Why you should advertise isn’t always a simple concept. Sending email is free, creating a Facebook page is free, reaching out on Twitter is free, IG pages and posts are free, cold-calling is free, PR can be free, reviews are free, referrals are free, and advertising costs money.
Caveat: it could be argued that there is a cost to many forms of “free” marketing, namely in the time and effort it takes to execute.
So why is it that even with all of these wonderfully low cost and free ways to promote your business should you make advertising one of your core lead generation tactics?
Advertising is in fact one of the marketing tactics that comes with an invoice. You must write a check to run ads or send direct mail, often before seeing any results. With these other venues, clients often shy away from advertising, not because of the cost, because they don’t know how to get results and they don’t completely understand the long-term residual effects.
But if you look at it like for every 100 bucks you spent, you made $200. Now you factor that you may have obtained a repeat client or customer you would probably ask to spend in increments of $1000 in lieu of hundreds right?
To get results from advertising today you must:
1. Be laser focused on a specific ideal client
Create awareness for valuable content with a call to action.
2. Measure leads and conversion fanatically. Did you hear me say MEASURE YOUR RESULTS.
Measurement mechanisms will be a topic of another post so stay tuned.
When done effectively advertising is an essential part of mix because:
1. Advertising is the only medium you can control – if you want your message to hit on the day a product launches or event is about to happen, this is the only vehicle you control completely.
2. Advertising allows you to target ideal customers only – when you match a very personal message to a very select audience you get far greater connection. A VERY COMMON MISTAKE most disillusioned advertisers make is advertising too broadly, like an awareness ad in a magazine.
3. Advertising creates awareness for your content – The force that drives a great deal of conversion and trust building these days is educational content – ebooks, seminars and blog posts – advertising is a great way to help get that content found and consumed once you’ve gone to the effort to produce it.
4. Advertising can add credibility to your message – The perception that a business can afford advertising is often enough to sell and resell prospects and customers alike.
5. Advertising amplifies everything else you’re doing – When you are using advertising to create awareness for your content you automatically create more awareness for everything you are doing. In todays market only the strongest brands tend to be visible via more traditonal paid channels, and employees can point to well-placed ads as a source of pride in place they work.
In short, if done correctly advertising should absolutely be part of your marketing mix. The key to successful advertising is to to be strategic in your planning and very careful in your execution.
