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By Diane Hughes
Too many small business owners today run ad campaigns that
get little to no results, and they have no idea why. When
you have the knowledge to troubleshoot the poor responses,
you also have the knowledge to make the needed changes so
that - next time - your sales improve! Let’s take a look at
the breakdown of an ad campaign, and how to determine what
went wrong.
Response vs. Results
It’s important to understand the difference between
response rate and results. When a customer takes the action
you want him/her to take (i.e., clicking to your site,
calling your 800 number, etc.), then you’ve achieved
"response." This does NOT mean you’ve made a sale. The
response rate of your ad campaign can be high without ever
selling one product or service.
"Results," on the other hand, are the sales you make in
conjunction with the response rate. When a customer takes
the action you want him/her to take AND buys your
product/service, then you’ve achieved results.
No Response
When you get little to no response, chances are that one of
two things happened. One - your ad was poorly written and
didn’t generate enough interest to excite the customer to
take action; or two - the ad didn’t reach your preferred
target customer.
How do you determine which one is the culprit? Test! Use
the same ad, but place it in a different ezine or on a
different Web site. If response rate improves, you know the
ad is most likely fine, but the audience exposure was off.
If the response rate does not improve, it’s probably best
to rewrite the headline, the ad, or both.
Response But No Results
If you run an ezine ad, banner ad, etc., and get responses
without making any sales, the most probable theory is that
your supporting ad copy or offer is not doing its job.
Ezine ads, banner ads, and the like will never make a sale
on their own. The customer is almost always going to be
directed to click back to your Web site. If the copy/design
of your ad is working, but no sales are being made, take a
good look at the copy or design of your site. Chances are
that it could be costing you sales.
Again, testing is the key. Change a headline, add links
that direct to "more information" pages, and so on. Run the
ad again, and see if your results improve.
You’ll notice that in either case, testing is the
recommended course of action. So many small business owners
get in a hurry and neglect to test their ads. While it may
seem costly to run an ad, change an ad, and run it again -
the truth is that running unproven ads all across the ‘Net
without gaining any return on investment (ROI) is a huge
waste of money.
Yes, it does take a good deal of time. Yes, it can cost
additional money. However, once you’ve taken the time to
test an ad, and the copy on the supporting Web site that
customers will be directed to, you’ll be in a much better
position to ensure consistent sales from your campaigns.
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