Why are my advertisements not working?

Show your ad to a designer and she will give a list of ten design tweaks. Show your ad to a marketer and she will tell you why your message is all wrong.

Show your ad to a business coach and she will say that there may be nothing wrong with your ad at all. And it’s possible that there is something wrong. But first…

Let’s start by looking at your business operations. To illustrate why, here’s a story:

Remember my brother got married a couple of months ago? Recently, my mother was on the hunt for a wedding album designer. She cares a lot about quality and decided that she would go down to a few vendors and check out their samples. 

With that plan in mind she started reaching out to service providers who advertised in local papers and directories. She was extremely disappointed to find that she didn’t hear back from most. And those that did respond were not consistent in their communication. 

Then my sister-in-law recommended a designer she found on Instagram and my mother reached out to her. Surprise! She responded!

Her business wasn’t local and there was no way to ensure that she would meet my mother’s many requirements. It didn’t make logical “sense” to work with her. She was chosen simply because she was an excellent communicator. 

As this album story was transpiring I was thinking of all those poor local business owners sitting at home and wondering why their ads aren’t working. 

They surely want to know -

Do I need to rebrand?

I really need to be on Instagram, don’t I?

I guess next time I should do a full page ad, right?

The answer to all those questions are - it depends. But - 

The first thing that needs to change are your internal business practices. 

When you set up systems that allow you to be more communicative, you are allowing yourself to capitalize on any tiny bit of exposure that you’ve already gotten from your advertisements. 

And you don’t just maximize the short-term benefits of your ad, as you now have an entire new source of prospects through word of mouth marketing. When you offer top-notch customer service, you will stand out and you get recommended.

So take a moment to think about your business processes. 

What can you implement today to ensure that your clients or prospects feel seen and heard?