It's just as difficult to gauge the likely success of an advertisement as of any creative work. Directors are never sure which movies will be hits, bands don't know which songs will be the most appreciated ... if they did, they'd simply follow the formula every time! The need for novelty and uniqueness means that advertisers are constantly testing the waters with their business advertising. However, there are some ground rules to help you foster a basis for excellence. We examine those eight elements of excellence in small business advertising here!

1. Know your target

You have to be able to see your target to hit it ... and in the case of business advertising, the 'target' refers to your target market. The first hurdle to jump is deciding who you’re selling to. The second hurdle in this step is designing the advertising visuals, wording and offer to attract this audience.

2. Know what you want

In order to get what you want out of your business advertising, you have to know what you want. Set an objective for your ads - what do you want, and what can you realistically expect customers to do after they see your business advertising? Your objective could be:

• Visiting the website

• Coming to the store

3. Increase in sales of X per cent

• Phoning the store

• Sending in a coupon or competition entry form (for example, if you are aiming to build your mailing list)

The better you can quantify an objective the more useful it will be!

4. Know your Unique Selling Points

Without inclusion of your Unique Selling Points (USPs), your ad looks exactly the same as every one of your competitors. If people don't know why they should buy from you, there's just as likely to buy from a competitor.

5. Know your benefits

Every product or service has both features and benefits. Features are material aspects of the product (e.g. Lawn mowing in under 20 minutes); benefits are what the customer gets out of that feature (e.g. Well-maintained lawns with no hassle).

6. Remove barriers

There are always barriers within your customers' minds to buying your products or services. Your business advertising should try to offset these as much as possible. Some examples of barriers (and how ads can jump them) are:

Barrier: Your customers don't believe what you say about your products

Jump it by: Including testimonials, contactable referees, independent articles that reference your product, etc.

Barrier: Customers cannot find their preferred purchasing/payment method

Jump it by: Offering as many purchase and payment options as possible, indicating these on your advertisement or website

Barrier: The risk of buying a new brand or type of product and possibly 'wasting' money

Jump it by: Offering a money-back guarantee

7. Know the power of your headline

Headlines follow the old 80/20 rule in life: They make up 20% of your ad copy, but 80% of your business advertising success is directly attributable to the headline. Look for one of the following angles for the headline in your small business advertising:

• A benefit angle

• A news angle

• A how-to angle

• A curiosity angle

8. Call to action

People need to be told what your business advertising wants them to do. How can they act to receive these fabulous benefits that are directly targeted to their needs?! Tell them whether they should come into the store, visit the website, etc.

9. Know how to make it easy

If your business advertising is on the web, always provide a link. If you want customers to contact you by phone, businesses above a certain size (or with a larger geographic range) should use a toll-free number. Importantly, if you want people to contact you by phone, don't make them wait on hold! If you want people to come to your store, provide maps and directions showing how to reach you.