Better
Marketing Results for Your Lismore Business - Another Free
Article From Lismore Lawyers
Have you tried advertising as a marketing strategy to
grow your business? Did it work? If not, you may have
missed one, or all, of the following components of
effective advertising. You must advertise in the right
places, place ads the right number of times, and have the
right ad.
It is key that you advertise in the right places. And
the best places are the ones where your ideal clients will
see your ads. If you don't have a huge budget then think
about starting off by placing classified ads in magazines,
trade publications, or newspapers.
You can also place affordable ads on websites or
directories. And of course Google AdWords is an option (a
great way to test different versions of an ad to see which
one is the most popular).
Frequency is another vital key to effective advertising.
It's been said that it takes at least seven contacts with a
prospective client before they will act. If you plan to
place an ad only one time, please forget advertising as one
of your marketing strategies because it will not work.
Once you've found the right place to advertise (and
you're committed to sticking with it for at least seven
placements), it's then time to create the right ad.
Think about it, when you see an ad that only has a logo,
the name of a company, and a phone number are you really
motivated to drop what you are doing and pick up the phone
and call them? Not usually.
Here's the deal, effective advertisements are not about
you and your company. They are about your ideal clients and
what they want and need.
It's important to have the right expectations about what
result you want your ad to deliver. It is unlikely that
someone who reads your ad will immediately buy from your
business.
People want to get to know you a little bit first and
find out more about how you may be able to help them. It's
not about making a sale; it's about inviting someone to
take the next step with your business.
Here is a simple three step formula you can use to
create an effective ad. I'll use my business as an
example.
STEP ONE - Name them
Who are your ideal clients? You can use a question, for
example: "Are you a small business owner?" Or you can grab
attention by saying, "Attention: Small Business
Owners."
STEP TWO - Name their problem
What is one problem you can help your ideal clients
solve? I'm sure your business helps clients solve more than
one problem, but you want to keep your ad focused so just
choose one. Again, you can ask a question, "Would you like
to attract more clients." You can also make a statement,
"Attract more clients now."
STEP THREE - Give your solution in the form of a
'call to action'
Your 'call to action' is the ONE action you want someone
to take who is interested in knowing more about your
business. Choose a 'call to action' that is simple and easy
to do. If you offer something valuable at no cost, even
better. It can be a consultation, an article, a free
report, or an audio recording.
Here's one example of a 'call to action': Grab your free
copy of the special report, 7 Steps to Attract More Clients
in Less Time, plus monthly business building tips written
by Life & Business Coach Stephanie Ward by simply
visiting www.fireflycoaching.com.
Now, putting all three parts of an effective ad together
you get this:
There's one more thing you have to do when you
advertise. You must measure your results to find out if
it's working. The goal of placing an ad is to attract more
business, so are you? One way to find out is to ask every
prospective client who contacts you how they heard about
you.
If you're going to use advertising as one of your
marketing strategies to grow your business, make sure you
give it the best chance to succeed. Take the time to find
the best place to advertise and create a compelling ad that
will motivate prospective clients to take action.
©
Stephanie Ward, 2008