Countless small businesses spend endless marketing budgets on print ads, radio, coupons and direct mail, and noticed a common result . . . it's just doesn't seem to work... at least… not very well. A lot of money spent with very little return on investment for those advertising budgets.

The Problem: Consumers are bombarded with tactical advertising in every part of their lives, and they become immune. They channel surf, mute it out, turn the page, and do anything to avoid your message. They ignore you. You increase the frequency, the volume or the size of the message, to no avail. An ineffective cat and mouse game that you're paying for. It rarely works, is very expensive, and yields dismal results in most cases.

Consider that even direct mail has an anticipated "successful hit ratio" of around 1 percent. Think about that... for every 1000 pieces that you mail, only around 10 will even get noticed and maybe acted on! An expensive, marketing exercise to achieve maybe 1 percent? But it makes sense… it's the "junk mail" we all throw out every day!

Now think about it . . . do you believe or pay much attention to advertising? Do you look forward to the next set of commercials, waiting in anticipation for the sales pitch. You will automatically assume most ads are filled with empty promises, falsehoods and misleading claims that are untrue. The ad is simply trying to sell you something, and you don't want to listen. You probably won't believe the claims, and probably won't act on the offer. The ad gets filed away in the bin.

Conclusion: Whether it's the direct mail piece, the radio ad interrupting your drive home, the telemarketer, or the TV commercial, you don't want to hear any of it! Just like the rest of us! Then why should anyone notice or believe your message? What makes your ad or message so different from all of the others that someone would change their daily habit of tuning out advertising and pay special attention to you and your message?

There is one certainty - most won't, even if they notice the ad, so they are unlikely to act, and increase your bottom line. In today's over-advertised world, your message is unlikely to achieve much of anything, except empty your chequebook!

The exact opposite of why you spent the money in the first place!

All big companies advertise, so it must work. Big companies have huge advertising budgets, and can saturate multiple media formats with tremendous frequency for long periods of time. Their strategy typically is to defend their existing market share from competitors, but they rarely achieve any significant sales gains. Retailers have used a similar approach for some time with direct mail. If they have a mailer in your mailbox the day you are considering buying or selling, there is an increased probability that you will contact that retailer.

There are always exceptions, but don't confuse "maintenance advertising" or "opportunity advertising" with what a small business is seeking - significant increases in market share on a limited budget. Traditional advertising rarely builds a brand - it maintains a brand that is already recognized.

But, if potential customers never get exposed to your message, how will they know about you? Traditional advertising is probably not going to work, and has to be changed to another, more contemporary and unique approach. The world has and continues to change, and your promotional efforts need to change to...