"Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of
enemy signals."
David Ogilvy
If you were to ask most people what marketing is, chances are they would describe
marketing as advertising. While advertising is a component of marketing, and probably the most public face of marketing, it by itself is not
marketing. Putting together an
advertising effort is a very popular way to create some semblance of a marketing effort. Yet, in an effort to make positive gains, these efforts
sweep deeper marketing problems under the rug. Why? Advertising is only a small part of an overall marketing effort. In fact, advertising is only a
small part of an overall communications plan.
And so, management grumbles that the advertising didn't work--that there wasn't any
measurable results--the blame falls on all of marketing.
This kicks off the vicious cycle that starts with the question, "Marketing just doesn't work. We need to focus more on building better products," or
something very similar.
Therefore, with no measurable results, marketing starts to look like a glossy
veneer.
This, in
turn, causes many organizations to behave in interesting ways:
* Advertising is cut when sales are down
* Advertising is put into effect when sales are
good
What is so very interesting about this behavior is it implies advertising is caused
by sales, which is obviously the opposite of what is
intended.
Another, less cynical interpretation, is that the effectiveness of the advertising is being measured by sales. While advertising should have an
effect on sales, it should not be the sole measure of advertising's effectiveness. Yet, because executives do not have a way to track marketing's
value, judging it based on sales is the most obvious and easy to way to evaluate it.
So, to help get you on track with your advertising efforts, here are 5 tips on
putting together a solid advertising campaign:
1. Stick to the core message. Don't get distracted and think that a
broader message will be more appealing. It won't. Isn't it more powerful to talk to prospects in a one-on-one environment? You can learn about their
specific issues, incorporate it into the core
message, and deliver a very concentrated, specific message. As soon as you have a few people in the room, the message becomes a little more diluted,
and a little less powerful. Your hope is that your advertising campaign will reach a lot of people. The more you
dilute it, the broader the message, the more you are sharing your message with no one. Focus only on the ones that care about your core
message.
2. Stick out of the crowd. Let the audience know what's makes your
organization different from all the other choices they have. One of the keys to all advertising is to accentuate the pros of your company, those
factors that give you your competitive edge. Too many ads are clever but fail to sell the benefits of the product or
service.
3. Branding is always important. While it can be difficult to
quantify--thus it shouldn't be an objective of advertising (as it's something that advertising can't do on its own)--branding is omnipresent in
advertising. Just like a great guitarist, who only has to play a few notes before you recognize it as a specific artist, the color scheme, the
images, the style of the copy, and more, should immediately link back to your organization. Image counts when it comes to advertising and promoting
your business. Too many advertisers do not work to build a consistent image. Now you've been warned.
4. Advertising is an investment, not a cost. If you do it right. As
the old cliché states, "you have to spend money to make money." If you have real objectives and didn't just guess about your messaging, then
your
advertising will return meaningful results. It may be difficult to attribute advertising's contribution to the bottom line, especially on a balance
sheet, but you will no doubt be doing your organization a disservice by cutting the advertising budget without serious
forethought.
5. TEST, TEST, TEST. If the three most important words in real
estate is location, location, location, then the three most important words in advertising is test, test, test. Before you go and spend thousands of
dollars on an ad that you hope resonates with your target audience, run it in one place for a short time. Study the results. What happens if you
tweak the headline? What happens if you make a different offer or ask for a different action (visit the Web site versus call a phone number; what
happens if you put both)? The hundreds of dollars you'll likely spend on testing your ads is well worth it. If you're $500 ad didn't work, it won't
hurt nearly as much as the $5,000 ad not working. And if it does work? Increasing the budget to $5,500 should be fairly easy, especially if you are
seeing quantifiable results.
Want to learn more?
While
many people want to get involved with advertising their businesses, it
is
often looked at as a purely creative endeavor that should be left to
artists and designers. While there can be a lot of design work with
some
advertising, there is still plenty that needs to be done behind the
scenes. Our latest Marketing Tool & Diagnostic, Get More From Your Advertising, will help
you get your advertising off on the right foot by explaining:
* Why advertising fails
* What role advertising should play in your organization
* How to create marketing objectives
* How to choose advertising media
* How to create an advertising plan
Visit our Web site today,
to learn more on how you can Get More From Your Advertising.
Discover your marketing elements.
