5 Common Mistakes: Evaluating Advertising Packages for Small Businesses
Imagine you want to expand your business's reach. A salesperson calls you from the local newspaper and says you should buy a $1,000 advertising package for your small business. This seems like an innocent enough decision, but it is how many small businesses waste advertising dollars every day.
Strategize Before Splurging When Selecting An Advertising Package
There may be nothing wrong with the advertising package purchased in the scenario above. The problem lies in the lack of evaluation of the package against the business's overall marketing strategy. So what should you do instead?
5 Common Mistakes Made When Selecting Advertising Packages
The decision to invest in advertising is often a pivotal moment. But, the journey from selecting advertising packages for small businesses to reaping the benefits can have its share of pitfalls. Let’s dive into five common mistakes that can hurt the effectiveness of your advertising and how to avoid them.
1. Not having a clear advertising strategy.
A common mistake business owners make is not considering their advertising strategy, or not having one. You should assess advertising packages for small businesses against your advertising strategy before saying yes. This should include a clear understanding of who you want to reach, their media habits, and what action you want them to take as a result of seeing your ad.
2. Spreading your budget too thin.
Another common mistake is spreading your budget too thin, across multiple advertising packages. It may seem like a good idea to have a presence on every platform, but it's important to focus on the ones that will give you the best return on investment and maximize your impact. By focusing your budget on platforms that will reach your target audience at the right time, and place, and while they are in the right mindset to act, you can maximize your ROI and avoid wasted impressions.
3. Not running your ads for long enough.
It's important to give your ads enough time to run before deciding whether they worked or didn't. Many small business owners make the mistake of pulling their ads too soon. Not giving ads a chance to optimize prevents them from reaching their full potential.
To avoid this mistake, run ads for at least a few months. Gather enough data to analyze and make informed decisions about advertising packages for small businesses.
4. Not putting yourself in your audience's shoes.
Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash
It’s tempting to run ads where you know you will see them. It’s exciting to see your ad! The problem is, that your habits don’t always mimic your audience’s media consumption habits. As a result, targeting ads this way may result in wasted ad spend.
When choosing an advertising package for small businesses, put yourself in your audience's shoes. Think about where they are spending time and when they are in the right mindset to act on your message.
5. Not having a measurement and optimization plan.
Analytics are a valuable tool for measuring the success of your advertising campaign. But, many business owners make the mistake of not using them or not understanding the data. Whether you are running with the local newspaper, or on Facebook you should always know how your ad performed so you can optimize it in the future. Track your analytics and use it to inform where you spend future advertising dollars.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: How can I accurately determine my target audience to avoid selecting the wrong advertising package?
A: Identifying your target audience involves researching and understanding who your ideal customers are. Create a customer persona including factors like demographics, interests, and pain points. Use this persona to analyze advertising packages to better engage with your ideal customer.
Q: What steps should I take to set clear marketing objectives before choosing an advertising package?
A: Setting clear marketing objectives begins with understanding your business goals. Be specific about what you want to achieve (e.g., a 20% increase in online sales over three months). Having these goals will guide you in selecting an advertising package for small businesses that can best help you achieve them.
Q: How can a small business with a limited budget make the most of an advertising package?
For small businesses with limited budgets, focus on cost-effective advertising strategies. This includes:
Advertising packages for small businesses that offer high value for a lower cost. Packages with targeting options such as digital marketing are better than less-targetable traditional media tactics.
Targeting advertising efforts to the most relevant audiences. This reduces waste and increases frequency to your most important audience.
Monitoring and analyzing the performance. By understanding what works you can more effectively spend future budgets.
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