Many believe that when it comes to advertising, it's a necessary evil.
At least that's how some businesses approach it. Some view it as simply a tool toshowcase price and product while others see it as a way to counter theircompetitor's ads. Know what? They're all wrong.
Here's what you should be thinking about when putting together an advertisingcampaign:
1) Who am I trying to reach?
2) What medium will be the most effective to reach them?
3) How much is it going to cost?
4) What will my message be?
Hard to believe: Some of my client's advertising approach prior to working withthem was basically, "I have this amount of money to spend so how much can I buywith it?" This was usually followed by a call to their favorite radio station, or to a television station carrying their favorite program and asking for rates.
Granted there are many, many choices when contemplating where to place your addollars and it can be very confusing given all the choices that are out there.Especially for example, when you call radio stations and every account executivetells you that their station is number one. That's why it helps to have experiencedpeople on your side who can help you choose the best media mix for your addollars. Of course it make sense at this point to put in a plug for my agency, but ifyou want to get a better understanding of what is involved, refer to the fourquestions above. For example, "Who am I trying to reach?" means who is yourtarget customer? Every retail or service oriented business has a target customerbase and once you've established yours it will help in narrowing the list of possiblemedia choices.
Many businesses put off advertising until they feel they need it. The truth is, if youhave a business that sells products or services you need to advertise all the time,not just when you have excess inventory or sales are down.
I'm sure you've seen and heard many auto dealers advertising "red tag" or "tentsales". This approach is a quick hit type of campaign designed to move inventorybut the end result is usually just a waste of ad dollars. Instead piling on these pricedriven ads and doing battle with every other dealer advertising in a similar way,these auto dealers would be smarter to concentrate on building their brand throughconsistent advertising and separating themselves from their competition with solidpoints that answer questions on consumer's minds like, "What will you do for methat the others won't?" "Why should I shop at your dealership?""What makes your dealership different?" along with coming up with a cleverbranding image that makes them easy to remember when the consumer is in themarket for a car if not now, down the road.
Yes, money talks. But if everyone is shouting the same thing like, "We'll save youmoney!" the consumer has no incentive to visit one dealer over the other.
Last but certainly not least is the importance of the message itself. Time and timeagain I'll hear or see a campaign where it's obvious the media buy was wellexecuted but the message is muddled or confusing or worse, boring. If you're goingto go through all the trouble and expenseof putting together an ad campaign, make sure the message cuts through theclutter in a clever, creative way because that is what branding (getting people toremember your business) is all about.
So how do you make advertising work? Remember that establishing a budget,determining who your target customers are, careful planning, consistency, and aclever message will put you on the road to success.
Like what you've read? Want to read more? Visit The Eisenberg Agency web site at:http://www.eisenbergagency.com
E-mail: halacious@eisenbergagency.com.
HalEisenberg is an award winning copywriter, creative director, and owner ofThe Eisenberg Agency, an ad agency specializing in cut-through-the-clutter adsthat get results. |
