How To Tell The Difference Between Good Marketing Or A Stinker

In today’s marketing landscape it’s especially important to be able to spot out as quickly as possible what moves the needle the direction you want it.

Since we’re bombarded with so many ads on a daily basis, this lesson i’m about to share with you will engrain into your physique in no time.

I can honestly say that once you take in these concepts, it’ll be akin to you seeing the code in the matrix like Neo. You’ll be able to see why an ad performed well or why it crashed and burned without having to do much analyzation at all.

You’ll gain somewhat of a '“6th sense” to marketing. You will easily be able spot a crap ad like breathing air.

And you will also find out, as I did, that almost every ad you see on television and social media are completely and utterly horrendous and how you can fix them on the spot.

So, what does good marketing even look like?

What’s Even The Point?

Why exactly are they running this ad?

Social media followers, a new product launch, a new promotion, ad retargeting or… to get money IN?

This is important because the message will change depending on what the main goal is. Most companies treat marking like shooting in the dark and then they wonder why they have crap leads, minimal clicks, and 0 return on investment.

When making any ad, poster, social media post, promo content or whatever you need to get a solid understanding on what you want to happen and dial it in towards that. Never try to do too much in your marking, this introduces confusion. And a confused customer does the worst thing possible…

Nothing.

Think about these 3 things when crafting a marketing campaign

1. What Are We Saying? (What is our message)

2. Who Are We Saying It To? (Who’s are target audience)

3. How Are We Reaching These People (How are we going to get our message across)

Elements Of A High Performing Ad

First Impressions:

At Least 80% of your marketing efforts is determined by your headline. The very first thing you say is the determining factor that decides whether your marketing will be successful or a total flop.

Next time you’re watching an ad or creating one yourself, take notice when your attention drops off.

Chances are, it’s at the very start. And moment you lost interest is likely the same moment everyone else lost interest too.

Not too long ago while qualifying a prospect they told me they’ve spent $100 for an advertisement test on Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads).

Here were their metrics:

-Pretty decent Ad Targeting

~3700 Impressions (How many people it was shown to)

-24 Clicks

~4.20 CPC (Cost per click)

-0 Sales

So… What gives?

They got a lot of impressions, not many clicks and 0 sales.

When I heard this, the first question I asked was “What was the headline?”

Long story short, they Meta ‘boosted’ a promotional post detailing a discount on dog training with no headline.

They simply didn’t give prospects a compelling reason to want to click on the ad.

You see, it doesn’t matter what you say in your ad if you fail to grab their attention… they will not continue reading. And if they do click on it, there’s not a compelling reason to continue reading or take you up on your proposition.

Call To Action:

What do you want them to do?

“Click this link to fill out a contact form” , “click this link to schedule a call” , “call this number to set the appointment” whatever you decide. Just make sure you make it easy for them to accept your offer.

This is important for 2 reasons:

1. If you don’t tell the prospect exactly what to do next, you cannot expect them to take the extra mile to figure it out themselves.

   Some might, most won’t. Make sure to lead them towards the direct you want.

   Just don’t make them over commit. A 30 minute phone consultation is too big an ask, but filling out an website form is an easy one.

2. This makes your ad measurable. You can tell which leads or crap, which are promising, and which are rock solid depending on what you have them do.

   For example: If you run a dog training business, a lead that fills out a behavior form detailing…

   -Is your dog leash aggressive?

   -How does your dog react around other dogs?

   -How does your dog behave around children?

   -etc etc.

   …will naturally be a “warmer” lead then someone who showed interest by setting a consultation call which they can easily forget.

   This way, you can measure whether your ad is actually working or not.

A quick recap:

1. Why are we running this ad?

2. What are we saying, who are we saying to, and how are we going to reach them?

3. Does the headline successfully hook the attention of the prospect?

4. Are we making it easy for the prospect to accept our offer?

If any of these answers are not immediately obvious then that’s an indication on where the bottleneck is.

Happy hunting,

-Jason Anderson