As the Duct Tape Marketing System tells us, advertising is a key component of the Lead Generation Trio (the other two are referrals, and public relations). Advertising is most expensive lead generation tactic,  therefore, a strategic approach is necessary to get the most value from our advertising budget.

The system outlines essential components that every ad should include in order to an effective part of your marketing system. Flipping through a local business magazine, I was struck by the number of ads missing these key elements. Here are four common advertising mistakes I noticed:

Lack of an attention grabbing or confusing headline

Most of the ads had headlines, but several did little to communicate the benefit the company provides to their customers. More than one was confusing when viewed in context of the overall ad. Two ads in particular made me think they were for a health care companies, but after reading carefully (something I wouldn’t have done if I wasn’t writing this post), they turned out to be for construction companies.

Here is headline from a construction company that does clearly communicate who they work with – “Let us show you how we make healthcare construction easier for your customers.” Right away, I know if this ad is for me or anyone in my network.

The ad copy is “me” centric rather than customer centric

Advertisements tend to focus on the capabilities of the company – “We Know…”, We are “The Ultimate”, We’ve been around for 20, 30, 40 years, etc. To get better results from your advertising, focus on the the types of customers you help and the problems you solve for them.

The Business Bank of St Louis has an effective ad that is basically a quote from one of their customers explaining the issues he was facing and how switching to this particular bank solved those problems for him.

No call to action 

Almost every ad I saw lacked a call to action. This was particularly noticeable on the ads with great headlines. One in particular was an for commercial real estate company. They had a great headline “We Deliver Certainty Of Outcome”. However there was no call to action or education about how they do that or who they do it for. Once you grab a prospects attention, keep building on that momentum.

The ad for the bank I mentioned above, did a great job of focusing on the customer, but failed to provide a call to action to encourage business owners to continue to learn to know, like, and trust them.

Jumping right to the sale

When you don’t have a call to action that provides a way for prospects to learn more about what you do, your ad essentially says “call me when you want me to sell you something”. As we know, no one likes to be sold, but everyone likes to buy. The fear of getting stuck on the phone with a high pressure sales person will prevent many prospects from contacting you. Give your prospects a low risk way to continue to down the path of Know, Like, and Trust.

Avoid these common mistakes and create ads that attract more of your ideal customers.