Effective advertising
sells products.
Americans are inundated with advertising. Every time you turn on your TV or radio, surf the Web, check the mail or drive to the supermarket, you are subjected to multiple--and sometimes simultaneous--advertising messages. With that kind of saturation, and the high cost of running an ad campaign, advertisers need to make their ads stand out. Of course, advertising needs to do more than get noticed. It needs to be focused, memorable and ultimately compelling enough to move customers to choose your product or service over all the others fighting for attention. Designing effective advertising is not magic. It's just a matter of knowing how.
Instructions
1. Target your audience. You cannot design effective advertising without knowing who you are talking to. The advertising you create to sell furniture to suburban families will be different from the advertising you pitch to college students to sell the same product. To be effective, your advertising must be targeted to a specific audience. Who are they? Male or female? What are their likes and dislikes? How old are they? Learn as much as possible about your target audience before doing anything else to advertise your product or service.
2. Identify your "USP." Every company has a USP, or "Unique Selling Proposition." You find it by asking what do you do better than anyone else? What is unique about your product or service? What do you do "faster, better or cheaper" than the competition? What problem are you solving for customers? Write these points down. Are you convinced they differentiate you from the competition and can be substantiated? Good. You've found your USP.
3. Define your message. Once you know your audience and have identified your USP, you are ready to craft your advertising message. The danger here is trying to get too many points across at once. So think it about it carefully. What is the most important thing you want potential customers to know about your product or service? Try boiling it down to just a few words. As they are fond of saying in advertising, "What goes on the truck?" If you can fit the gist of your message on the side of a truck, you've got a message that's focused enough.
4. Communicate features and benefits. You'll need to let customers know not only what you have to sell but also the benefits that come from buying your product or service. In other words, you'll need to sell the "sizzle" as well as the steak. Try thinking of it this way. Prudential isn't just in the insurance business. They're selling peace of mind. Or consider Rolls Royce. They're not just selling cars. They're selling prestige. So, if you're selling dishwashers, you'll describe the features (touch pad controls, automatic detergent dispenser, low water use). But don't forget the benefits (ease of use, good for the environment).
5. Consider hiring professionals. While you may know everything there is to know about your business, you are not an advertising expert. For that reason, you should seriously consider turning your advertising over to those whose business it is to sell yours. The best resource is an advertising or marketing communications agency. They have all the professionals you need--copywriters, graphic designers, media buyers, account executives and creative directors--under one roof and the expertise needed to design and implement an effective advertising campaign. If the budget is tight, consider hiring some professionals--say, a copywriter and graphic designer--and doing other work--perhaps the media buying--yourself. But for truly professional results, it pays to hire pros.
Tags: product service, your product, your product service, about your, effective advertising