In today’s post, I’d like to share my top 14 MLM Advertising Tips. These tips are designed to help serious network marketers develop an effective advertising campaign. These tips are from personal experience over the past 19+ years. Of course, individual results will vary.
Let’s keep it real for a moment. Advertising works. Just about every business in the real world advertises. Shouldn’t you? If you’re truly serious about building a big network marketing business, you should at least consider it.
I understand our industry is historically a warm market business. That’s great. Those strategies work for lots of people, but there are also many distributors who don’t want to work their warm market or approach strangers. Many of these people are willing to invest time and money to build their business via paid advertising. This article is designed for those people.
Top 14 MLM Advertising Tips
Here are my top 14 MLM Advertising Tips. Enjoy.
# 1: Use Other Strategies First
Historically, we are a warm market business. I am not a fan of teaching paid advertising to everyone and anyone in our team for several reasons. First off, most people joining our industry do not want to invest money in their business. If you tell people they must advertise, you will scare them off.
Advertising effectively requires skills, patience, and money, something most new reps don’t have much of. Plus, if you expect your team members to “close” the leads they generate from their paid ads, and they aren’t highly skilled on the phone, they won’t do well. That means that all the money they spend on advertising to generate leads will be money wasted.
I recommend EVERY new MLM Rep start with the people they know first. This is something ANYONE can do. Plus, it helps TEACH THE SKILLS people will need to start working in the cold market.
# 2: Identify a Target Market
My next MLM Advertising tip is to identify a specific target market. In other words, who are you trying to reach? What do you know about them? Be specific. The more you can learn about your “ideal prospect” the more effective your advertising campaign will be.
Also, if everyone is a prospect, no one is a prospect. Have a laser like focus with your paid advertising.
Knowing your target market allows you to place your marketing messages where your market hangs out, using words and enticements that specifically speak to their needs.
Source: The balance
# 3: Develop a Written Plan
You need a written advertising plan. Some people might call this a marketing plan. This should identify your target market, unique selling proposition, your budget, your goals, and your daily action guide. Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail. Write down your plan AHEAD of time.
In most professions, starting each day with a written plan for what you want to accomplish will help you focus on what’s important and make you feel the day was worthwhile at sunset.
Source: The Business Journals
# 4: Use a Two-Step Selling Process
The best type of MLM Ad offers free information. People respond to your ad and request more information. You advertise the “free information” and then the “information” sells your prospects on what you have to offer them. Basically, you sell the sizzle, and the sizzle sells the steak. Your free information is your sizzle and your business opportunity is your steak.
A two-step sales process helps because it does not force the sale onto consumers. It gives them time to breath, time to take in new information, to try things out and do research. It gives them time to convince themselves that the decision is right, so that it feels more like their decision.
Source: Business 2 Community
# 5: Don’t Mention Your Company Name
Whatever you do, do not mention the name of your network marketing company or its products in your ad. People will just run to Google and search for more information about your company. Keep it generic and remember that curiosity is what sells.
People want to connect the dots, and when they can’t, their curiosity is powerful and motivating. For example, when a child can’t see what’s under the bed, they imagine something’s under there. In business, your goal is to get people’s attention, maintain it, and engage with them. Curiosity can help you accomplish those goals.
Source: Social Media Examiner
# 6: Capture Leads
Never send someone directly to a sales page on the initial ad. Your goal with advertising is to capture leads, not sell something. You generate a lead, and then you have a sequential follow-up and selling process to convert those prospects into buyers.
You must BUILD YOUR LIST. Keep in mind the average prospect needs to hear from you minimum 7 to 20 times before they buy or join. Generate a lead, follow up consistently, and close the sale. That is the selling process.
Lead generation is the lifeblood of any company. You need the names and contact details of the people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. Without creating leads, your business will die.
Source: Farotech
# 7: Track Your Advertising
You need a tracking code for each ad that you place. That way you know what ads work well and which ones don’t. You can use a short code with each ad so you can identify where each lead comes from. Do not spend even one dollar on advertising if you aren’t going to track it.
Keeping a track of your MLM advertising and the success of every one in drawing your intended interest group is imperative so that you what sort of promotions work better. You would then be able to proceed with the performing advertisements and dispose of the non-performing ones.
Source: Medium
# 8: Advertise Consistently
You can’t advertise one or two times and expect much good to happen. You need to make a minimum ONE YEAR commitment to your advertising efforts. Also, you want to run the same ads several times, before you give up. Most people need to see your ad several times before they will ever respond to it.
Most ads will not draw well until people see them enough times that it moves them into action – some analysts say at least fifteen times! In order to be seen, your ad must appear consistently enough and be big enough to dominate the medium – or at least dominate the page where it appears.
Source: ezhealthbiz.com
# 9: Short and Sweet
A good ad is short and sweet and to the point. Everything starts with a good headline. This should “capture” your prospect’s attention. You also want a few bullet points telling the person what’s in it for them. And then you want a call to action to tell the person what to do next.
Time is very important in sales. Too much time and you risk miring them in information they don’t need or worse, boring them. Valuing a busy prospect’s time shows respect. It also shows you are about business and don’t waste time.
Source: AdBoomAdvertising
# 10: Be Different
Look at what most network marketers do and be different. Stand out in the crowd. Develop your Unique Selling Proposition and focus on that. If you just advertise your business opportunity the same way that others do, you won’t get good results.
Once you’re convinced you have something nobody else does, make it the centerpiece of your marketing materials. Incorporate it into your tagline and run it with your logo.
Source: Home Business Mag
# 11: Study Other Niches
Study other industries and niches outside of network marketing. Look at their ads. Which ones captivate you and get your attention? Keep a swipe file of good ads you find so you can use them for brainstorming. In addition, be a student of paid advertising. Read books, attend events, and watch training videos to sharpen your skills.
“You can cut down a tree with a hammer, but it takes about 30 days. If you trade the hammer for an axe, you can cut it down in about 30 minutes. The difference between 30 days and 30 minutes is skill.”
# 12: Don’t Neglect Offline Strategies
While I do suggest you advertise on the internet, don’t forget to place some offline ads too. You should consider newspapers, postcards, magazines, ad decks, and other strategies. These are often untapped gold mines.
Offline marketing has been developing and growing for over a hundred years, until not so long ago online marketing came into sight causing a huge impact within the marketing sector. Although online marketing has strategic factors, a lot of people would jump to the conclusion that offline marketing is no longer needed. But the truth is, old traditional methods of marketing are here to stay. They will always be evolving. When online and offline marketing are combined, they create better results than they would on their own.
Source: 123 Internet
# 13: Consider an Advertising CO-OP
An advertising CO-OP is when a group of people pool their money together to buy bulk advertising. One person normally runs the CO-OP, and everyone splits the leads based upon the number of shares they purchased. This is a good option if you have someone in your team who is good at advertising.
Cooperative advertising can be a very powerful tool for the small business owner, especially one with limited means to support the kind of advertising campaign which can be vital to the survival and success of a business enterprise.
Source: Inc.
# 14: Retargeting
Retargeting is a little bit confusing for the average person to understand, but it’s extremely effective. Basically, it targets people who visited your website once, but left without “becoming a lead” or purchasing something. Make sure to include this as part of your overall paid advertising strategy.
According to Google, combining retargeting with the other advertising you already do can help you sell 50% more stuff.
Source: mailchimp
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, these are 14 of my best MLM Advertising Tips. None of this is rocket science. These things are easy to do and easy not to do.
I hope you will consider advertising your business. It’s a great way to get your name out there and generate more leads, customers, and distributors. What are your thoughts? What are your best MLM Advertising Tips? Leave a comment below to share your opinion. I look forward to hearing from you.
Suggested Articles
- Best Places to Advertise
- Example MLM Classified Ads
- 34 Ways to Get Leads
- Must Read MLM Books
- Top Frank Bettger Quotes on Selling
In addition to the articles listed above, you might want to check out this book on Amazon. It’s a great resource if you want to learn how to advertise and generate leads. You can click on the image to order a copy on Amazon.
Sincerely,
Chuck Holmes
Network Marketing Professional (21+ years)
Top Recruiter & Top Rep
mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
The two step selling process sounds very interesting. Just about everyone likes free information. If you can offer something of value for free, there is no doubt in my mind more people will respond to your ad than would if you were just trying to sell something.
It works great.
I used to just advertise my sales page. That never worked.
Dan Kennedy and Mike Dillard taught me the idea of using a two-step selling process. This has helped me immensely.
Now, I advertise a free boot camp, a free course, a free eBook, a free gift card, a free sample, and countless other things so I get a lot of inquiries and leads.
As I do that, I build my list and follow up with these people until they buy, die, or unsubscribe. I’ve been doing this for years and I can tell you with 100% certainty that it works.
Retargeting is very popular. If seems like if I visit a website, search for something online, or even talk on my phone, I start getting ads about those websites or things. While it is annoying, it must work, or so many companies wouldn’t be doing it.
I haven’t done much with retargeting ads personally, but I’ve been exposed to hundreds of them. My experience is similar to yours.
They obviously work, even if they are annoying. If someone visited a website or searched for something online, they obviously have an interest in it, even if they didn’t buy the first time.
Following up with those people just makes good business sense.
Identifying your target market is essential, so you don’t waste time and money. I made this mistake early on in my business. I’d talk to anyone and everyone. Now, I am very deliberate about who I talk with and what I say to them.
Most entrepreneurs make that mistake at some point in their career. It’s normal.
When you know your target audience, it just makes life easier. You can learn a lot about them and then find effective ways to reach them and get their attention.
You might even have more than one target market for your business, especially if you offer different products or services. That’s okay.
Just don’t focus on too many markets at once. Focus is key.
These are some amazing advertising tips.
I know many businesses are horrible at advertising. They either don’t do it, don’t track it, or don’t know what they are doing. As a result, they lose money.
Having a plan, investing in advertising, and tracking your results are vital to the long-term success of your business.
I’ve been told that half of all advertising works. You just don’t know what half it is.
Tracking what you do is vitally important. You should use a different tracking code for each advertising source. That way you can find out which ads and sources are effective and which ones aren’t.
If you don’t track it, you can’t improve it.
Great points about using offline strategies in your marketing mix. Online is great, but offline offers endless possibilities with less competition. Some of my favorite offline strategies are:
Newspaper ads
Door hangers
Flyers
Postcards
Raffles
Joint Ventures
If nothing else, I encourage other business owners to try out some offline advertising strategies. Don’t abandon other things you are doing that work, but add some offline strategies to your mix.
I’ve used all of those strategies myself at some point in my business. I still do postcards, newspaper ads, and flyers. They work.
While I do a lot of online advertising, I try to do about a 50/50 split with my marketing budget: 50% of my money for online and 50% for offline.
My cost per lead is much cheaper using online strategies, but my cost per sale is much cheaper with my offline ads. It’s very interesting. I will continue to do both.
When you’re advertising, capturing leads is essential. That way you can follow up with them. Most people will not buy the first time they visit your website, but if you can get their email or contact information, and then follow up with them, you will make more sales.
Leads, leads, leads….
It’s all about the leads.
Focus on generating the lead first, then the sale. It’s just a smart way to do business. I’ll tell you why.
If 100 people see your ad, maybe 1 of those 100 will be ready to buy right now. However, if you advertise free information, perhaps 20 of those 100 people will be interested in your offer.
With a good follow up program, you may convert 5-10 of those 20 people into paying customers at some point.
Take the low hanging fruit and get the sale from the one, but make sure you have a plan for the other 20, so you can increase your sales and marketing effectiveness.
I know a lot of network marketers don’t want to approach their warm market, or people they know somewhat. These MLM Advertising tips will help them succeed with their prospecting and lead generation without doing that. Thanks for sharing.
I personally have built a very large business through the cold market. Yes, I’ve recruited a few friends and family, but less than five total.
Cold marketing is not a good idea for the newbie, unless they have a good marketing budget and a good marketing plan.
If you think the warm market is brutal, you ain’t seen nothing until you go into the cold market.
With that being said, the cold market does work. You just have to go through a tremendous amount of people to find new customers and distributors.
I still suggest most new people start with their warm market to build up their skills before they start spending money on advertising.
Advertising is an investment. That’s how I see it. Investing money in your business is vital, especially when it is young and new. You have to get your name out there. You can still do prospecting, but advertising gives you leverage and lets you work smart in your business.
Yes, most business owners feel the same way.
Network marketing is a weird industry though. Most people who join are in a bad financial spot, or they do not think like an entrepreneur. As a result, most new network marketers, probably 97%, can’t or don’t want to spend money on advertising.
This is why we teach warm market. For the 3%, these MLM Advertising Tips are very helpful in developing a great advertising campaign.
I really like your idea about being different. It seems like most industries just copy each other. What do you recommend we could do to be different from our competition, Chuck?
It’s vital to be different. You are competing with so many other businesses for the same prospects. Find a way to stand out in the market place. And whatever you do, don’t be boring.
Here are a few ways to be different…
1. Know your worth
2. Look at what other industries do
3. Make a list of what you can offer your prospect
4. Determine what makes your company different from other MLM Companies
5. Determine what makes you different from other distributors in your company
This is a good starting point.
What if you’re not 100% sure of your target market? What do you recommend we do?
You can start by looking at your best customers. What do they have in common?
– Where do they live?
– Where do they shop?
– What is their age range?
– What do they do for a living?
This is a good starting point.
On other hand, if you don’t know this information, come up with a survey and ask them, so you can find out more.
If you don’t have any customers yet, you can figure out your target market by talking with several successful people in your upline.
This was quite a thorough list of ideas. I do not do much advertising myself at the moment. I do want to start to do more. What do you believe is the #1 advertising option for someone who does not have a lot of money to start out with? I do like the idea of the co-op with other business partners. I have an interest in capture leads, where would be a good place to start?
It depends on your company and if you lead with the products or business.
If I was only going to advertise one way, it would be postcards, because it is simple and easy to do. There isn’t much of a learning curve and it does work.
Another good option would be buying leads of former and current network marketers and reaching out to them.
I hope that helps.