Small Business Coaching on What to Do When Your Ad Is Not Working

By Allison Babb

Ads… OK, not my favorite option for how to sell services or how to bring in clients and customers (more on why in a minute), but it can work IF you do it right. Sadly, most ads give business owners pitiful results and it ends up being a huge chunk of wasted cash. And for the new entrepreneurs, definitely not the first thing to think about if you're starting a home-based business.

In this article I will not only share 4 powerful ways to make your ads work successfully, but I’ll also share some secrets the ad-sales people may not want you to know (sorry, no offense if you sell ads)

Ads can be dangerous

The ad sales person knocks on your door and says our ad will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. We can already smell the cash coming in. It’s bound to create sales, right? Wrong. Pay careful attention to how you’re being sold on ads. Not all ad sales people do this of course, but we need to be careful.

Ad-sales folks don’t ever tell you what results you can expect from your ads. They just tell you how many eyes will see it, yes? And that can be totally meaningless. Here’s why. If those eyes aren’t the eyes of your niche or target market, you can expect zero sales. Ads are dangerous when you purchase them solely based on the promise of a gazillion eyes seeing your ad, vs results.

Next time an ad sales person comes knocking ask them “So what type of results have others in my type of industry experienced placing ads with you?” and “Do you have references from biz owners that got great results doing ads with you? (hint: leads or sales) ” Then wait for the response – you may just get deafening silence.

For an ad to work like gangbusters it must have these 4 qualities:

1. Appeal to your target market: Take a look at your ad. What does it say? Is it all about you or is it all about your target market. Of course, I’m also assuming you have selected a narrow and focused target market (that’s not “everyone”). This gives you the ability to become intimately familiar with their key problems so you are truly able speak their language in an ad. If you’re not speaking their language, this may be why they’re not listening.

And if you’ve not done the research to find out what your target market really wants from you, your words in the ad are unlikely to get their attention. One of my customers told me this week “I went to your website and it was like you were reading my mind. You knew exactly what I was thinking and experiencing.” I call that “magnetic mind-reading marketing.” And that’s the type of response you’d want from your ad.

2. Speak to their key problems: If your ad is all about what you do and all the products and services you offer, the focus is on the wrong thing. An ad needs to be about the problems you solve, the results you can help your clients/customers achieve, or the burning desire you fulfill for them. It has to tune into station WIIFM (what’s in it for me). And, of course, your ad should be in a publication (online or offline) that you know is read by your target market/ideal prospect. Be sure you ask for the demographics of the readers of that publication.

3. Give a “call to action”: A “call to action” is a clear and specific invitation to take action. Call this ph# for a free consultation, pick up your free special report here, get a free audio/video here, come in on this date to get a discount. Your ad must end by inviting the reader to take action. And if you did a great job of appealing to their problems/desires and highlighting the results you help them achieve, they’d be more than eager to take the next step with you.

4. Repetition: Studies have shown that customers buy only after several iterations of seeing your ad or hearing from you. Typically more than 7 iterations which is why ads can get costly for a solo business owner. If you choose to do ads, make sure your budget can easily accommodate 7 or more iterations of placing the ad. Although your ad sales person may sell you a single ad, buying one ad will most likely be a waste of your precious cash.

So if your ad is not working, ask yourself:

Is my ad being placed in front of my idea prospects/target market?
Am I intimately familiar with the problems I solve for them so I can truly speak their language?
Is the content of my ad primarily focused on the problems I solve and the results I help my customers achieve?
Have I invited them to take the next step with me by making an irresistible offer in my ad?
Did I repeat my ad enough times to create the results I want?

When the answers to those are crystal clear to you, you have the makings of one very powerful client-generating ad.

Allison Babb is an author, speaker and Small Business Coach to solo entrepreneurs. Allison publishes the "Small Business Success" weekly Ezine on how to create a steady stream of clients for your small business at: www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com