How to Evaluate Advertising
At one point or another, almost every business will start advertising to generate leads and more sales for the business. After waiting at least two weeks, it’s important to evaluate the advertising campaign and see if that campaign it producing a return on investment. If no leads or sales have been generated, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board and evaluate the ad itself.
1. Make sure that your advertisement has an attention grabbing picture. Images are everything in the advertising world and if the picture associated with your ad immediately grabs the reader’s attention the person will be more inclined to read your ad. If you didn’t use a picture in your advertising campaign, then it’s important to use an attention grabbing headline that asks the reader a question. For example: “What will you do when the IRS seizes your assets?”
2. Review your advertising copy to see if it’s easy for anyone to read. Your ad copy must also stand out from the competition and be unique. Many advertisements these days are all the same. If your ad is different than your competitor's by focusing on how your product or service will solve a common problem and make the customer's life easier, you will generate more business from your ad.
3. Verify that your ad has a strong call to action (CTA). This is the most important part of advertising. You can have the most well-written ad in the world, but if it doesn’t tell the reader to do something like call your 1-800 number for a free quote, visit your website or come to your place of business, you’re wasting money.
4. Offer something for free to the readers if they take action now. This step is one of the most effective ways to encourage a reader to take action. For example: “Call us today and receive a free ten dollar Starbucks gift card just for calling.”
5. Create a catchy slogan. Many successful companies have achieved big results from their advertising over recent years by creating catchy slogans. If your advertising slogan is catchy, funny and memorable, it will stay in your potential customers' heads and they will be more inclined to call you.