A Quick Guide to Launching Ads Without Wasting Your Budget

In many cases, a customer’s first interaction with a company is an ad. It can trigger a whole chain of further interactions:

You get strong results when every link in that chain works as it should. Check each one to find where improvements are needed. Here is what to look at first.

Prepare your website

Your landing page should match the ad. A customer may see an appealing offer in a banner, then fail to find it on the website because the information was not updated. Or a colourful banner may lead to a site with outdated design and broken layouts. That can leave visitors wondering what is wrong, especially after such a compelling ad.

When someone clicks an attractive, well-designed banner, they expect the website to deliver a consistent experience.

Improve your content

When people visit your website, they want to see straight away that it offers what they are looking for. Consider the questions customers may have and whether your site answers them.

If customers cannot find an answer to a question that matters to them about your product or service, they are likely to leave.

Test usability

Make sure the ordering process is straightforward, contact forms do not ask for unnecessary details, and any registration process works properly.

The form asks only for the essential information and is easy to complete.

Check functionality

Test the shopping cart, checkout and payment process, and make sure promo codes work.

Functional errors can lead to costly mishaps. For example, a business might pay an influencer to promote an offer and create a promo code to measure its effectiveness. Customers are supposed to enter the code on the website to receive a discount.

Then the business discovers that no promo-code field was added to the site. One small unchecked detail, and the advertising budget is wasted.

Review your product and service

People compare offers before buying. If your terms are less attractive, sales may suffer. Strong positioning can help—we develop it as part of a digital strategy—but start by assessing your business as a mystery shopper. This can reveal opportunities to improve the customer experience.

Create a scenario, then “buy” your own product and a comparable one from a competitor.

Check the sales process

Sometimes the website and product are ready and the advertising is well set up. People arrive, show interest and send an enquiry—but leave before anyone replies. Try submitting an enquiry yourself.

In both cases, the customer was inspired by the ad, arrived at a great website and started a chat.

Or ask us about a mini digital strategy

In addition to our “full” digital strategy, we developed a mini digital strategyfor businesses that need to get started quickly and test promotion ideas. Over three weeks, we conduct a comprehensive audit of your current advertising and website, analyse your sales marketing and compare your offer with competitors. We then develop an effective promotion plan.