The ad didn't work. What now?

Small businesses aren't big advertisers. They can't afford to be, so when an advertising campaign doesn't deliver results it's especially painful.

The good news is that a little knowledge can go a long way to helping make sure that the next advertising campaign gets better results.

First look at what advertising can and can't do. What it CAN do is:

Communicate information about a business to whomever is watching, reading or listening to the advertising medium that's selected
Generate responses from those who see or hear it
Create an impression that lasts longer than the newspaper or magazine or radio spot

What an advertisement CAN'T do is to actually sell something. Advertisers can get a tremendous response without making a single sale. Does that mean the advertising has failed? Maybe so, but probably not.

First, there has been a response to the ad if somebody saw it and took the action called for in the advertisement. By the way, if a small business runs an ad without a "call to action" it's almost always wasting money!
Always include a way for the reader/viewer to respond to the offer - Come in today, Call us now, or Send today for your free sample are all examples of calls to action. They should be clearly stated, quickly understood, and easy to act on.

Obviously if a business runs an advertisement (with a call to action) and gets no responses to it the ad hasn't worked. Maybe it was an unexciting or uncompetitive offer. Maybe the headline failed to communicate value. Maybe the copywriting was confusing. Maybe the advertisement appeared in a medium that wasn't seen by any prospective customers.

When the wisdom of hindsight is applied to the matter of why it didn't work chances are the answer will be apparent or be figured out pretty quickly. If there's still no obvious reason and the offer made in the advertisement is both attractive and competitive, try changing an element like the headline or the illustration and see what happens.

One solution to doubts about advertising is to test an advertisement. Run it to see if it generates a response, then run it again with an element that's been changed to see which works the best. A different headline can really affect the results.

This may sound like an expensive process but it is one way to make sure that advertising achieves the maximum possible response. Keep on testing until the process has created something that's really powerful.

Another test is to change the advertising medium to see which generates the biggest response. Most media proprietors have accurate audience details so if a would be advertiser is looking for a specific target they can review the available statistics to find out which delivers the best value. Usually this is determined from the "cost per thousand" - how much it costs per 1,000 members of the target audience - that gives a yardstick for comparisons between alternatives.

When advertising in the print media get samples of all the publications that seem appropriate and see where competitors regularly promote themselves. They're probably getting a response or they wouldn't be there.

To evaluate a publication give a call to some of the existing advertisers who appear in it and ask them for their opinion. What kind of response do they get? How does this compare with the sales they make? There are big differences between advertising media and it's essential to be in the ones that are generating responses for their advertisers.

If the advertising does get a response - people call the business, go to the website, walk in the door - the ad has done just about all it can do. If an advertisement is placed in a local magazine with a circulation of 3,000 and it gets 150 responses this would usually be considered a pretty good response (5% of the circulation has responded).

If none of those 150 people actually buys something the campaign has had a bad result but not a bad response to it. Look somewhere other than at the advertisement for the reason why nothing was sold.

Take a good look at existing systems for handling responses to advertising; has the sales team been told when the advertising is appearing and what the offer is? Are they given sufficient information and training to sell the offer when the advertising generates a response? If prospective customers call up about the offer but there's nobody on the other end of the phone to make the sale then the advertising investment has been wasted.

If advertisers are willing to invest the time and money it takes to discover the best advertisement, best offer and best medium they'll find their advertising works a lot better than it ever has before. That is, they'll get more responses than ever before.

For more information contact your RAN ONE business professionals at
Academy of Business Excellence Limited