Take 30-seconds to look over this ad and decide what’s wrong…

Did you catch it? At my first glance, it looked like a fairly well done ad for something to be left on my doorknob, in a suburban neighborhood, with less-than-common foot traffic; but then I asked myself, “What is this ad for?” Maybe if I turn it over, it will help. Take 30 more seconds on the side that faced the door:

And the verdict is… A retirement home? A country club? A construction company? If you take the time to research the company, or thoroughly analyze the back side of the ad, you may come up with the (hesitant) conclusion that they design and construct outdoor living spaces.

This is no large corporation with an umbrella marketing strategy to target every corner of the country, but they are certainly no mom-and-pop shop either. They chose to advertise with professionally printed door hangers and a salesman walking door-to-door in neighborhoods. Maybe this is a great strategy for their industry after doing target research on my neighborhood, but not with an ad that gives no indication of the company behind it.

When small businesses outsource their print advertisements to design firms, they often overlook the most simple guidelines– who they are and what they do. There is such a strong focus on the appeal of the ad, the overall look, that people forget how important the content being called out is. That being said, looks are important. In fact, they are very, very important. But without a way to tell your audience who your brand is and what you can offer them, there can’t be a conversion to sales.

If you took one thing from the 60-seconds you spent looking at the hanging ad that was hand delivered to my front door, keep in mind the importance of branding. Who you are, what you do, and how you convey that to your audience. Making a sale takes more than a thick and shiny card stock ad.