Key Questions Introduction Your Business Your Competition Your Target Customers Take our ad effectiveness course. Learn what you need to know to get a great response the first time you run. Just $59 • Get more readers seeing your ad • Get more readers reading your ad • Get more readers responding

We recommend looking at all your competitors' ads, but especially the successful ones such as the major chains.

As that article will discuss, there's a lot to learn from their ads about what might work for you, including graphics, headlines, type, logos, prices, ad size, run dates, coupons, and even the overall look of the ad.

If you don't already, begin keeping a file of who's running what and when throughout the year. Most likely, you and your competitors' target customers won't change their spending habits from year to year. This means the strategy your larger competitors used last May could be similar in timing and execution to what they'll do this year.

Next: Target customers

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