There’s an important lesson that’s very easy to lose track of.

It’s this: Don’t guess when you can measure.

Woodworkers don’t seem to forget this very often, but small business marketers do.

I managed an ad campaign over the past few weeks that reminded me how valuable it is to measure.

I had things roughed in and had built out the landing page for the ads. I had the final go-ahead, and then realized I hadn’t made a graphic for the ad itself. I didn’t have much time before my next appointment and further delay was not an option.

So, I made a graphic very quickly. I reused a photo that was already open in Photoshop and wrote the first copy that came to mind. I didn’t spend any time adjusting the wording. I just checked the spelling and set the ad to run.

My plan was to make a better ad the next day. [Read more…]