logo
My Top 3 Secrets for Generating Better Advertising Results

My Top 3 Secrets for Generating Better Advertising Results

Entrepreneur17-07-2025
Consumers are busier than ever, but you can still break through the ad fog with these three road-tested tips.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
It's the end of a typical work day, and you're excited to come home. On the way in, you grab the mail stack and set it aside as you walk in. After getting comfy and settling in for the evening, you lounge on the couch and check social media, then your inbox. While dinner is simmering, you peruse your mail, then go back to your phone.
How many ads did you just see? And more importantly — how many do you remember?
This daily process is so routine to all of us that we rarely think twice about why we trash some mail and keep others, why we scroll past some social ads more than others, and which emails we save. However, there's a reason behind why some advertisements stick and some don't.
I've been in marketing since 1995 and have built my $119 million business on reliably turning neutral and unaware prospects into leads — nearly 4,000 a week — and then into buyers.
Take a look at these road-tested marketing strategies I've used over the years that have worked for my clients thousands of times over.
Related: The 3 Greatest Lessons I've Learned After 25 Years in Business and $100 Million in Revenue
Always include an offer, since 92% of U.S. consumers actively search for them
There is one way to ensure people take a good look at your ad, and it's by including an offer. You love free stuff or a good discount, right? Your audience does, too.
Case in point: Our most successful offers are all freebies. Free samples or free add-ons when you purchase something.
We mail over 232,000 postcards a week for our own marketing, and over four million a week on behalf of our clients. Response is always higher on the mailers with a great offer. Physical advertisements are easier to store and keep in sight around the home. A person may click on a digital ad in the moment, but if they don't save the link for later, it's going to get lost in the World Wide Web void.
Consider this: The average person doesn't quickly throw away mail when there's a coupon or free gift included. In fact, they probably stick it on the fridge for later.
Overall, studies show that coupons in mailings can increase response rates up to 13%.
The offer you place on your mailer doesn't have to be massive, but ideally, it will stop prospects in their tracks. Buy-one-get-one (BOGO) or offering something for free is a great way to grab attention.
If you're in ecommerce or retail, consider mailing special promo codes to people who abandoned their shopping cart. You can do this automatically by connecting your online shop to a direct mail automation platform. It's something you can program in a short period of time that will continuously follow up in order to bring people back to finish their purchase.
Related: 3 Marketing Trends You Need to Capitalize on Now Before Your Competition Beats You to It
Focus on the marketing channels that grab attention for the longest periods of time
I spend over $100,000 every week on marketing across every channel, but there's still one that feels like a cheat code or hack for generating high-quality leads reliably every week, and sometimes its performance still surprises even me — and that's postcards.
Direct mail has a higher return on investment than digital ads. We analyzed 115,393 leads that converted to sales last year and found that direct mail leads generated 6x more revenue than digital leads.
Here's my theory on why: When that moment comes and people are going through their mail, you have an opportunity to make a deep, long-lasting impression that you can't replicate through online ads or an email inbox.
Studies have confirmed this — people are 70% better at recalling a brand when they've seen a direct mail piece compared to an online ad. Research also shows that nearly two out of three people (63%) give mail their undivided attention.
This all means that you aren't competing with a big screen or a little one. So, if you want to try your hand at direct mail, make sure you use these precious few seconds of undiluted attention to be direct with your message — ensure your headline plainly states the benefits of your product or service, and choose an image that immediately communicates what you're selling.
In my decades of experience, too many marketers try to get clever and use messaging that has nothing to do with their products or services. Yes, pictures of puppies will always turn heads, but if you're selling lawn mowers, you're going to confuse your audience first and foremost.
Even if you aren't sold on direct mail, I encourage you to test a clear and direct ad (with an offer!) against a more clever one to see if this advice holds true with your business as well. Just make sure you're tracking closely, and let me know if the clever ad ever works better.
Related: This Powerful Marketing Strategy Will Help You Outshine Your Competitors and Make Your Brand More Memorable
Personalize your advertisements for a 40% increase in revenue compared to those who don't
There are two ways you can personalize an ad online or in print: Provide some personal information about you and your business, or create a buying journey for prospects that is personalized to them.
I recommend doing both to maximize response. Approximately 97% of direct mail users see higher response rates with personalized/customized direct mail, and 56% said that response rates were significantly higher with personalized/customized direct mail.
Adding personal details to an online ad will also increase your responses — about 72% of consumers report engaging only with personalized messaging. You can accomplish this by utilizing targeting tools. For example, Google Ads allows you to set specific targeting parameters based on demographics, location, interests and behaviors.
The more unique details you can place on your postcard or digital ad, the better. If you must use stock photos, that's better than no photos at all. However, it's most ideal to show off what your business looks like or real images of your products and/or services.
I suggest you take it a step further and even include photos of yourself or key members of your staff. Prospects love seeing a real person's face. It builds trust and evokes a positive emotional response.
When it comes to direct mail, you can customize each design to feature the recipient's first name in the headline, and even some of their previous actions, like filling up a shopping cart and not checking out.
An automated direct mail marketing campaign makes this easy. Just connect your CRM (customer relationship manager) to your direct mail automation platform and program these mailings based on triggers. For example, if your prospect goes two weeks without answering a call — boom, that triggers a postcard saying, "We've been trying to reach you about a special discount, give me a call."
There are so many ways to utilize this technology to personalize the customer journey. Your CRM already has this information, so make the best use of it.
Whether you are creating an online ad or postcard, personalize it! You'll get more responses and more opportunities for fast revenue.
Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Health insurance companies have a problem — people are using their plans more
Health insurance companies have a problem — people are using their plans more

Yahoo

time8 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Health insurance companies have a problem — people are using their plans more

When medical insurance provider Centene (CNC) opened its books to investors on Friday, the company reported a surprising loss and an uptick in usage. The latter is a broader problem for the industry. In the second quarter, Centene reported an adjusted loss of $79 million and a "health benefits ratio" of 93%. Its benefits ratio, or the amount of its revenue derived from premiums that it pays out for medical care, jumped from 87.6% in the same quarter last year. Moves in that figure can have outsized effects on health insurers' financial performance. "Because of the narrow margins of our health plan business, relatively small changes in our HBR can create significant changes in our financial results," Centene wrote in its Q2 earnings report. And the problem is not isolated to Centene. Elevance Health (ELV), which offers plans including Blue Cross and Blue Shield, reported a similar jump in its "benefit expense ratio" to 88.9% in the second quarter, up from 86.3% in the same quarter last year. Both Centene and Elevance attributed the jump especially to their government-subsidized offerings under the Medicaid and Medicare programs. Molina Healthcare (MOH), which reported Q2 earnings earlier this month, reported a similar outlook, attributing its lowered earnings guidance to the same trend facing other medical insurers. "The short-term earnings pressure we are experiencing results from what we believe to be a temporary dislocation between premium rates and medical cost trend which has recently accelerated,' Molina CEO Joseph Zubretsky said in a statement. Elevance stock dropped by roughly 12% after its report earlier this month, while Molina stock dropped by roughly 8%. Both stocks have remained depressed since. Health Care (XLV) is the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500 this year. Centene stock dropped by roughly 15% in premarket trading after its earnings release before recovering to a positive gain of roughly 6% by the closing bell on Friday. The buoy was led by CEO Sarah London's announcement that Centene was reinstating earnings guidance after pulling this forecast earlier in the month. The company also reported revenue of $48.7 billion, which topped estimates for $44.2 billion, and said it expects to be able to raise the payments it gets from states for Medicaid plans, which would improve its margins. UnitedHealth's MCR challenge The premium-to-cost ratio will be closely watched at UnitedHealth Group (UNH), which refers to this measure as its "medical care ratio" (MCR) and is slated to release Q2 earnings next week. After seeing its medical care ratio rise to 85.1% in the second quarter last year, UnitedHealth is expected to see its ratio jump to 89.3% this year, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. An increase like that would mean tighter margins and less overhead for a company that already slashed its forecast earlier this year. That news sent its stock price down by 22%, its biggest drop in a single day since 1998. "Management noted care activity trends continue to run ahead of its previous expectations driven by a greater than expected impact at UHC from new members, further acceleration of [Medicare Advantage] utilization and indications of potential broadening trend among adjacent, complex populations," Truist Securities analysts wrote in a May analyst note about UnitedHealth. Closely watched by investors and analysts will also be how UnitedHealth leadership addresses its disclosure Thursday morning that the insurer is facing and complying with a criminal and civil investigation by the Department of Justice over potential fraudulent billing practices in the insurer's Medicare Advantage program. The stock dropped 4.7% through Thursday trading after the disclosure. The probe comes after reporting by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year that documented the potentially fraudulent activity by UnitedHealth, among other medical insurers, which included insurers' staff doctors and nurses adding diagnoses to patients' profiles on top of those documented by the patients' doctors. UnitedHealth may have to answer investor inquiries about the investigation on its earnings call on Tuesday, though these are far from the only challenges facing the insurance giant. According to former federal prosecutor Scott Hogan, the DOJ's Medicare probe will be looking to establish a prolonged pattern of wrongdoing by the insurer. "If everything comes back good for the company, if the department [closes its investigation], I think the company will be able to reassure the marketplace," Hogan, who specialized in fraud investigations, told Yahoo Finance on Friday. Even if UnitedHealth is eventually cleared of wrongdoing, he said, "If the investigation takes next steps, whether it's a lawsuit or prolonged investigation, I don't think there are many companies that desire those kinds of headlines." Jake Conley is a breaking news reporter covering US equities for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @byjakeconley or email him at Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Tesla Shares Tumble. Is It Time to Buy the Dip or Run for the Hills?
Tesla Shares Tumble. Is It Time to Buy the Dip or Run for the Hills?

Yahoo

time8 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Tesla Shares Tumble. Is It Time to Buy the Dip or Run for the Hills?

Key Points For a second straight quarter, Tesla posted weak auto deliveries and revenue. The company once again hyped its robotaxi and robot ambitions. The stock is largely valued based on future bets paying off, making it risky to own. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has long been a stock that's traded more on the vision of its founder Elon Musk than on its actual fundamentals. However, with the stock sinking following Tesla's lackluster second-quarter earnings report -- despite more big promises around robotaxis and robots -- reality might finally be catching up to it. Musk has done a lot of brand damage to Tesla over the past six months or so. His funding of President Donald Trump's campaign and overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) angered many liberal-leaning consumers. He then later got in a very public feud with the President he helped get elected, alienating himself and Tesla from many conservatives, as well. The fallout could be seen in Tesla's Q2 numbers, while tariffs also stung the company. Meanwhile, it will soon see an even potentially bigger headwind due to the expiration of the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) credit by the end of third-quarter 2025. Its core auto business is struggling For the second straight quarter, Tesla saw big declines in its core auto business. After a 13% drop in deliveries in the first quarter, deliveries fell by the same amount in Q2. Model 3 and Model Y deliveries decreased by 12%, while other models plunged by 52%. Tesla's auto revenue plunged 16% to $16.7 billion in the quarter. Within its auto revenue, its regulatory credits, which are pure gross margin, fell by more than half to $429 million. Not surprisingly, this affected Tesla's profitability in the quarter. Even worse for the company is that many of these regulatory credits will soon be going away. Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" will eliminate the current federal $7,500 EV tax credit at the end of September. As a result, Musk admitted that the company could be in for a "few rough quarters" ahead. Overall, Tesla's revenue fell 12% to $22.5 billion. Its energy generation and storage revenue dropped 7% to $2.8 billion, while its service revenue climbed 17% to nearly $3.1 billion. Adjusted earnings per share sank 23% to $0.40, while its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) declined by 7% to $3.4 billion. Tesla's cash flow is also starting to take a hit. Its operating cash flow sank 30% to $2.5 billion, while its free cash flow cratered by 89% to $146 million. More big promises Given Tesla's poor operating results, it was not surprising that Musk and the rest of management directed the conversation toward Tesla's big bets on autonomous driving and robotics. Musk claimed that Tesla will expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to cover half of the U.S. population by the end of this year, pending regulatory approval. Now, of course, such a statement makes little sense. The company is currently only testing a small geofenced area in Austin, Texas, with safety drivers, and it has already had a number of safety issues in this small pilot. Its technology appears nowhere close to ready to be adopted in cities countrywide. But let's say, for argument's sake, that the technology and regulatory approvals work out. The company would then need hundreds of thousands of Level 4 autonomous driving vehicles on the road (not its current Level 2 vehicles). Beyond that, it would also need service and cleaning centers, as well as charging infrastructure in place to handle a fleet of that size. It would also need to have a consumer-facing platform that can handle things like pre-trip pricing, dynamic fare calculations, disputes, and refunds. There is no evidence that Tesla has any of this in place. Meanwhile, Musk continued to sing the praises of his Optimus robot, saying it will be Tesla's biggest product ever. He said Optimus 3 has an "exquisite" design with no significant flaws. He's looking to have a prototype of the new robot by the end of this year and then scale production next year. He then wants to be able to produce 1 million Optimus robots a year within five years. Once again, this seems ambitious. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is currently an AI robotics leader, and companies like Boston Dynamics have showcased robots with advanced mobility, so robots can be hugely useful. However, all Tesla has ever demonstrated is a humanoid robot that could only do carefully choreographed tasks. Today, most factory automation is done by specialized, fixed-purpose robots. The use case for a humanoid robot is still very questionable. Should investors buy the dip? Even after the stock pullback, Tesla's stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of over 170x based on 2025 analyst estimates, while its profitable auto peers -- like Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis -- generally have multiples of 10 or less. With its core auto business struggling, this indicates that the bulk of Tesla's market cap is predicated on ambitions that may or may not pan out. Given the company's track record of overpromising and under-delivering, this is not a bet I'd make. Should you buy stock in Tesla right now? The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors and Stellantis. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Tesla Shares Tumble. Is It Time to Buy the Dip or Run for the Hills? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio

European leaders react to US-EU trade deal
European leaders react to US-EU trade deal

Yahoo

time8 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

European leaders react to US-EU trade deal

(Reuters) -The U.S. struck a framework trade agreement with the European Union on Sunday, imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods and averting a bigger trade war between the two allies that account for almost a third of global trade. Following are reactions from European leaders to the deal. FRENCH PRIME MINISTER FRANCOIS BAYROU "It is a sombre day when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission." HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR ORBAN "This is not an agreement ... Donald Trump ate von der Leyen for breakfast, this is what happened and we suspected this would happen as the U.S. president is a heavyweight when it comes to negotiations while Madame President is featherweight." GERMAN CHANCELLOR FRIEDRICH MERZ "This agreement has succeeded in averting a trade conflict that would have hit the export-orientated German economy hard. This applies in particular to the automotive industry, where the current tariffs of 27.5% will be almost halved to 15%." ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GIORGIA MELONI "I consider it positive that there is an agreement, but if I don't see the details I am not able to judge it in the best way." FINNISH PRIME MINISTER PETTERI ORPO "The agreement brings much-needed predictability to the global economy and Finnish companies. Work must continue to dismantle trade barriers. Only free transatlantic trade benefits both sides the most." SWEDISH TRADE MINISTER BENJAMIN DOUSA "This agreement does not make anyone richer, but it may be the least bad alternative. What appears to be positive for Sweden, based on an initial assessment, is that the agreement creates some predictability." IRISH TRADE MINISTER SIMON HARRIS "A deal provides a measure of much needed certainty for Irish, European and American businesses who together represent the most integrated trading relationship in the world. While Ireland regrets that the baseline tariff of 15% is included in the agreement, it is important that we now have more certainty on the foundations for the EU-US trade relationship, which is essential for jobs, growth and investment." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store