Written by Davin Broadbent

I keep thinking about a recent conversation with a potential client, the conversation went pretty much along the lines of:

Client: “How much do I really need to spend on an effective advertising campaign?”

Of the four or five responses that immediately sprang to mind, I replied with “What do you consider an effective advertising campaign to be?”

The potential client looked at me as though I was crazy and said “I just want to make more sales”, he then went on to say “I’ve heard the internet is pretty cheap for advertising, can we do that?”

At this point I started to explain some of the principles of marketing and advertising, identifying target markets, measurability, cost per sale, return on investment and I noticed immediately a glazed expression on his face, the sort I usually get when I’m confronted by my accountant.

He didn’t care. He wanted results and wanted to know how much it would cost, but sadly it’s not that simple.

Most people when considering an advertising strategy will start with a budget; they put aside a certain amount of revenue, a war chest if you will, which will allow them the freedom to speculate on things like advertising. The problem is Advertising is not a science. There is no magic bullet, no guarantee that anything you do to promote your product will actually increase sales. There is no formula that you can apply that will tell you if you spend $x on advertising you will increase sales by x%. There are however some tried and tested methods that will optimise your chances of success.

1. Make sure your market is there.

There is no point advertising online (or in any other medium) if your market doesn’t frequent the space or is too hard to identify/separate from competing attentions.

2. Make sure your Market trusts the channel enough to make purchasing decisions.

You don’t sell Diamonds with a classified ad

3. Create advertisements that will generate attention.

Always test this before going to market. Use a sample audience based on your target market. What seems important to you, may not interest your potential market in the same way.

4. Make sure your advertisements are converting to a sale by asking for the business.

If you don’t ask for the sale then you are simply conducting a branding exercise.

Marketers spend a lot of time analysing historical data and trends to get an idea of what works and in most cases this provides the basis for projections. Unfortunately there are so many outside factors that can also adversely affect an advertising campaign ranging from competitor action to natural disasters. Marketing and Advertising professionals understand these things and while they cannot prevent a flood or an earthquake they can advise you where to get the most “Bang for your Buck” and generally tailor a campaign that addresses a desired set of outcomes.

It is also important to remember that advertising is still only a part of your overall marketing commitment. There are still plenty of marketing initiatives that you can implement from within your business that will only cost you time and effort. There are also a number of organisations like Beachside Creative that provide outsourced marketing and advertising services, which allow you greater involvement and control of your marketing while still giving you the freedom to do what you do best.