Shameless Success with Your Advertising

By Debbie Allen, All Rights Reserved

Keep a Clear Focus
Why do so many businesses lose too much money on their advertising and simply give up? Because their marketing efforts are too business-focused and not customer-focused. Keep a strong focus on your core customer base, and know everything about how they think and act.

Decide on Long-term Advertising
If your advertising is not working, don’t blame the publication – stop and take a look at what you could do to improve the effectiveness of your advertising. Educate yourself on marketing skills by reading books and studying from the masters. You will reap the rewards of more effective advertising when you make the extra effort in educating yourself in advance.

Cut out the Excess
If it doesn’t need to be told – don’t tell it. Keep your advertising straight forward and to the point. The problem is that we are so close to our businesses, we often don’t see the most obvious things that prospective customers see or don’t see. Don’t assume viewers of your advertising know what your business is all about. You must tell them and show them in a simplistic way that makes them feel comfortable.

Feature Your USP
Here are some insightful questions to ask yourself when designing your advertising. What makes your customers do business with you instead of your competitors? What is your specialty? Why do existing customers stay loyal to your business?

Study your competitors and know what their strengths and weaknesses are. I even suggest that you become a customer of your competitors if you can, to see how they do business with their customers. Sign up on their mailing lists, go to their websites, and pay attention to what your customers have to say about them.

Feature Benefits – Not Features
Advertising is only effective if it sells. No ad sells unless it first informs. Inform your prospective customers why they should trust you, believe in your business, and understand why your business is the best possible choice.

Work and rework your advertising copy. Spend 50 percent of your efforts writing a shamelessly benefit-rich headline that grabs prospective customers’ attention fast. Ask employees, business alliances and existing customers to review and evaluate your advertising. Ask for their input and see how they react to your advertising versus your competitors’ advertising.

Make it a Priority
To be successful – you MUST plan for success! The most successful businesses plan their marketing and advertising well in advance and compare what has worked and not worked in the past. They don’t wait until the last minute to simply throw an ad together because they don’t like working on their marketing or don’t have the time. You have the time when you make it a success priority.

If you want to cash in on your advertising, stop throwing away your marketing dollars with ineffective advertising. The quality time you spend on your advertising will pay off for you time and time again.

Create a Call to Action
What do you want your prospective customer to do? Call your business, drive to your business, or view your website? Whatever that CALL TO ACTION is, you must develop it in the foot of your advertising message.

Once your advertising is working effectively for you, it is a 24/7 non-stop marketing machine. Keep shamelessly cashing in!

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Bio: Debbie Allen is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and marketing.  She is the author of five books including Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters and Skyrocketing Sales.  Debbie has helped thousands of people around the world attract customers like crazy with her innovative, no-cost marketing strategies and secrets to sales success.  Her expertise has been featured in Entrepreneur, Selling Power and Sales & Marketing Excellence.  Sign up for her FREE 6-week e-Course Business Success Secrets Revealed ($97 value) and take the online business card quiz to rate your marketing online now at www.DebbieAllen.com.