A well-designed advertisement can:

-generate sales or enquiries

-improve your company image

-create awareness of your products or services

-get the word out about a sales promotion or offer

-help establish you in a new location

Decide what you want your ad to achieve before you start writing it. Lead with a customer-focused proposition - what problem can you solve for your audience?

Clear is better than clever.A good advert might bring in a lot of enquiries, but lead to few sales because it is poorly worded or badly targeted. Measuring the effectiveness of your advertising will help confirm that you are getting it right.

The best time to advertise is when your target audience is most likely to buy. Building awareness of your offer when (or shortly before) people would naturally want that product or service could pay dividends.

Alternatively, advertising during quieter times can help to boost sales when you're struggling. If your customers are other businesses, you may need to consider their buying cycles and when their budget becomes available.

Set out what you want to achieve from your adverts, which might include:

-launching a new product or service;

-letting customers know about a change of premises or expansion;

-targeting a new market segment;

-promoting a special offer.

The campaign should cover the placement of adverts, budgets, design, timing and follow-up. Also think about how you will handle the enquiries that come in, and how a surge in orders might affect how much stock or how many staff you need to have to hand.

Try to make your adverts stand out so that your limited budget goes further. It's important that your advertising is memorable.

You want to advertise on web pages that your target audience are likely to see.

Your choices for where to advertise online include:

-search engines like Google

-social media platforms like Instagram

-individual websites that match your customers’ interests

-digital advertising networks that automatically place your ads on relevant websites

A digital marketing agency can tell you more about the costs of advertising online, including pay-per-click advertising, and what you can expect to achieve.

Consider how much you normally spend on marketing, and how effective it is in relation to your business objectives. Assess what your competitors are doing - if they are advertising heavily, you might need to do the same to ensure your message is heard.

Consider how far you are from achieving your objectives. For example, if you are launching a new product, you may need to spend heavily to create awareness.

Consider what your advertising is worth to you. Calculate how many extra sales you need to make to justify your spend.

If you want to get value for money, only undertake campaigns that can be tested and revised as you go. Online advertising allows you to manage and control costs. By measuring results you can refine your online campaigns and improve their return on investment.