10 Ways To Fail At Advertising

1. Don’t Write A Marketing Or Business Advertising Plan - Please think about this. Marketing is probably your company’s only source of income. In turn, your marketing plan is probably the most important document you have.
2. Make The Wrong Offer Or Advertise The Wrong Merchandise - Your customer’s opinion is the only one that ultimately counts. Your offer should match their needs and wants. Ask for their opinion, and tailor your offer to their desires. And feature well-known, branded products in your business advertising that are in high demand. This will bring in the customers.
3. Don’t Advertise With The Correct Frequency - You will waste more money in business advertising by running ads too infrequently than by running them too often. Don’t try to save money by reducing advertising frequency. You must stay in contact with your customers.
4. Don’t Advertise The Benefits Your Customers Want - Everything must be relevant to your customers. Always talk customer benefits, not product features. For example: “Saves three hours” is a feature. “Three hours to spend with your kids” is a benefit. “Three hours to pay your bills” is not exactly the benefit your customers want. Ask them what they want. Talk to them about the benefits they want with your business advertising, not about features that you have.
5. Don’t Provide Enough Information In Your Ads - This can be deadly. In the yellow pages, for example, if you don’t specifically list each product or service you offer, customers will assume that you don’t have it. You must list every category of goods or services that are important revenue sources to your company. Essentially, you want to give all of the relevant information required in your business advertising so that the customer will respond in the desired way. This holds true for every type of media.
6. Don’t Set Goals For Your Business Advertising - Advertising is an essential investment, and it is hugely expensive. Without a clear set of goals for your investment dollars, your return will be limited. Remember - You only get what you measure. An extra 1% compounded annually makes all the difference over time. Goals and objectives will help you to maximize your business advertising return on investment.
7. Don’t Create A Business Advertising Budget - This is a major reason why marketing fails. Your advertising message must stay in front of your customers on a regular basis. Your budget must be sustainable. Purchase your most important media first, and make sure you budget for it over time. Don’t buy anything else until you fully fund your primary media. Do not spread your business advertising thinly across different media. Do not try one-shot ads. Do not sporadically advertise. These are formulas for failure.
8. Set Unrealistic Expectations For Your Ads - Consistent, long-term business advertising builds a clientele. Running a few ads will not bury you in new customers. You need patience and determination. As a general rule, look for your advertising to impact on your business after six months. This is reality. Business advertising is an investment, not a miracle.
9. Advertise To A Non-Existent Market - A little research can go a long way in determining the actual demand for your products or services. If there is no demand, advertising cannot create it. Business advertising can make people aware of solutions to their problems, but people will not buy solutions for problems they don’t have, no matter how much you advertise.
10. Think Of Advertising And Selling As Unimportant Or Undignified - You probably wouldn’t be reading this if you thought selling was unimportant. But let’s say it anyway: All of the business advertising in the world won’t help you if you don’t close the sale. You must sell, you must be good at it, and you must respect it.

Source (my professional advertising)