How to make better ads — where business owners go wrong.

Every third person you meet today will probably tell you they’re in digital marketing — Facebook advertising, Google Ads optimization, content creation, LinkedIn marketing, Instagram, TikTok…the list goes on. But how many of those people are incredibly successful at it? And by successful, I mean their work translates into results — conversions, subscribers, SALES. In this post, we’ll talk about how to make better ads that actually get you the result you’re looking for, and what you should pay attention to so that you can get what you want out of social media.

How to make better ads — what to stay away from

Business owners receive anywhere from 2-25 propositions every week:

“Want Facebook ads that convert?”

“Do you need someone to create Instagram posts for your business?”

“Let me tell you about the list of services I provide.”

And the mistake you’re making isn’t that you’re taking people up on their service offers — it’s that you’re not setting up the working relationship the right way.

You need to look for partnerships where that service provider gives you a clear idea of how much you’ll spend and exactly what you’ll get out of that spend.

• How many booked calls you can expect
• What the average cost per lead will be
• How much ad spend is needed to get the amount of clients you’re looking for.

If a digital ad doesn’t get you the end result you’re looking for, and you don’t fully understand why it didn’t, you are wasting your money.

Plain. And. Simple.

So, if someone approaches you about working together and doesn’t set expectations about how their strategy works, what results you should expect, and what the pivot plan is should those results not be achieved — save your resources and politely decline the offer.

Why?

Because at the end of the day, a digital marketer’s job is to get you better return on ad spend (ROAS) than you could achieve yourself. Therefore, if you’re paying someone to manage your digital marketing (and fronting the ad spend on top of their service fee) and they’re not getting you those results — you are not benefiting from that relationship.

It’s shocking how many small business owners will throw money away working with companies who just “run” ads for them or post aimlessly, never optimizing for better performance.

How can you tell the difference? How do you know if someone is doing great digital marketing work for you?

Simple:

You’re getting calls.

You’re getting sales.

And you KNOW that those are coming from the ad.

When we work with local businesses, we set everything up from A-Z.

Here’s what we’re running.

Here’s what it looks like.

Here’s what you can expect as a result of our work.

This is what you’ll see when that happens.

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How to make better ads — setting yourself up for profit

Here’s how you avoid those partnerships that just run your patience and bank account into the ground: 

1. Get a clear idea of the results they’re promising — NOT the services they’re offering

When we work with clients, we always focus on what they’re looking to get out of this relationship. And 99% of the time, the ultimate goal comes down to one thing:

sales.

Sure, some people want more subscribers, more leads, more likes — but when you really dig into the WHY of that goal, it always comes down to sales.

So, as a marketer, I need to know the path I’m going to walk down to get them there, and I need to be willing to transparently pave it for them. At the end of the day, a business owner doesn’t care what I’m good at; they care about what I can do for them.

2. Establish results-focused relationships

Once you find out what a digital marketer can do for you, establish those results-focused boundaries right from the start. Someone who does solid work and takes pride in their results will be willing to explain their strategy and what you can expect. That way, you know that if those desired results aren’t met, you’re free to walk away guiltlessly.

3. Never EVER sign a lengthy contract before results are proven.

This is probably one of the biggest mistake I’ve seen dozens of businesspeople fall into: committing to a long-term relationship before you’ve even seen what the other party can do for you.

I’m generally not a fan of contracts because I wholeheartedly believe that if a professional relationship isn’t mutually beneficial, either party should have the freedom to walk away. That being said, sometimes contracts make sense for security reasons — and that’s cool! But I would always recommend testing out a service for 30 days before you commit to anything beyond that. This gives the marketer time to prove value to you, and gives you an opportunity to make sure that this is will put money in your pocket too!

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Here are some additional tips to keep in your back pocket.

Tip 1: don’t ever accept impressions as a valid result. Sure, getting likes on a social post is cool — but that novelty wears off really quick when you realize that those likes aren’t translating into buyers. If a marketer ever tries to sell you impressions, reach, or likes as an end result, understand that you’re probably not going to profit from the project.

Tip 2: paying for education is often money well-spent. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from others’ mistakes. The consulting industry is entirely based on this principle.

One of the best ways to know when you’re getting a good service is to educate yourself on that service — and the best way to do this is to pay someone who will teach you.

One of our most popular services is social media consulting, which means we’re literally paid to meet with a client, see what they’re trying to do with their social media presence, assess what’s successful and what’s not, and use our expertise to guide them forward with accountability.

People get a lot of value from this service because not only are they making the improvements they’ve been trying to make on their own, they’re also learning about what’s NOT worth paying for.

For example: if someone offers to create social media posts for you — is it something you really want to pay for if those posts don’t result in more sales?

(You’d be surprised how many business owners are still shelling out money on this right now).

If you’re a business owner who’s wondering how to make better ads, create a partnership with a digital marketer who is willing to give you clear result expectations, is committed to getting you a solid ROAS, and never tries to lock you into a contract before proving their worth.

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If this sounds like something you’re interested in, contact us at Inspired Idiots today!

If you’re interested in making money online, but have no idea how — you are an inspired idiot!

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