You will need several ads (at least 2). It is important to remember some fundamentals about what these ads need to achieve.

They will probably be seen by people who do not know your company at all, so their first job is to be clear about who you are and what you sell. Use your logo. Use imagery that is reminiscent of your category. Keep it simple; your ad will only be viewed for less than a second.

It is worth having at least one ad that is about your business in general, and at least one that is about a specific product or service that want to promote. That’s because there are some people who need to know about your company for when they are buying in your category in future, and there are some people who are buying in your category now. For example, an accountancy practice should promote itself in general terms to help put it in the mind of future buyer as a good accountant. But it should also promote a specific service like tax returns for people who are doing their tax returns now.

Be aware, that close to 90% of people who buy in your category are in the latter category – they are not buying now, they are buying later. So, you need to keep your company at the front of those people’s minds for when they do get around to buying.  

 

Very often, when someone starts the process of buying in a category, they already have a memory of some options to buy from that creates their initial mental shortlist. So advertising to people when they are not buying right now is a good idea. It can give your company the chance to be on their mental shortlist when they do start buying.