WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

In simple terms, Advertising is a marketing strategy that involves paying for spaces to promote or announce a service, product, or cause. The actual messages used for the promotions are called Ads, short for advertisement. Advertising aims to reach out to an audience that is, in all likelihood, disposed to paying for the product or service and enticing them to buy.

HOW TO FIND THE IDEAL CUSTOMER

When trying to determine who your target audience is, looking out for some specific demographic characteristics would help you determine the type of people that would be willing to pay for your goods or services. This would help you in creating the most effective ads that would appeal to them. Some characteristics include but are not limited to,

• Gender
• Income
• Area
• Age
• Education

After narrowing down your target customers, you can then choose the best advertising option. For example, if your target customers are blue-collar truck drivers and repairers, would you prefer to place ads on Vogue magazine, Wall Street Journal, or Truckin’ magazine? I bet your answer is the latter. Knowing and deciding on your target audience is the first and most crucial step to creative ad design.

WHERE SHOULD YOU ADVERTISE?

Before the digital age, traditional advertising means included newspapers, TV, radio stations and magazines. However, in this time and age, ads placing has become more sophisticated and creative and can be placed anywhere, including

• Product Packaging
• Roadside banners and billboards
• YouTube videos
• Store Windows
• Airport Kiosks
• Websites
• Print newspapers
• Stadium Banners
• Electronic newsletters
• Mobile applications
• Banners
• Restaurant clothes and placemats 
• Side of vehicles etc

Been creative and thinking out of the box is a sure recipe for creating the most effective ads.

EIGHT KEY COMPONENTS OF EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING

The primary purpose of advertising is to generate sales. Whether you are trying to promote a new product, market your services, creating thought-grabbing product descriptions, or creating a landing page for exclusive offers, effective advertising helps convert the ads to sales.

All compelling advertising copy consists of eight components that are extremely important to make the ad stand out and appeal to your audience

The eight components of effective advertising include,

• A Clear-Cut Objective

The sole objective of every ad must be well spelled out, sending out ambiguous messages would most likely have your ad tossed away or overlooked. You must know what you want your advert to accomplish else it would be directionless with no defined purpose.

• An Irresistible Message

The second component of effective advertising is a compelling and irresistible message. It could mean a moving title or a well-detailed text that explains the information you are trying to pass across.

• A Fascinating and Persuasive Offer

Presenting your audience with a mouth-watering deal, or a very competitive offer would have them scrambling for your product or service. If your offer is not compelling enough, you may as well not bother to create an ad.

• Proof of Actual Benefits

Even if your offer is compelling, it is not complete unless the customer fully understands the actual benefits, they stand to gain from taking advantage of the offer. The most effective ads must include proof of tangible benefits. For example, “To buy our products, means to save money without compromising on quality.”

• An Understanding Tone

Your target audience must be able to relate with you for your Ad to be effective. The tone you use by the kind of offer been described, and the audience been served. For example, a clear business tone is used for ads targeting business professionals, and if your audience is millennials, then the tone should be a bit humorous and cheery.

• Contact Information

A compelling ad must always have a means of response, be it the direction to the source’s website, a telephone number, or direction to a physical store. Without your contact information being readily available, any favorable decision by the customer becomes irrelevant.

• Call to Action

Guiding the customer from the offer through the contact means should always end with a direct call to action. Call to action means instructing the customer and telling them what next to do. A call to action must be courteous and not commanding, use phrases like “click here to purchase,” “call us today.”

• At Least One Related Image

The most effective advertising is those that contain images. That is what truly sets digital marketing apart from the traditional form of marketing. Ads that contain graphics always outperform similar ads without graphics.

THREE STEPS TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE AD

Advertisement campaigns are essential for the growth of businesses. In the absence of an effective ad campaign, you would not be able to reach your business goals, and when your competitors are racing to the top, you would be left behind. Here are three vital steps to take to make your ads campaign a success.

• Check Ad Creatives for Inspiration

Ad creatives contain all the necessary data used to render the ad itself visually. Ad creatives are divided into three parts namely,

• The Ad creative itself
• The placement that the advert would run on
• The preview of the unit

It is essential to educate yourself on the various types of Ad creatives available on the web and know how they are formed to help you. This would assist you in creating more great ads. You can read up more on Ad creatives, and their functions on BigSpy.

• Identify the Target Audience and Post into Different Channels

Before creating an advertisement campaign, you need to figure out the social and psychological profile of your intended customers. Knowing what their traits and their habits are and also what they prefer can help you select the best setting for your ads. You would also be able to get ideas about the proper keywords that would make your ads more visible on search engines. You would also get to know what geographical locations, websites, apps, and platforms are more suitable to post the ads. Make sure to develop ads for different digital platforms, because, in digital advertising, one ad may not necessarily fit all platforms.

• Make Ads After Choosing the Right Ads Form

After deciding on your target audience, checking out various Ad creatives, and deciding on the advert form, you would prefer to use, such as images, videos, or carousel. The next and most essential step is to make an effective ad. You can get advertisement ideas online and then use the information to deploy yours. An example of such a site is BigSpy; they have a vast database that contains more than 160 million ads from over 40 different countries. They also allow you to carry out advanced searches using multiple filter options. So, log onto BigSpy now to discover various advertising strategies and trends.

In summary, the most effective ads are those that are geared to a target audience, have compelling offers, and appeals to the customer’s taste.