Are You Ready for Ads?

Are you ready to start running ads to promote your small business product or service?

I have so many clients that approach me with the concern that they spent $800 on running advertising and did not see the results they wanted from those ads. The ads are just not working for them and the clients don’t have the dollars to be throwing out the window. I wish more clients would come to me first with this question - am I ready to start running ads for my small business?

Here are a few factors to help you determine whether you are ready (or not) to run an advertising campaign.

Identify your audience

You need to carefully select the audience that you want to target with your ads.  If you are boosting ads to get as many people as possible to see the ad and not targeting a specific audience, you’re not ready to start ads.

The goal of the ad

You need to have goals that you want to reach by running the ad.  Most likely your number one goal is to make money from the ad. Right?  So if you're doing advertising and you're not making money from those ads directly, then you're probably doing it wrong.   Another goal could be in what timeframe do you want to make this money.  You need to decide how long it will take to see a return on investment.

Your budget

By budget I don’t mean that you have only $100 to spend compared to a larger company with thousands to spend. I mean if you cannot afford to have that money float away and never see it again, you likely cannot afford ads.  But if you are spending your last $200 on ads, hoping that those ads are going to make you $2,000 or whatever the return on investment is, you're likely not ready to run ads.

Take time to test the ads

Allow for some time to determine which types of ads work better for which audiences - which ads perform better on various platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn.  Allow some time to test this out and don’t just boost all your ads to get in front of as many people as possible.

Know what content you want to use

Do you want to use a video, an image, advertising copy, a call to action?  You need to decide which types of content you want to create to use in your ads.  You need to have strong images or ad copy that speaks to your audience.  If you don’t have engaging content - good video or images or a solid call to action - you’re most likely not ready to run these ads.

Now, if you realize you don’t know how to do any of these things or where to even get started with creating an advertising campaign - don’t worry. I offer free workshops on this topic and I offer services through my company, Predictable Results Marketing.

Looking for more information on how to craft an effective ad?

We've got an article that takes a deeper look at creating a story that will resonate with your customers. What's Holding Your Small Business Back - A Quick Look Into Your Business Brand