Hopefully, you found Part 1 of Tiffani’s Post on Advertising Tips:  “Spend Your Ad Dollars Wisely” helpful. Here is the second part of her post on designing and tracking your advertising.  Have any questions for advertising Expert Tiffani? Share them in the comments section below.

Designing Your Advertising

Designing your ad can be tricky. If you are a new business you may want to focus your design on branding and awareness, if you have been around a while and people are already aware it may be best to focus on a deal or pointing out the benefits of your business. Every consumer wants to think they are “getting a deal” and they love convenience. Always keep this in mind when designing your advertisement.

With outdoor advertising, the rule of thumb is “7 words or less”. When people are driving by your billboard or outdoor sign they only have a second or two to see it and really digest what you are trying to tell them, so keeping it simple and to the point will be the most effective. A large logo and some sort of call to action will work best! Offering a “FREE MONTH” or “25% your first month” sort of thing will really grab some attention. With radio or television, some catchy jingle or atheistically pleasing ad design will grab attention and be remembered. For mailers or door hangers you can add a little more information as these are advertisements that the potential customer will actually have the time to look at and read thoroughly so you can spell out, more clearly, what your services are or why they should come do business with you instead of the guy down the street.

Create a Survey or Way to Track Your Advertising

Try to have your “call to action” designs and promotions specific to each form of advertising, this way you can track how each is working separately. For example: offer the 25% off discount on your mailer and the FREE month on the billboard so that you can track how many people ask or mention each; this will give you a good idea of how each medium is working as well as monitor your return on investment. Again, ALWAYS remember to ask each new customer how they heard about you! Surveys are another wonderful way to know how you are doing, how you can improve, and will allow you to collect emails for your customers. This is will allow you to create a database where you can send email blasts about specials and promotions that you are offering which is yet another way to advertise for FREE!

I know the thought of advertising your business can be overwhelming and stressful; just take it slow and easy. Try dipping your foot in the pool to start as it’s always going to be better than jumping in the deep end head first. One thing I know for certain is that advertising works! My kids are living proof. Almost daily I get a text from one of them saying they want “Burger King” for dinner (because they just saw a TV commercial) or they need to get a new hat at the NIKE store because they saw it on a billboard. To succeed you must spend a little money to let everyone in town know you are there; this is also your opportunity to let them know why they should choose YOU over the competition. When advertising is done right it should pay for itself tenfold.

What works well for your small business? Let us know some of your advertising tips below in the comments section.

Bio:

Tiffani Palacios has been working in the advertising industry for over 20 years. Over the course of her career she has been the President of the Las Vegas Clear Channel Outdoor division, ran the daily operations for Vector Media, owned her own advertising company, and for the past 5 years has been the Program Manager for the Patriot Truck Leasing program. As she puts it, “advertising runs through her blood” at this point.