When you hear the word advertising, what comes to mind? For many small business owners, it’s often followed by a groan and a mental image of money going out the door, with no guarantee it will come back.
But here’s a question worth asking: Is advertising truly just a cost, or is it actually an investment?
The answer depends on how you approach it.
The Key Difference: Cost vs. Investment
Let’s start with a simple distinction.
The real difference lies in expectation and strategy. When done right, advertising isn’t money lost, it’s money working to grow your business.
- A cost is something you pay for that keeps your business running but doesn’t directly generate revenue. Examples include rent, office supplies, and utility bills.
- An investment, on the other hand, is something you put money into with the expectation of a return. Think staff training, new equipment, and yes, advertising.
Why Advertising Feels Like a Cost
If you’ve tried advertising before and felt disappointed, you’re not alone.
Too often, business owners run a one-time ad in a local paper or boost a social media post without a clear strategy. When customers don’t flood in immediately, the conclusion is: “Advertising doesn’t work.”
But more often than not, it’s not that advertising doesn’t work; it’s that it wasn’t planned or executed in a way that could succeed.
Common mistakes include
- No clear target audience
- No call to action
- No way to measure results
- No consistency or repetition
In short, it feels like a cost because it wasn’t treated like an investment.
“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.” Stewart H Britt
I love that quote.
A movie quote that has become famous is, “If you build it, they will come”, which is not actually true. The true quote should say, “If you do the right marketing and advertising, they will come.”
How to Make Advertising an Investment
Here’s how to shift your perspective.
Here are six ways to treat your advertising like a real business investment
Set Clear Goals
Do you want more foot traffic? Website visits? Newsletter signups?
If you don’t know what success looks like, you won’t know if you’ve achieved it.
Know Your Audience
Who are your ideal customers? Where do they spend time—online or offline?
The more you know your audience, the better you can target your message.
Create Compelling Messages
A good ad speaks directly to your audience’s needs or desires.
Include a call to action: “Visit today,” “Call now,” “Use this code.”
As a direct response advertiser, I would never not have a call to action (CTA).
Choose Your Advertising Medium
There are many ways and places to advertise.
Offline: Direct mail, postcards, flyers, posters, door hangers, magazines, newspapers, inserts,
Online: Your website, social media – many choices, boosting a post, an ad on Google, YouTube, Yahoo, or many other websites, and so on.
Track the Results
Use unique promo codes, QR codes, custom URLs, or ask “How did you hear about us?”
If you’re not tracking, you’re guessing.
Think Long-Term
Advertising isn’t always about instant results. It’s about visibility, trust, and
staying top-of-mind.
Like watering a plant, you don’t see the flower on day one, but it’s growing.
I could probably write a blog post for each of these five points. This is to get you thinking, and I will write more on these topics, and you can also look at our services for answers to some of these topics.
Real-World Example
One local café tried advertising by sponsoring a single local event with no signage or follow-up. There was no noticeable uptick in business, and the cost was $200. The result was frustration.
Another café invested $200 in a three-month table card ad campaign inside local businesses and salons, featuring a special breakfast combo with a coupon. They tracked redemptions and saw a steady increase in new customers week after week.
The same budget, yet very different results.
Reframing the Conversation
Advertising can absolutely feel like a cost when it’s done without purpose. However, when approached with strategy, consistency, and tracking, it becomes one of the most powerful investments you can make in your business.
Because here’s the truth…
If people don’t know you exist, they can’t buy from you.
So, ask yourself the next time you consider advertising…
Are you spending money or planting seeds?
Do you need some help with your advertising? Contact JBL Action Marketing today, and we will help you develop a plan to plant seeds using a wise investment strategy for a plentiful harvest or ROI.