We all would absolutely love if we paid money and boom you have 100 new clients. But unfortunately this is not the case. Having real expectations in advertising should be at the forefront when creating ad campaigns and spending funds.
I'm sure most readers have heard from marketing agencies a promise of ROI. And if they fall short its a hard knock life for you and not them. Having real expectations of advertising makes hitting your goals a little more achievable and a lot more satisfying.
Ads are not meant to be your solutions to loss in revenue or your magic lamp to get more clients. But it is supposed to be a promising tool used in the correct way to attract potential clients and spread your message to the masses. How you advertise and where you advertise also plays a huge role in if you will even connect to your target audience in the first place.
If you fund an ad without any real achievable goal in mind chances are you'll fall flat without any real results. In most cases advertising is a practice best played on a continuous battle. Fine tuning your strategy as you move forward. Finding out what worked and what didn't work and making those adjustments along the way.
Agencies tend to know within a general ballpark what advertising campaigns are better suited for your industry and target market. A consultation is a good place to start when trying to figure out where to spend those marketing funds. Depending on your budget, one ad type might not be suitable while another may be more effective.
Setting real expectations can make your day go a lot smoother. For example; if you have a budget of $500 per month I wouldn't expect to get you 50 new leads for a construction company when advertising on Google. But used more effectively on a social gathering within a community event. Maybe you can get closer to those 50 leads with a little bit of elbow grease signing people up as they pass by your booth.
Being mindful of your spend and knowing the best ways to allocate them can increase your chances of getting a much better ROI in the long run.