Advertisements highlight your business’s products and services. They are excellent communication tools for developing interest in your brand and rousing customers to take action.
Of course, ads can only be as useful as their effectiveness in successfully promoting your brand. They should be generally part of a larger integrated campaign that use a combination of strategies to communicate and confirm a message or series of messages about your brand.
We will begin by defining the term ad, according to The Economic Times. “Advertisements are messages paid for by those who send them and are intended to inform or influence people who receive them, as defined by the Advertising Association of the UK”. The seemingly vague definition of “messages” runs the gamut of formats and approaches that are vast and wide, and sometimes the subject of some controversy. These range from the ad format to be used to, to the distribution channel, to the type of content. These considerations among others will determine how effective your ad campaign is going to be. Here are some helpful do’s and don’ts to help ensure your company creates effective ads that will engage and ultimately convert its audience to buying customers.
Do Create Relatable Content
Your ad should leave customers crystal clear on the WHY of your business, how it can solve a problem or challenge that they are experiencing, and not leave them scratching their heads about what you are trying to sell. Try to use simple, direct language as much as possible that are common frames of reference for them. Attempts at the use of clever phrases or humorous pictures may sometimes fail to hit the mark and leave audiences confused, or even offended by the message, leading to scepticism and distrust towards your brand.
It all comes down to fully understanding who your target audience is. Study the demographic of your audience and take the time to research their goals, motivations and interests to ensure that your ads can always connect.
Do Share in Spaces that your Target Audience Frequents
Relevance is key here. Your ad will fall on deaf ears if broadcasted in spaces where your buyers don’t frequent. This holds true for physical, media, online or virtual spaces. Find out what media your audience enjoys engaging with the most and place your adverts there for easy and convenient viewing by your audience.
Do Create Short, Interesting and Engaging Content
According to a report done by Microsoft’s Consumer Insights team, the average attention span of a human being is only 8 seconds. People are thinking and moving at a mile a minute these days and are not likely to waste time engaging with long, boring, descriptive ads. Therefore, ensure you create short, clear, and catchy ads — ideally one minute or less. These should gain your audience’s attention, show how you solve their problem and end with a call to action.
Don’t Be Inconsistent in Your Ad Campaign Strategy
Irregardless of the type of content you create for your company , ensure you maintain consistent approaches throughout your campaign strategy. Certain elements of your brand should always be incorporated into your adverts so that you create brand association and recognition. Without consistency, the ad may be remembered, but the brand forgotten; thus, making your ad campaign ineffective in promoting your brand.
Do Ensure you are accessible to your audience
Once your ad has generated interest, people oftentimes will want to reach out to your company to get more information before making a purchasing decision. It is your job to make yourself available to your customers’ needs. No one likes calling an office repeatedly, or hearing crickets after sending an email or query message to your advertised platforms.
Ensure that you have a team whose responsibility lies in quickly and effectively responding to customer queries across all platforms where your ads have been shared.
Do create a Call-To-Action for Your Advert!
The purpose of any advertisement is always to get people to buy. It is not an informative piece of content. No matter what format your ad takes, ensure that it always encourages some form of action to be taken. Whether it be a phone number, an invitation to subscribe or a BUY NOW button, always allow your customers the opportunity to engage with every ad you post.
Don't Alienate "Others"
It’s best that your ad target a specific group of people who you think will ideally buy your product. It is NOT okay, however, to intentionally or unintentionally, discriminate against, or fail to recognize other groups. You cannot control who will watch your ads, once they’re out there. Therefore, always do your best to use language and images that won't be considered offensive to anyone. Ensure, for example, that you represent the diversity of the people in the spaces where your ads will be viewed, and don’t make assumptions about what groups of people may or may not be interested in your product or service.
It could be considered offensive if an electronics company, for example, were to omit the older generation from their ads on the assumption that only young people were tech-savvy.
Don’t Mass Produce the Same Ad Across All Media
Having relevant audiences across more than one platform does not mean that copying and pasting the same ad across each medium will yield the same results. Facebook users, for example, may enjoy wordy posts better than photo-loving Instagram users would, due to the difference in the layout and focus of each platform. Similarly, an ad made for television may not trigger the same response if duplicated into a radio ad, which has no visuals to rely on. If you plan to post ads across different media, do tweak it where necessary to attain maximum effectiveness of the message on your chosen platforms.
Creating ads can be one of the most fun and creative parts of implementing your overall marketing strategy. However, they can also be quite costly so you will want to try to get it right the first time around. And if not, no worries. Following these tips will help you get there. Make an image for yourself through your ads and you will be on your way to creating a successful ad campaign in no time.
Ad scripting involves a study of your target audience, their motivations, pain points and goals. We can help you hit the make you may be missing with your ads. Schedule a call here for help creating ads for your next campaign or promotion.