Before You Spend Money on Ads, Get These Things in Place

Before you approve an advertising budget, walk through what happens after someone sees the ad. What are you asking them to consider? Where will they go? Who will respond if they inquire?

Working through those questions helps you prepare the campaign and spot problems you can address before spending begins.

Choose one clear goal

Decide what the campaign should encourage people to do. That might be request a consultation, make a reservation or learn about a new location.

Be specific about the service or offer you’re promoting. An ad for bathroom renovations should give someone a reason to consider that service and enough information to recognize whether it suits their project. Trying to explain every service in one ad can leave the main message unclear.

Define who the offer is for

Think about the customer’s situation and the area your business can realistically serve. What need are they trying to address? What information would help them consider you?

Use those answers to shape the creative and message. Keep the offer consistent with your actual availability, pricing approach and capacity. If there are important conditions, make them clear in the appropriate places.

Prepare the destination

Send people to a page that continues the conversation started by the ad. If the ad promotes private events, the destination should explain private events and provide a clear inquiry option.

Review that page on a phone. Check the images, copy, buttons and form. Ask whether someone arriving for the first time can understand the offer without searching elsewhere on the site.

Plan how inquiries will be handled

Assign responsibility for incoming calls and form submissions. Decide what information to collect, how the team will record the inquiry and what follow-up makes sense.

For example, a consultation campaign may need a process for confirming location, project type and scheduling availability. Define those steps with the people who will carry them out. If the team is already at capacity, adjust the campaign timing or scope accordingly.

Agree on how you’ll evaluate the work

Choose measures that connect to the campaign goal and confirm how they’ll be recorded. Distinguish an inquiry from a qualified opportunity and a completed sale. That gives the team a clearer basis for discussing performance.

At GetRANKD, we plan digital advertising alongside the messaging, destination and response process that support it. Those pieces deserve attention before the campaign goes live.