We all know that advertising works. Even for cynics it’s hard to ignore the facts proved in case studies throughout history. For instance, Hyundai, a company that came into the U.S market in 1986 with only one model, faired well in their first year, selling 126,000 cars. However, their sales plummeted after consumers were disappointed with the quality of the car. Sales struggled with the negative reviews and Hyundai received negative publicity in the media. They went back to the drawing board and focused their efforts on making a better car. In 2004 with new incentives and the much needed help of advertising and public relations, Hyundai jumped to number two in the U.S market. Now, facing the recession Hyundai is once again calling on the power of advertising to promote their latest incentive. If you don’t believe that advertising helped Hyundai change the perceived value of their vehicles in the mind of consumers, just look at their increase in sales. Hyundai’s sales have increased 64% from 2000 to 2008.

This is only one example of a company that benefited from the power of advertising. However, there isn’t a magic formula for success because the fact of the matter is that most advertising is trial and error with an emphasis on minimizing losses. Here are some ways that you can “invest” your advertising budgets in order to get the best returns.

Identify your immediate target market
Go for the low hanging fruit first. This will increase your revenue quickly and keep your current customers coming back for more.

Invest in test runs
Instead of making a huge ad buy for an offer that you have never tried before, make a test run first geared toward a small group of your target market. Make sure that your offer or call-to-action appeals to your target audience before you spend money on mass advertising.

Use the Internet and electronic messaging
One of the best ways to quickly see results of a mass advertising effort instantly is to use internet advertising and e-blasts. This is another cost effective way to test your call-to-action. As most internet advertising can be bought at a cost-per-click rate enabling you to test the effectiveness of your message. As for e-blasts, you will often get click through rates so you can see who viewed your message, open rates, and forward rates.

Most business owners find that it’s the call-to-action that will make or break an advertising campaign yet there is much more to consider. Placement and messaging are key to a campaigns success. Like Hyundai, make sure you have a great product, know your place in the market, and have an advertising campaign that promotes a strong message. You do that and you will see results!