Advertising is a key component of the lead generation. It is typically the most expensive tactic,  so it is important to create effective ads.

Browsing through a local business magazine, I noticed four common advertising mistakes:

Lack of an attention grabbing or confusing headline

While most of the ads had headlines, several headlines did little to communicate the benefit the company provides to their customers. Some were confusing when viewed in context of the overall ad. Two ads in particular made me think they were for health care companies, but after reading carefully, they turned out to be for construction companies.

Here is a 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.”

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 types of customers you help and the problems you solve for them.

The Business Bank of St Louis has an effective ad that quotes 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

Most ads lacked a call to action. This was particularly noticeable on the ads with great headlines. One in particular was for a 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

Rather than trying to make a sale from your limited ad space, give your prospects a low risk way to continue to go down the path of Know, Like, and Trust by inviting them to learn more about you and the problems you solve.

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

Bill Brelsford is an authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach. You can visit his web site at www.rebarbusinessbuilders.com