How to Create Small Business Ads That Get Noticed
with Shawna Suckow — Consumer Behavior Expert & Small Business Marketing Strategist
Released Sunday, August 30, 2026
Spending more on advertising will not fix a message people can ignore. It simply pays more people to ignore it. Shawna breaks down why so many small business ads disappear into the daily avalanche of marketing messages, then shows you how to make yours relevant, trustworthy, and memorable. From print and direct mail to paid social, Google ads, and sponsorships, this episode gives you a practical formula for creating ads that speak to one real customer problem and lead people toward one clear next step.
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In This Episode
Key Topics Discussed
Make the Message Distinctive
- Run the cover-your-logo test
- Remove the beige phrases competitors repeat
- Start with the customer’s actual problem
- Build proof into the message
Give Each Ad One Job
- Choose one problem and one main idea
- Show a trustworthy solution
- Make the next step obvious
- Move supporting detail to a landing page
Use Real People and Emotion
- Replace stock photos with actual people
- Connect the service to a human outcome
- Use emotion to make the message memorable
- Offer several ways to respond
Target Fewer, Better People
- Make paid social specific enough to stop the scroll
- Reach the Exact Right Customer instead of everybody
- Match Google ads to the searched problem
- Make sponsorships say more than a logo
Key Takeaways
The Bottom Line
- A bigger budget only amplifies the message you already have. Fix an interchangeable message before paying to spread it.
- Lead with one recognizable customer problem, then show a believable solution and one clear next step.
- Real employees, real customers, and real moments build more trust than polished stock imagery.
- A smaller, more relevant audience can outperform a broad audience that has no reason to notice you.
- Send each ad to a problem-specific landing page that continues the same conversation and supplies the proof.
Episode Guide
Chapters
- Why More Advertising Is Not Always the Fix
- What Customers Think When They See an Ad
- The Cover-Your-Logo Test
- Competing With 10,000 Marketing Messages
- Audit the Beige Phrases in Your Industry
- Start With the Customer’s Actual Problem
- One Problem, One Message, One Next Step
- Build Trust With Real People, Not Stock Photos
- Make the Message Emotional and Memorable
- Give Customers More Than One Way to Respond
- Why Paid Social Has to Work Harder
- Target a Smaller, More Relevant Audience
- Send Each Ad to a Problem-Specific Landing Page
- How Google Ads Are Different
- Advertising Tactics That Destroy Trust
- Google Search, AI Answers and the Future of Ads
- Make Google Ads Less Generic
- Stop Wasting Sponsorship Space on a Logo
- What Belongs on a Landing Page
- Rethink the Campaign Before Spending More
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Full Transcript
Read the complete transcript of Episode 29, lightly edited for punctuation and readability.
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