SmallBizResource Blog -- Business Know-How

How To Tell Which Ads Are Working

Posted by Janet Attard, Courtesy of Business Know-How Thursday, Mar 5, 2009, 11:51 AM ET

If you're like a lot of small-business owners, you probably believe your advertising efforts are working because you're making sales. But do you know which ads are working?

If not, it's time to get a better handle on your advertising's ROI. After all, why waste money buying advertising that isn't working?

You need to look at two things: which specific ads bring in customers, and which advertising media results in new business. An ad placed in a weekly shopper-type publication may draw new business week after week, while the same ad place in a local, tabloid-format newspaper may not attract any new customers. Or, vice versa.

You can find out which ads and media are producing customers by tracking responses to your ads.

One common way to track ads is to code coupons so you know what publication or mailing they came from. For instance, if you're running a 15%-off coupon in several local publications, change the ad slightly for each publication by including the initials of the publication or some other identifying information in very small print just inside the coupon dotted line. Be sure you or your employees collect the coupons; at the end of the promotion, tally them up to see which local publication produced the most new customers.

If you discover a significant difference in response, then consider dropping the publication with the lowest response rate and substituting another in its place.

If customers call your business rather than sending in coupons, you can track advertising results by telling people to call special extension numbers or to ask for a specific individual. For instance, your radio ad might say, "Call Jack for details." Your print ad, however, might say to call and ask for extension 25. The person who answers your phone should keep a list of all incoming calls, noting which extension or name was requested.

You can track pay-per-click advertising, too. Most pay-per-click ad networks let you include a tracking code on the end of each ad you write. (You put a slash at the end of the URL, and following the slash, enter the tracking code.)

Track your ad results until you have enough data to make an informed decision. Then, analyze the data to see which ads and which placements work best for you. Reallocate your ad spending accordingly.

Business Know-How