The best way for people to learn about your company and become customers is through advertising. I won’t get too caught up in schooling you on the ins and outs of the world of advertising today. While there is much to learn, one truth stands out: if your advertising isn’t working, you’re doing it wrong. Let’s explore this further.
There are so many ways to advertise your company and most of them use good quality written text (copy) and graphics (photography or illustrations). Let’s make a deal: you do what you’re good at (being an awesome business owner) and we’ll do what we’re good at (writing advertising copy for successful brands).
We can’t stress enough how important it is for you to get this part of advertising right. If you’re after an amateur looking brand, please, feel free to play designer.
Go ahead – design your ads in Microsoft Word and watch potential customers line up… on your competition’s doorstep.
Advertising is all about how your brand is perceived. So even if you splurge on a to-die-for opportunity, if your ad looks like it was written by an amateur it’s going to fail. I don’t know why this still surprises business owners. When a potential customer walks past your brand, literally or figuratively, their minds will subconsciously judge the design. Usually, they don’t even realise why they ignore your advertising, but the human brain frequently filters out things that don’t look appealing. When your advertising and design are substandard it means lost customers.
Have you seen the quote on LinkedIn that goes along the lines of: “If you think hiring a professional is expensive, just wait until you hire an amateur”? That’s my message in a nutshell.
Yet many small to medium companies spend their entire advertising budget on making one big splash – the expo table, sponsoring a sports team, that subscription box giveaway – and they don’t think to follow through with a dazzling display of professionalism that oozes class. Whether that‘s presentation slides, an accompanying brochure or the actual ad in the sponsorship magazine.
It’s sad but true that if you do it wrong your advertising dollars will go down the gurgler. You may even think your advertising doesn’t work. Companies tend to cut back on costs after a big spend – or sometimes even during it – when with a little more effort in getting things right, they would really see the benefit of their advertising. The ripples afterwards are as important as the initial splash.
If you truly want to reap the rewards you simply must do advertising right. When you say ‘Yes!’ to an advertising opportunity, you must take into account the subsequent costs that come with it, including design, copywriting, printing, gifts and so on.
Don’t set yourself up for failure before you’ve even begun. Planning on a big spend? Add a few more dollars and do it well. It’s stupid not to do everything possible to achieve your ideal outcome.
About the author
Maria Bellissimo-Magrin is the CEO of full-service creative marketing agency Belgrin.
