Is advertising an expense or an investment?
About a hundred years ago, CEO’s would think of advertising as a necessary evil; an expense to be paid with gritted teeth. Surprisingly, a lot of small and big business owners still think of advertising as an expense rather than an investment.
I disagree. Done correctly, advertising will give a decent return on investment. If it doesn’t give a return, you’re simply not doing it correctly. Now here’s the important bit you may have missed in the past; advertising ROI doesn’t have to be directly related to money.
Depending on your situation, a suitable return on investment for your advertising budget may be any of the following:
- Staying in business.
- Generating a constant stream of new prospects.
- Making sure your company has more market presence than your competitors.
- Keeping your existing customers informed.
So next time you doubt yourself when buying advertising, think about what you see as a suitable return and measure the costs against it. All of a sudden it doesn’t feel so bad, does it?
