Repeating Ad Campaigns
When to Try Again and When to Quit
Every one knows (hopefully) that you have to spend money to make money in the realistic world of marketing (yes, even online marketing). But spending money doesn’t always mean success. Countless companies, from large corporations to tiny home based businesses, have spun wheels and ended up having to pay for a new set of tires. The key to avoiding this is knowing when to stop using a campaign and when to keep using it.
It might seem like a simple concept: Keep using an ad while it works, and stop using it when it doesn’t work. But this is only half the answer. Because almost every ad out there can stand some improvement. If a campaign brings in a 5% return, why not optimize it to bring in 7% return?
When you have a successful ad, it’s hard to even think about changing it. But tweaking the headline or the order of listed benefits isn’t the same as rewriting an ad. As a matter of fact, it should be one of your priorities when striking on your campaign. It’s part of marketing, and your successful competitors are all doing it.
But when an ad has a very low success rate, does that mean it’s time to retire it? Not always. Tweaking an ad or making some slight revisions can turn it around. And that’s just for starters. Don’t forget your target. Does your ad appeal to those receiving it? If not, changing the ad might not be the most effective strategy. You might look for a new mailing list.
So how do you tweak? The most important thing is to make one change at a time. Record the change and record the results. If you change the headline, use it as a backdrop for the rest of your changes. If the new headline focused more on one thing than the old one (and it turned out to be more successful than your old headline), then change the body of your ad to reflect this. Even if it means switching the order of the information you list.
And when do you decide a campaign is going no where? Most marketers agree that each ad should have a testing of at least 1000 pieces. If you’ve made 3 changes and still don’t get enough response to pay for the campaign, it’s probably time to quit.
On the flip side, if your campaign is successful, and you’ve tweaked enough to optimize it…don’t ever stop.
Repeating Ad Campaigns |
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