Every small business is unique. While we are a bit biased and believe our advertising<\/a> is the first, best way to advertise for all small businesses, we also believe that every business owner should explore the best way to advertise for themselves. To help you evaluate your options, we\u2019ve created this 6 step guide to walk you through the easy work of identifying which advertising methods are best and which are bust!<\/p>\n How will you know if something is the \u201cbest way to advertise\u201d if you don\u2019t know what successful advertising looks like?<\/p>\n Some common ways you might evaluate ad campaigns are by brand awareness, website visits, or lead generation. These are all positive things, but at the end of the day, your advertising should generate a profit.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you spend $500 on Google Ads and increase your website visitors from 200 to 1000 per month. If your profits don\u2019t increase from that effort, then your advertising has not been successful.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t say this to sound harsh. Rather, setting firm expectations for what your advertising should do is the first step to choosing the most effective advertising campaigns.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The purpose of advertising is to increase profits. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To measure the success of your ad campaign, a simple formula to follow is:<\/p>\n Average Sale X Total New Customers = Sales Revenue generated from promotions<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0 Cost of Goods Sold<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0 Discount Given to Consumer (if running a coupon ad)<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0 Advertising Spend<\/p>\n = Profit generated from your advertising campaign.<\/p>\n If your business is about building trust, credibility, and a recognizable name (think Lawyer, Realtor, or Dentist), brand advertising that reinforces those messages will work best for generating new customers over time.<\/p>\n On the other hand, businesses like a Dry Cleaner, Auto Shop, or Restaurant can greatly benefit from direct-response advertising that sparks a customer to try a new vendor in the spur of the moment.<\/p>\n The message of a branding ad could be the literal brand itself, such as a huge sign with a Coke can on it. It could be education pieces, making consumers aware of challenges or needs they may not know they have. Or, the message can even be just a slogan:<\/p>\n Ultimately, branding ads are not likely to generate a sale immediately after the prospect sees it.\u00a0 When you see a gigantic running shoe as you are zooming down the highway, you don\u2019t swerve off the road in pursuit of a new pair of kicks.\u00a0 Instead, when you are sitting at the store and looking at a stack of Nike shoes next to a bunch of other shoes, you relive the feelings the ad conjured: that you too could be one of those super fit, super sexy models, and all you have to do is shell out $100 for a pair of sneakers.<\/p>\n Brand advertising can do more than just convey the actual message of the ad itself. They can convey your market position simply by being there. For example, you enter a neighborhood and see four homes for sale all with the same realtor. Then, you go to the grocery store and see that same realtor has an ad on the shopping carts. Finally, when you Google \u201chomes for sale in Houston, TX\u201d the realtor appears again. Together, these ads generate an image of market leadership, and that can be done at the local (neighborhood), regional, state, or national level.<\/p>\n Direct-Response ads command action and ask the viewer to get off their duff and do something. For example, a coupon.\u00a0 The action (buy something) and the reward (get something free or cheaper) are explicit.<\/p>\n Buy One, Get One Free! (BOGO!)<\/strong><\/p>\n Other kinds of actions are \u201ccall now\u201d, \u201cvisit our website\u201d, \u201ccomplete this form\u201d, and more. The benefit of direct-response advertising is that when your prospect is in the decision phase of the buyer\u2019s journey, it may be just the thing to get them to pull the trigger with your business. On the other hand, ordering people about when they don\u2019t trust you can be a real turn off.\u00a0 For those businesses that have a very short sales cycle, Direct Response advertising may be the only type of ad they need.<\/p>\n Additionally, Direct Response advertising can provide some in-depth metrics about how your ad is functioning. This is the basis for a lot of digital and coupon advertising<\/a>.<\/p>\n No matter what kind of small business you own, or where you\u2019re located, I can tell you that targeting a local audience is the best way to advertise. And I don\u2019t just mean in your city or surrounding zip codes, I mean hyper-locally. Find your business on a map, draw a 5-mile radius around it, and boom! There is your target audience.<\/p>\n Why should your small business advertise locally? Because your customers likely live within just a few miles of where your business is located.<\/p>\n Have you ever driven 10 miles to go to the dry cleaner? Or worked with a realtor from the other side of town?<\/p>\n Consumers tend to stick close to home, so that is exactly who your advertising should target.<\/p>\n Your customer list will naturally grow and shrink. First, you gain one, then you lose one. This natural ebb and flow of customer growth means that your advertising should be done consistently and frequently.<\/p>\n Think of your business as a bucket poked with holes being filled with water.<\/strong><\/p>\n Advertising is the faucet. When turned on, you get a constant stream of new prospects flowing into your customer acquisition pipeline. As you pour more water into the bucket, some of it naturally spills out. That\u2019s okay! If you keep adding water to the bucket, you\u2019ll always have a steady stream of prospects.<\/p>\n If you turn the faucet off, you run the risk of your bucket running dry. Life can be unpredictable. So while you may feel that you\u2019ve mastered the ability to turn your faucet on and off at just the right moments, any unexpected bump in the road might cause your bucket to empty.<\/p>\n We want your business to thrive! Consistent advertising can make that a reality.<\/p>\n A quick Google search for \u201ctypes of small business advertising\u201d returns over 900 million results!<\/p>\n If you\u2019re like most small business owners I know, sorting through the vastness of the internet takes time that you don\u2019t have. Instead, check out these posts to quickly learn about the types of advertising that are most effective for small businesses.<\/p>\n By this point, you\u2019ll be familiar with the major types of advertising available, and have a general idea of which ones meet your criteria:<\/p>\n Now what?<\/p>\n To find the best way to advertise, you need to rank those options through an even comparison. To do this, look at all of your above criteria, compare across each advertising medium.<\/p>\n We call this method of comparison \u201cRATE Your Advertising\u201d.<\/p>\nStep 1: Define Advertising Success<\/h2>\n
Step 2: Identify Your Business Objective<\/h2>\n
Branding Ads are About Familiarity<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nDirect Response Ads Command Action<\/h3>\n
Step 3: Identify Your Target Audience<\/h2>\n
Step 4: Choose Advertising That is Consistent<\/h2>\n
Step 5: Research Types of Small Business Advertising<\/h2>\n
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Step 6: Compare Your Options<\/h2>\n
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