Spend a Little and Reap the Rewards

By Lenny Ventimiglia IV, President, Atlas Digital

One of the most difficult things in business is growing and scaling up a company. It takes a lot of planning, strategizing, trial and error, and a willingness to fail until you succeed. Every business owner wants to make more money, but not all are willing to make the investment it takes to make that happen. So many small businesses are apprehensive about spending money on advertising, and understandably so. There is no guarantee for a return on your investment, and you often don’t have control over who is seeing or hearing your message. Of course, it’s much easier for larger companies to have big advertising campaigns, they have so much more money they can spend! But how did they get to that point? They had to start somewhere.

Marketing is one of the main business functions, and it’s usually one of the most neglected in the hair industry. If your goal is to grow your business, that means you’ll need to attract new clients, which will bring in more revenue. To do that, you have to get the attention of people who may not even know you exist. Sure, you could rely on word of mouth or getting good reviews - these are great business practices, but paid advertising is a much more effective way of reaching a larger audience very quickly.

Let’s say you are looking to bring on new men’s program clients, and each client brings in about $3,000 to $4,000 a year in revenue. If it took you $1,000 in advertising to bring in a new program client, would that be a trade you’d be willing to make? Sure, that $1,000 might hurt a little to spend at first, and you may not see the exact return you’d hope to right away. Maybe that new client is going to pay you monthly and it takes a few months to fully recoup that money. Now let’s say you spent $1,000 per month on advertising and brought in one new program client every month. That $12,000 you spent in advertising at the end of the year could easily be bringing in an additional $40,000-plus in revenue each year. If you do a good job retaining your clients, that amount of extra revenue would grow with each sale you make, and carry over from year to year.

Not every business can afford to put a lot of money into advertising right away, and not every method of advertising makes sense when you’re working with a smaller budget. One of the biggest reasons I’ve heard as to why some small businesses aren’t advertising is because they don’t know where to start. Television and radio ads can be expensive and aren’t quite as consistently effective as they once were.

Online advertising can be confusing, and finding the right person to manage your ads can be a challenge. Social media ads can be very effective in our industry because we sell an image. Seeing is believing, and sometimes all it takes is for somebody to see your product or service and decide that’s what they’re looking for. The only issue with social media ads is that you aren’t getting as far down the sales funnel as possible, and you’re still creating awareness in your ads rather than directly presenting a solution to the viewers' problem.

Social media and Google are great options because you can spend as much or as little as you want, your budget is fully customizable and can be changed or paused at any time. There is no long-term commitment. The goal if you’re working with a smaller budget or getting into advertising for the first time is to find the low-hanging fruit, the people looking for solutions that you offer. Google Ads can be a great place to start advertising because it’s one of the only channels where people are looking to be advertised. They’re asking questions looking for answers to their problems, and you can present yourself as the solution.

Google Ads is a complicated platform, and money can easily be spent with little to no return if you aren’t familiar with all of its features and best practices. It’s not a “set it and forget it” method of advertising, it takes a lot of maintenance work. I’ve seen a company spend over $15,000 without getting one quality lead because they tried managing their ads themselves, and after hiring help immediately started getting leads for about $30 each.

Hiring an agency or a freelance marketing specialist is probably in your best interest if you’re looking to start advertising online. While agencies typically have a proven track record and have a team of specialists to manage your account, they’re usually a more expensive option. Freelance workers are often much more flexible in price, willing to work with smaller clients and know exactly who you’re working with. Do some research, ask questions, and figure out what you can reasonably invest in your monthly budget towards growing your business.

If you’re looking for an ad agency, you can try googling it. If they pop up at the top of the page in your search, odds are they probably know what they’re doing. If you’re looking for freelance help, try using websites such as Upwork, Fiverr, or explore other freelance hiring sites. You can also ask around and see if any other business owners you know have a referral for you. Odds are, somebody you know is advertising online.

As you grow, you can (and should) put a little more of your extra revenue toward your marketing and advertising efforts. It may be a little scary at first, but that’s usually the story when trying something new in your business. Bet on yourself and invest back into your business. You may be surprised how spending a little more can lead to earning a lot more.