Jim Connolly Marketing

How to get massively better results from your advertising

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How to, advertising tips, ads

Let’s dive right in!

Here are 3 tips to help you get massively better results from your advertising.

1: Discover the media your customers consume

You need to uncover what your prospective customers read, listen to or watch. This will be easier for some of you than others. If, for example, you sell exclusively to a certain industry, it’s easy to identify the most popular media aimed at that industry. The same is true if you sell to a particular community, such as those interested in cycling, cars, boats, cooking, etc. 

For those who sell to a less well defined group, you’ll need to talk with your customers. A simple survey will help. Then look for common threads within the survey answers. For example, they may be interested in a wide spread of things, yet a high percentage may be within a certain age group. This would help you find radio, podcasts, blogs, magazines or TV aimed at them… or at least a useful subset of them.

The more targeted you get your advertising, the better. No matter how great your product, service or offer is, people can’t buy from your ad if they don’t see it.

2: Learn how your customers consume media

Next, you need to know how your prospective customers consume their media. This will help you reach the right people, correctly.

For example, radio advertising can be very effective if you want to build brand awareness. However, it will be far less effective if you want to get people to take direct action and call you or visit your website. Many radio consumers listen whilst they drive, are at the gym or are in the shower, etc. In each example, they can’t easily write down a phone number, URL or social media handle.

So, you need to make sure you use the correct form of media, for the kind of ad you want to run. If you choose radio or podcasts for advertising, it’s worth investing in an easy to remember phone number and web address.

3: Do they pay attention to the ads?

Finally, you need to know if people are engaging with the ads.

The Game Informer magazine is read each month by over 7 million people. It’s an American video game publication and it contains lots of advertisements. Here’s the thing: The ads in the magazine actually add to its value. It would be less valuable to the readers if the ads weren’t there. That’s because video game enthusiasts WANT to know about the games, events and hardware being advertised.

Now compare that to websites that pre-run video ads, when you’re trying to read an article. Do these intrusive ads make the site more valuable to the user?

The point I’m making here is that there’s a difference between advertising where people want to hear what you have to say, and advertising where your message is seen as an annoying intrusion.

In closing

Be where your prospective customer’s attention is. If they are paying attention to what you have to say, and your advertisement is well produced, advertising can make you a fortune. So choose wisely.

I’ll finish today, with an insight from the father of modern advertising. David Ogilvy.

“Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticise advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.”

What to do when the economy is terrible

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business lesson, mistake

There’s a really good chance that wherever you are as you read this, the economic forecast is something between terrible and absolutely terrible.

Although a growing number of businesses are really struggling, others in the exact same industry are thriving. I know, because these thriving businesses are owned by the kind of people who hire me.

Whichever of those groups you are in, my advice to you is the same. You need to do 2 things.

  1. Reflect.
  2. Take action.

Let me explain.

Reflection and action

If we reflect on our current situation, our progress and the direction our business is heading, and discover we’re on course to hit or smash our targets, we need to take action.

  • We need to retain control of our focus.
  • We need to fight against complacency.
  • And we need to carry on doing the right things, correctly.

If we reflect on our current situation, our progress and the direction our business is heading, and discover we’re not on course, we also need to take action.

  • We need to wake up and accept the urgency of our situation.
  • We need to decide that more of the same is not an option.
  • We need to get strategic.
  • We need to make better decisions.
  • We need to take better actions.

There are business owners who are already switching between those 2 groups.

Switching groups

Some of those who were doing great got cocky, took their eye off the ball and slipped into the struggling group.

Some of those who were struggling woke up, stopped pretending this would ‘fix itself’, started planning and saw their results catapult them into the thriving group.

In short, regardless of where you and your business fit into this picture, it’s time to reflect and take action. Because when the economy is this screwed, a casual approach causes casualties.

Overcome your fear of criticism

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critics, criticism, jim connolly marketing

Criticism is painful.

How painful?

It’s painful enough to stop us from creating great products and services. It’s painful enough to stop us from marketing them as creatively as we possibly can.

The thing is, almost all criticism comes from people, who aren’t in the market for what we do. It comes from people who were never going to hire us. It comes from people who envy our success.

  • If you sell premium services, the low price crowd will be critical. It’s too expensive!
  • If you sell low price services, the premium crowd will be critical. It’s too cheap!
  • And whatever you sell, there will always be small-minded people who snipe at you. Who do you think you are!?!

NB: You’ll find this article useful “Why people criticise you and how to deal with it, in just 3 steps“.

Criticism is poison

This means we need to wise up. We need to listen to relevant voices. We need to learn from informed voices. We need to appreciate well-intentioned voices. And we need to ignore the rest.

Then… we need to follow the numbers!

Look at what the numbers tell you. Pay attention to your customers and prospective customers. Monitor their interest. Only then will you be free to do your best work. And free to market it the best way you can.

You’ll be amazed how your results improve when you learn how to deal with critics and their poison. It frees you to do your very best work, rather than a diluted version. It enables you to stand out, rather than try to blend in. It gives you and your products or services the visibility that only comes, when you’re truly doing things your way.

Of course, once you do this, the only thing stopping you is ‘you’. That’s both extremely liberating and more than a little scary. However, I work with businesspeople every day who’ve now learned how to overcome the fear of criticism. And the improvement it makes is life-changing.

You can overcome it with the right help

Decide today (yes today) to take action on overcoming your fear of criticism.

Every day and every opportunity you lose because of this needless hurdle, is another day and another opportunity you’ve lost.

Unbelievable results, unbelievably fast, with unbelievably little effort

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unbelievable results

They’re everywhere: experts, claiming to be able to deliver unbelievable results in unbelievable time with unbelievably little effort.

Don’t believe them!

Growth hacking, business hacking, success systems, tricks and shortcuts are everywhere. Not because they WORK, but because they SELL.

A huge subset of the population wants to believe that they can get rich (thin, healthy) quick. They want to reap the harvest, without planting the seeds and tending the soil. They want the rewards, without the effort. They’re looking for magic – something that breaks the laws of cause and effect.

This is why today, we see the marketplace flooded with online gurus selling the 21st century equivalent of snake oil. It’s well-crafted bullshit. Bullshit designed to press all the right buttons, on those who are looking for unbelievable results. And the hungry marketplace laps it up.

The fastest route to success

The fastest way to get from where you are, to where you want to be, is to take the most direct route. To find out what works and do it. It’s about doing the right things, correctly.

Shortcuts to success are nothing more than costly detours. Be extremely cautious of anyone trying to tell you otherwise.

The marketing tip that’s guaranteed to work, even if it fails

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professional development

A reader emailed me with a good question, followed by a very good question.

It’s about a highly effective strategy I mention often, yet I’ve never previously explained that it’s guaranteed to work, at least to some extent.

He asked: How can I earn the trust of prospective customers, when they don’t already know me?

My reply: Make a big, audacious promise to your marketplace, with a confirmed deadline, then deliver the promise on time.

He then had an even better follow-up question.

He asked: But what if something goes wrong and I deliver after the deadline?

My reply: Well, you’ll have proven to your marketplace that you’re brave enough to set clear, measurable deadlines. In addition, you’ll have proven that you’re honest enough to admit you were late. Whilst also proving that you’re professional and dedicated enough to keep going and deliver, albeit late, rather than quit and fail to deliver at all.

In short, even if things go wrong, you’ll still have proven your; courage, honesty, professionalism and dedication. Those are huge trust-building assets.

If you’ve heard me extol the effectiveness of setting deadlines before, yet been worried about the potential downside, I hope this gives you a clearer understanding.

Is YouTube turning business owners into idiots?

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Marketing, list writing

My client made an interesting point during yesterday’s Pick My Brain session.

“YouTube is turning business owners into idiots”.

She was specifically referring to a client of hers, who now has a major problem after taking terrible advice from a popular business YouTuber’s video. Her wider point is that she and her team are seeing this with increasing regularity.

I haven’t covered this topic with you before, so here’s a quick flyover of how this happens, why this happens and how to avoid it happening to you.

So, how does this happen?

Business owners search for advice, find a video with a massive number of views (or a YouTuber with a huge following), and assume those metrics reflect the quality of advice.

Confidence in the quality of the advice increases, as the results that come closest to the top are usually from YouTubers with lots of nodding fans. Fans who agree with, and add weight to, whatever the YouTuber says.

It’s a very compelling mix.

Why does this happen?

It’s actually pretty simple.

The most viewed business videos on YouTube combine the best optimization practices with the most entertaining content / charismatic presenters.

By getting that balance just right, they can begin to build exposure, which then starts a cycle where their videos rank higher, so they get more views and subscribers – more views and subscribers then helps them rank higher, resulting in more views and subscribers… Repeat.

They’re not necessarily the most accurate business videos on YouTube.

They’re not necessarily the most useful business videos.

And they’re not necessarily from the most trusted sources, either.

What they are, is:

  • Expertly optimized.
  • Really interesting to watch.
  • And fronted by a confident and compelling communicator.

Yes, there are useful business ideas on YouTube. But we need to check (and credential) the source before we invest time or money on ANY kind of business advice. Including advice from YouTube!