Creating Ads that Work

Advertising is typically the last strategy I recommend to companies. Why? Because often, it doesn’t work at all. There are simply too many intangible factors that can go awry. To work perfectly, advertising must hit the marketing messages dead-on. Businesses usually need a lot of help in selecting the right publication to reach their prospective clients or customers. Also, design and copywriting must be expertly handled to promote a business properly, and metrics must be set to accurately track results.

Yes, we’ll show you (below) how to make advertising work. But first...

Advertising is a quick “hit.” It doesn’t allow your business to develop relationships with those whose problems can be solved with your services or products. In most cases, there are other marketing strategies that are more effective; at the very least these strategies should be blended into basic outreach advertising to ensure the highest-possible ROI.

Ads That Work
If you ask most companies if their ads work, they’ll tell you they simply don’t know. And why is that? Because these businesses don’t track their results. Here’s a notable exception: I have a client that publishes Here Comes the Guide, an extraordinary guidebook for brides and event producers. This client finds that their wedding/event clients mostly get incredible results. Why? Because the directory is targeted, its ads are handled by an in-house, professional design team, its distribution is huge, AND the publishers track their ad traffic. Plus, the book’s suppliers and providers are pre-qualified before they’re allowed to be included. Check out www.herecomestheguide.com. - it's a really fun website!

Ad costs can range anywhere from $75 for small, local publications, to $200,000 for large, national magazines like Cosmopolitan. Costs generally depend on the size of the ad, and the distribution of the publication.

Here’s the good news: Small newsletters can evoke a much larger response, and help you reach much better-targeted clients for your local business, than a huge, national publication. Don’t believe me? Test it yourself! Submit an ad to your local organization or association’s newsletter and test that response at a very low cost before you purchase more expensive ad space. It often works better to bring interested callers because if you network in that organization, the members will often already know you, have some relationship with you, so your ad might really pull for you here.

Tips, Please?

1. Less is More. This is one of the most common mistakes in ads. Don't believe me? Pick up the local paper and take a look. Don't you find your eyeballs drawn to the ads that are easy to read, have 'teaser' copy that whets your appetite for more information? Your ad should drive traffic to your website where people can get a deeper level of information, learn about your products, services, positioning and pricing.
   
   
2. Unless your other marketing outreach is in place, do NOT take out an ad. If you’re not using other marketing strategies that typically bring in more business faster and lay the groundwork for responding to ad requests, then visit our free “media and articles” page at http://www.allisonbliss.com/news.htm, and read our special reports called “When Marketing Hurts,” “How Easy Can It Be,” and dozens of others. These will give you some marketing strategy ideas you can put into effect today. For professional help, take a look at our marketing coaching package - you’ll find super-helpful, one-on-one action planning to help you reach your goals fast.
   
   
3. Build your ad with the 7 most important elements listed in order below, making it easy to read and comprehend. If it’s not a great, well-balanced design, your response rate will suffer. Since you’re probably paying a fair amount of money for the ad space itself, it’s well worth investing in a professional marketer or designer to help. Also, compelling copy is as critical as design. Almost 90% of the time, it’s done wrong. And don’t forget:
• compelling title
• great design
• photo or graphic
• caption under photo
• clear, concise body copy (bullet points are easier to read)
• contact information, including URL of your website
• call to action can be added, where appropriate (redeem this coupon, etc.)
  
  
4. You may wish to set up separate mailboxes for various media. For example, you could have ‘extension 101’ track calls from the SF Chronicle, or state in your Wall Street Journal ad to call ‘extension 102. Then you can record in your database which ad prompted the caller to contact you. Add up the dollar value in sales, and you’ll know exactly where to spend your money—assuming all other creative in the ad is perfect, that is.
   
   
5. If you can’t establish separate mailboxes to track your calls, you might keep a tracking sheet next to your phone and just ask people how they heard about you. However, my experience is that people are often confused or just can’t recall, so they’ll say “from your website” or “I don’t remember”. If you establish an ad that directs prospective clients to your website, but you’ve no idea what generated the original lead, this leads to very inaccurate tracking. Web stats can give you this info, but you’ll need to know how to read them. Give us a call if you need some guidance with that, as it can help with profitability more than you can even imagine.

What Makes a Great Ad?
One that works to bring you business, of course!

Here’s an ad we’ve just created for a terrific DVD copy company in San Francisco. They told me the products they use are superior, and work in any kind of set-top player. This differs radically from their competitors, whose DVDs often don’t play at all. Imagine submitting a film you’ve worked on for nine months to a festival for an award, and it won’t play on the judge’s DVD system. How horrible would that be?

Previous ads for this company just showed images of their DVD cases with bulk-pricing noted—not too imaginative for a VERY imaginative audience. Here’s what we created to capture the filmmakers’ attention.

Which one do you think is pulling the best response?

Here’s another great example of an “emotional” response ad that I found online. I just love this one because it’s powerful, to the point, and it uses all the elements perfectly. Most importantly, I’ll bet it was remembered by its target audience - parents.

The ad above is from the ‘Media Campaign’ website. It’s a great example of a compelling message for a public service announcement, with a great photo, good headline, and excellent design.

If you want our free outline on techniques to create the perfect ad, more in-depth suggestions than this article, just send an email request. Please put “ad tips” in the subject line! Or give us a call if you need some creative help: 510-864-8500.

Remember, if you want to do it right the first time you need the knowledge and experience. Knowledge is Bliss!

UPCOMING EVENTS
Allison invites you to a panel where she'll be speaking along with the Publisher of Alameda and Oakland Magazines. June 1st, "Branding your Business" (.pdf).