Four Ways to Make Your Advertising More Effective

by | Nov 14, 2013 | Business Feature

Advertising is a requirement for all businesses, but effective advertising is critical. You’re spending the money daily, weekly, or monthly to get money in return, but to be effective you need to understand how to advertise properly. And you need to understand your objectives, plan your approach, and track your results in real time if you want to have any hope of being an effective online marketer.

Lower Expectations

Lowering expectations is not about expecting less; it’s more about being more realistic about what you think you’re going to get. It’s unlikely you’ll get a paying customer from the first day of running your ad. You have maybe 150 to 200 characters to get the message across, and you’re not the only one trying to grab the customer’s attention. Your expectation shouldn’t necessarily be about selling products from that ad. It should be about creating awareness: getting that click or” like” and letting potential customers know the value you hold for them, and that you can help them solve their problem. That kind of trust takes time and is essential to building the kind of relationship that eventually leads to sales.

Narrow Your Focus

When running Google product listing ads, the temptation is to cast a wide net to catch as many people as possible. Narrowing your focus means you’re talking to your ideal customer. If any advertising medium tells you that three quarters of its audience is 18 to 55 years of age, that’s not narrow enough. You’re going to need a drill down of which of those viewers have anything to do with your product or service. You need to tightly craft your keyword grouping to target those customers so that you have a better chance of getting the right attention.

Promote Your Content

Advertising is more about giving than getting. Yes, you want to sell something because that’s why you went into business. First things first. You need to give something to get something. That means showing your value to the potential target by giving away a free eBook or providing them with exclusive checklists that will help them solve a problem or learn how to do something. That content is the gateway to getting their information gently moving them to the paid side of your offering. By then, they know you, and are more likely to open their wallets.

Measure and Test

The most successful marketers understand every element of their marketing efforts because they’ve studied them. It takes a lot of work to become so knowledgeable about headlines, landing pages and advertising space. They test different campaigns, measure results, and repeat until they find what works. The social advertising space is changing the face of online advertising in a way that favors marketers who know how to quickly adjust. If you don’t take the time to learn your analytics, you’re wasting time and money, and squandering potential success.

Advertising is more than just putting up a picture and crossing your fingers. As the head of your online business, you have a lot of control over your lead generation efforts. And your success or failure is about how much effort you’re willing to put in.