Online Advertising: Is Your Homemade Advertising Buy Half-Baked?

10.29.2018 Dan Glicksman

Online Advertising – Is Your Homemade Advertising Buy Half-Baked?

What You Stand To Gain With An Expert At Your Side

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I can’t bake – and not because I can’t follow directions. It’s more about the lack of tools I have which then forces me to construct some alternative contraption to move on to the next step. For example, need a whisk? I can offer you a fork. Need a dry measuring cup? I have one for liquids. A decorating icing pen…? Haha, right! Because of this, there is often a stark difference in my results versus the picture of what the final product should’ve looked like…which for many similar reasons is also why some very smart, capable business owners choose to have an expert help them with their advertising plans.

Listen, I get it – the recipe said “Easy – Just five steps!” or “Anyone can do this!” which sounds eerily like the directions to creating your own online advertising buy – Facebook, Google AdWords, you name it. And sometimes at the end you get something that almost looks the part – But how do you know it tastes the way it should?

Your advertising is exactly the same. You may be cheering for the leads you are getting today and patting yourself on the back for seeing some results. But what if you did it at a cost per conversion of twenty dollars when using an expert would’ve set you back just seventy-five cents per? It tastes good… but could’ve tasted better!

So, why choose an expert to help? Here are just a few reasons:

1. THE FULL PICTURE

Your marketing plan shouldn’t be a fragmented development. Keeping your tactics out of alignment from the greater strategy and messaging would be like serving a fancy steakhouse filet mignon between two fast food sesame buns – you’ll fail to deliver the image of your brand in a clear manner. A partner can help ensure that your online messaging is part of the greater whole and consistent with every branding element that is served to your next potential customer.

2. A DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

What if someone said, “You’re going to bake these great Cookie Monster cupcakes!” but didn’t supply to you the picture of the end goal? I would have to imagine if I gave that challenge to ten amateur home bakers we’d get ten very different interpretations of what the final product should be resulting in ten very different outcomes. An expert can work with you to paint an achievable picture of what success should be up front – and will also help you adjust on the fly if or when things turn in any direction.

3. COST OF ADVERTISING

That cost per conversion decrease I mentioned earlier? It’s real. You may be paying far more to have an expert stay away! Learn more here.

4. TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

An outside expert will have the right tools, proven procedures, and researched advertising platforms to attract the right audiences while protecting your brand from the many dangers that exist online (like false clicks, or wasteful promotion).

5. STRATEGY ADJUSTMENTS

An outside expert knows how to adjust to the analytics. It’s like how altitude plays a role in cooking – the recipe calls for different measurements of various ingredients for the outcome to be successful. Soufflé makers in Denver will understand and definitely agree!

6. PRODUCTION AND CREATIVE SERVICES

Do you know the different sizes your ads need to be on various platforms? Do you know which sizes get better positions? Or when it comes to video, that 85% of Facebook video ads are watched without sound but 96% of YouTube video users DO use sound? An expert partner will know the details that you may not have thought of and will make sure you’re getting the most out of your ads.

7. DATA AND RESEARCH

Don’t underestimate the power of data. Experts have access to research that’s not available to most (or any) local business owners and can be the difference between your message getting to the right or wrong recipient. A campaign launching without good data is like assuming everything can go in the microwave for just one minute and turn out cooked to perfection.

8. TESTING

Just like data, the power of testing shouldn’t be undervalued. A good expert will test various elements like keywords, color scheme, different fonts, forms, landing pages, etc. to make sure they get things right for your business. They’ll use their experience to increase the chances they get it right the first or second try.

9. NEW METHODS 

Over time, there are new methods of cooking and getting improved results – maybe healthier, less expensive, or quicker options. The same holds true for advertising these days. Ten years ago, were you buying Facebook or YouTube ads? Probably not. And chances are you started buying them when everyone else rushed in… which was probably well after the experts already had their clients engaged. Today, if you aren’t familiar with things like Television Everywhere (TVE), you probably aren’t using an expert and you’ll be late to the party once again. It’s the job of an expert to stay up-to-date on changing ad delivery methods as well as consumer consumption habits. (And if you’re thinking “TV-what?” call one of our experts here today.)

10. TIME

Your time is precious, and you have a specialty that propels your business. Spend more time focusing on that. Let someone else spend their hours interpreting results, building a strategy, brainstorming refreshing ideas, and testing those ideas so you can focus on building your business.

The advantage you have with cooking is that you can take a step back, physically look at that Cookie Monster cupcake fail, have a laugh, eat it, and walk away with a small loss of time and money. When you do this with your advertising, you risk losing more than just time and money – you risk your image. And the worst part about it is, it’ll never be as clear to you as the epic-fail final product in the picture. That is, unless you compare your results to what a professional can show you to be the true final product you are aiming for.

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Dan Glicksman

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