Many small businesses believe they have to advertise to grow their businesses and be competitive. In many cases they’re right, but from that  point on the rest of their thinking becomes badly flawed and they end up running ads that don’t work.

Why then do so many businesses get very poor responses to their ads?

Well, I’ve studied this for years – and the answers are crystal clear for anyone prepared to pay attention. Here goes:

No direct response/lead generation

Ask a business owner why he/she advertises and the majority will say ‘awareness’, or ‘to let people know we’re here’, or ‘to build my brand’. This is such weak, lily-livered thinking. Get real people.

The goal of advertising for most small businesses should be just one thing: to get the phone ring/fill the shop/make sales online. i.e to do business.

  • Branding doesn’t produce leads – and it won’t pay the bills.
  • Branding doesn’t make the phone ring.
  • Branding aint worth squat online.

Too many small businesses misunderstand this. They get disgruntled when their ad doesn’t double their business a month after its first insertion.

All small business advertising should be what we call ‘direct response’ i.e the purpose of the ad is to get someone to pick up the phone or visit a website (where there’s effective lead collection systems) or to go to a shop.

No Offers

This is the next big problem.

Why do small business owners run ads without specific offers to entice readers to respond. It’s bonkers.

Put a compelling offer in your ads and the response will double or treble, instantly.

No headlines
So many businesses put their name at the top of their ad. Their name or their brand is their headline. S-T-U-P-I-D.

I’ve got news for you – no one cares about you (or your name) until they know what you can do for them. So lead with a headline about the benefits a customer will get from dealing with you.

CLUE: Your offer can often make a good headline, and always remember that the headline has to be about your customer, NOT about you.

No Deadlines

Never, ever, ever have an offer without a deadline. I mean why would you?

The deadline is what drives the urgency and prompts people to respond NOW. Without  a deadline people will procrasticate and hesitate and your response diminishes. And don’t make the deadline months in advance in the mistaken belief that it will give people more time to respond. The opposite will infact be true.

As a rough guide, your deadline should be no shorter than 6-7 days and no longer than 3-4 weeks.

Me too, me too

Simply put, too many small businesses just look at what their competitors are doing and do the same. They run ads in the same publications, usually saying pretty much the same things and guess what – they get the same shitty results!

I’ve got news for you, 95% of people in your industry are wrong. About  everything. Think about it, only 5% of businesses in whatever sector you are in, are super-successful. They’re the guys you need to pay attention to – not the 95% who make up the ‘also-rans’.

Do something different in your ads. Be outrageous. Stand out. Be different.

Your response will soar when you do, AND people will talk about you.

Too Impatient
Because advertising is expensive, small business owners are often impatient. They want to change the message and tweak the ad at every turn. This can be disastrous. For an ad campaign to be successful, the message must be consistent. If an ad works and generates a good response – run it again. Don’t mess with it.

I have an ad for our My Mag business that has run, unchanged, for over 5 years. Why? Because it works.  If it aint broke don’t fix it!

So Should your small business advertise?

In most cases the answer to that will be ‘yes’.
Advertising can work really well for small businesses that follow the above rules and avoid the mistakes made by so many of their competitors and peers.

But it won’t always be the right thing to do. There may be much smarter, cheaper and more effective ways to reach your market.

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