The Biggest Mistake in Advertising

13 Feb 2024

Not long ago, a business owner reached out to because they needed to sell more tickets for an upcoming event. Specifically, they wondered about the cost of buying digital ads.

Curious, I probed: why weren’t tickets selling? Had they considered altering the date or revising their promotional materials? Not yet, they admitted. Ads seemed like the quickest fix.

I empathized with their perspective. It’s a common belief that ads, especially digital ones, can remedy any marketing problem, but that’s far from the truth.

In reality, ads amplify existing circumstances. If something isn’t selling well, ads will magnify that issue, yielding more clicks but fewer conversions. Conversely, if sales are brisk, ads will accelerate the process. But they won’t fix a flawed marketing funnel – that’s on you.

Before launching an ad campaign, ask yourself why. Here are three good reasons:

You’re already selling products organically and want to expedite the process.
You’re garnering opt-ins without ads and want to accelerate growth.
You possess warm leads and seek to nudge them toward conversion.

However, there are two reasons to steer clear of ads:

To rescue dying sales (address the root issue first).
To get likes and followers (without clear purpose).

So, what’s the next step for my perplexed business owner? As I’ve advised before and will say again, reach out to customers and get their perspective. Diagnose the shortcomings and implement improvements. Just don’t waste resources on ads that will only amplify your frustration. Marketing is too expensive for that.

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