Running ads for your business can be a daunting task; after all, spending your time on marketing is one thing, but your money is another. If you’re starting advertising online, keep these three rules in mind: you’ll have to put good money behind your ads to get the most out of them, you need to target more than just demographics, and you need to keep ads simple. Do all three, and you’ll have well-performing ads that aren’t throwing money away.
Rule One: You Have to Spend Money
If you’re looking at advertising, you probably already understand that, of all marketing options, advertising is pay to win: it can deliver the quickest results. But the other thing is that you’ll need to put significant money behind these ads to see results. Depending on your platform, having too small of a budget not only means slower results, but lower results, such as having your ads only run for a fraction of the day and being locked out of higher-performing keywords on Google Ads.
Rule Two: Targeting Isn’t Just for Demographics
When I say “ad targeting,” you’re probably thinking about demographics. While that’s important, targeting needs to start before you even pick a platform. Below are the things to keep in mind:
- Who are you selling to? Figuring out your demographics is still essential, especially the “who.” Their interests and vocations are just as important as their gender, age, and location. Working up an ideal client profile is vital.
- Where are they looking? Identifying the platforms your clients use, ranging from consumers to businesses, is crucial for determining where to place your ads. Should you put ads on Facebook, Google Ads, or even LinkedIn?
- What can you sell them? Which of your products are the best to advertise? Consider both the clients and the platform you’re advertising on, as well as which of your services have high ROI or need more sales.
Rule Three: Keep Ads Simple
It can be tempting to make complex ads: ads with exhaustive detail, ads on multiple platforms, or multiple campaigns on one platform. When you’re starting advertising online, after doing your research on your target audience, ad platform, and services (see rule two), you need to make your ads. It’s tempting to make exhaustive campaigns that cover all your services or try to sell to everyone. You need to avoid that and start with simple, straightforward ads that have money and targeting behind them.
A story our COO Julia likes to share is one of Apple’s marketer Lee Clow showing Steve Jobs that having an ad show off five features instead of one was like trying to get customer to catch five balls instead of one: simple messaging gives customers the chance to focus on your ad and make decisions in the limited window of when your ads shows where complex ads fail. Sam Kuehnle on LinkedIn has one of our favorite versions of the event.
If you keep these three rules in mind when formulating your ad strategy, you’ll have better results and fewer hiccups along the way. Need a hand starting advertising online for search or social media? Vision can help. Contact us today to get started. Looking for more marketing strategy and trend analysis? Check out the rest of our Vision blogs, our enVisioning Success podcast, and our downloadable Marketing Strategies Playbook.
