, it will not make a statement and will be passed off as any other mattress advertisement. But if they say, “Our mattresses are of the finest quality”, it will make the advertisement stand out in the crowd. Other catch lines like “Are you suffering from back pain? You must try our mattresses!“ are more specific and will catch the atention of people who are suffering from back pains. The advertisement should also focus on the uniqueness of the product and how it is better compared to the competitors’ product.
Focusing on the problems of the customers and giving a solution for them, is what a customer needs. A customer does not buy a product; he buys benefits in the form of a product. The real value of the product should be realized and a clear picture of it should be presented to the customer so he will be able to relate with the product. If the advertisement doesn’t specify the solution it can provide, the customers will never know of it. So focusing on the customers problem is what some ads miss. The last thing missing in most ads is motivation for the customers. If the advertiser has designed the ad and the customer has read the ad, all efforts and ad spend will be wasted if he doesn’t get up and do something about it. It shouldn’t be assumed that the customer knows what to do; instead, the ad should influence the mind of the customer and tell them what to do. The call to action is the final part of the ad. It should call to get more information, visit the store or even visiting the online store. The message should confident and clear.
So to conclude, always have a targeted audience and make sure you research that audience accordingly. Be sure to focus on the uniqueness of your product and how it is better compared to your competitors’ product. Be sure to always give a solution to a problem. Customers want to feel comfortable they are always making the right investment. Lastly, always include a call to action in every advertisement. This will assure that the customer always knows what to do next when proceeding to go about a purchase. These are all successful characteristics of a great ad. Follow these tips and you will be confident you’re at your best when creating profitable advertising campaigns!
Andrew Molz started a number of successful ventures including starting a streetwear eCommerce brand that rapidly generated $2.2M in sales in 18 months. He then worked on an SaaS company he co-founded for the real estate sector The Reputation Shop as well as his fast growing Facebook Ad agency the Andrew Molz Agency LLC. Andrew’s agency has grown so rapidly that even Facebook has featured the company as a success story the cutting edge new strategies they’re using.
