A guide to simple advertising

Why do you spend money on advertising? Advertising is used to attract customers to your business. You want to create a name for yourself by making a statement with your products and services and without advertising, there will be no way to let your target audience know what you have. If you are tired of the same old advertising campaigns, here is a guide that can help:

Research

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to research your market. Find out what your competitors are doing. Listen to your customers needs. Get out there and soak up all the information you can so you can take it back to your office and look for a way to bring it altogether in an effective advertising campaign. Getting to know your target audience is one of the most important things you can do. In order to get to know them, you need to go out where they are. Send out customer satisfaction surveys to encourage them to provide you with feedback. It's a great way to get to know what your customers buying patterns are, their income limitations, along with their motivations for shopping. 

Establish a clear pattern

After you spend time among your customers, you will have a better idea as to what they really want. This can help you create a clear pattern for your advertising campaign. You will be able to include some of their desires in your campaign and generate an immediate response to your ads. Be clear in your advertising so your customers know what you want them to do. Do you want them to call you, go online, or come into your store? Using smart action words will inspire your customers to do what you want them to do without any confusion. 

What do you like?

As you start an advertising campaign, sit back and look at some of the ads already out there. What attracts you to some and not to others? You need to put yourself in your customer's shoes and find a way to connect with them through advertising. As you create a good ad, ask yourself why it would inspire your target audience to act. Does it instantly grab their attention? Are you generating interest? Did you leave them with a desire for your products? Did you use action words that will inspire them to do something now?

Keep it simple

When it comes to advertising, less is more. Keep your ads simple and use basic words. You don't want to overwhelm your audience with text; this will become too complicated and confusing to your audience. The average person will spent less than 1 second on an ad so use words that immediately grab their attention and suck them into the ad. Provide your web site or phone number so they know where to go if they do want more information. 

Make the sale

You may have gone to all the hard work to attract customers, but what are you doing to sell them? Part of a good advertising campaign comes down to your ability to make the sell within a matter of seconds. The individuals that are responding to your ad are already sold on your company; you just need to lay a few tools out there that will convince them to spend their money with your company. Have a few basic things memorized that you can quickly bring up during a conversation with the customer and try to be relaxed with them. Don't be too pushy when you are making the sale and if they seem on the fence, do a quick follow-up while your company is still fresh on their mind.

Creative thinking helps advertising

Anyone that would like to brand their business must have the ability to use creative thinking skills. Great slogans are made from people that have the ability to think outside the box. Take a look at some of the companies that have made a name for themselves through solid branding: Nike and "Just Do It", M&M's "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands" and the Boy Scouts of American and "Be Prepared."  

When you think of a good slogan, you will automatically identify it with a company. How can you come up with a good slogan for your business? Instead of paying ad agencies thousands of dollars to put their heads together and combine their creative thinking skills, use your own creative thinking skills to come up with one. 

Tip # 1 - Make it catchy

A good slogan is catchy. It will quickly leave an impression upon your target audience and they will remember it. Some companies choose to come up with a small jingle to add to their slogan. Remember the Meow Mix jingle or the Clorox 2 jingle? They left an impression upon their target audience and people remember them. The slogan on its own will immediately cause a person to identify it with your business without seeing your logo or anything else. Keeping your slogan in your customers mind is the best way to advertise to your target audience.

Tip # 2 - Sell your business

Once you have your customer's attention, your next step is to sell your business or products to them. What will give your customers that extra initiative to buy your products? Your slogan can draw them in but the rest of your ad needs to sell your business to them. Quickly describe what you can offer to your customers that will give them a reason to shop with your company and then inspire them to head to your web site or to your store.

Tip # 3 - Be unique

Creative thinking will help you come up with a unique way to advertise your business. Don't steal ideas from your competitors, this makes you look boring and people will recognize that you cannot come up with your own creative advertising campaigns. Your slogan and your entire campaign needs to be original and unique from your competitors so that people do not get you mixed up with them. 

Tip # 4 - Keep trying

Just because your first attempt at a good advertising campaign doesn't mean you should give up. You need to keep trying until you get it right. Make sure you are telling your customers what the benefits are if they shop with your company. Point out your good attributes and compare them to your competitions bad attributes if they launch a campaign that is directly targeting your business. Advertising can get messy with your competition so be careful and try to avoid stooping to their level of being a bottom feeder that uses poor marketing techniques to generate interest. For example, standing in front of their business with your banner may get attention, but some of your customers will see this as poor marketing and they will actually look upon your business as a classless organization. 

Tip # 5 - Go away from tradition

While flyers and banners can work great, look for new ways to advertise your business. You can generate some great interest when you give away unique promotional products or when you design a new product that sets you apart from your competition. With a catchy slogan and unique products, you will be able to generate a lot of publicity for your business and build a strong revenue stream.

source : businessknowledgesource.com