Why Most Advertising Doesn't Work

Most small businesses, and many larger ones as well, have a hard time knowing what types of advertising and promotion will benefit their firms best.

They usually do one of two things:

A. FOLLOW THE HERD - This is the easiest approach and makes us feel confident that if others use this mailer, ad or tradeshow, it must be effective. This method also seems to be the safest way to go.

B. TRY SOMETHING NEW - Using an untested idea is okay for those companies with unlimited budgets, but can be disastrous for small firms where every dollar must return more than a dollar.

An amazing percentage of small businesses fail by using the follow-the-leader approach. They would have been more successful utilizing their own ideas rather than following what their competitors do.

There are a number of "success factors" which affect the productivity of publication ads, direct mail, or your page on the World Wide Web:

1. THE OFFER - This is the unique way you present your product or service.

2. THE AD'S TEXT - This is the particular selling words used to describe the features and benefits your product or service will provide the user.

3. THE PEOPLE WHO WILL SEE YOUR AD - These must be real prospects, not just masses of people.

4. THE AD'S OR WEBSITE’S DESIGN - How your message is presented, your products pictured, and the arrangement of the various components affects viewer interest and response.

Everyone of these four factors are vitally important. Every one of these factors are under your control. You can design an offer that is impossible to resist, and you can make sure that your message reaches a significant number of prospects.

Don't worry if there are millions of non-prospects on the web, or reading a particular publication. There will still be a significant number of real prospects to make those forms of advertising worth the expense.

Use outside help if you need it, but be sure to make sure that your offer is the best it can be, and that you target your prospects for the most economical and affective promotions possible.

 



We would be happy to discuss your needs with you and suggest a solution we think might be appropriate, along with an estimate of the costs involved. There would be no obligation, and you might be surprised how economically your company can have a website of its own.