Robert Davis
Key Characteristics of Effective Advertising
As a concept, advertising has been around since as early as the 16th century, or even earlier if you go all the way back to ancient Egypt. While ads back in those days might have been written on papyrus, advertising today comes in many forms and reaches far beyond paper.
The field of advertising is now held to a higher standard, as it should be (after all, we’ve had around 5000 years to hone the craft). Maybe you are creating an advertising campaign for your business, or maybe you just want to launch a single ad to get the ball rolling. Either way, you will want to keep a few key elements in mind. Here are the five core elements of a successful ad. Keep reading to see what you should do for your next advertising campaign!
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1. A Clearly Defined Target Audience
In order to create a successful ad, you need to know who you are speaking to, and ultimately, who you are selling to. As the old saying goes, “If you’re selling to everyone, you’re selling to no one.” You need to establish your target audience if you want to be able to speak to them successfully.
A target audience is a specific group of individuals with similar qualities who are likely to be interested in your product or service. The simplest way to define your target audience is to identify their demographic. Examples of common demographics include:
- Gender
- Age
- Location
- Profession
- Income
- Education level
- Marital status
Although this element might not be a physical feature of the ad itself, it certainly plays a role in the way every other element of the ad should appear. A clearly defined target will affect who you are speaking to as well as the way it should be said, which is why it is so important to establish it before you develop your ad.
Part of understanding your target audience is also understanding where the ad might be placed. Will it be a Facebook ad, a traditional medium like video or print, or will the campaign be focused on other social media platforms?
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2. Value Proposition – Whats In It For Them
Value propositions are typically only displayed on home pages and product pages, but any effective ad will communicate it indirectly. Your business’s value proposition is what defines your competitive edge. A value proposition should be short and sweet; it is simply meant to help potential clients understand what you offer and why they should choose you to meet their needs. If this cannot be achieved in a few succinct words, then it might be time to re-evaluate the core of what you are offering. Below are some examples of value propositions that hit the nail on the head. These businesses have made it clear that they understand what they have to offer and know how to communicate it:
3. Quality Content and Design
Of course, even the simple snippets of content from the websites above could not have been possible without the work of skillful copywriters and designers. No successful ad would be complete without design and copy that work together seamlessly. For every marketing campaign or advertisement you create, you want to make sure the ad copy and the visuals are aligned.
No matter what the goals of your advertisement are, it is most important to connect with your target audience and make an impact on them. Your advertisement should serve to inform, persuade, and remind. Keep these three objectives in mind as you work to determine what quality content and design look like for your business.
If you are not in a place where you understand how to reach your target audience or what a good advertisement looks like for your business, there are plenty of professional marketing teams who can help you get there.
4. The Call-to-Action (CTA)
Although a call-to-action should not be a part of every advertisement, it is extremely important in the ones that include it. The CTA is simply a prompt that directs your audience to take some kind of action. Common CTAs include “Sign up,” “Learn more,” and, “Buy now.”
Whether your ad is digital or a different medium, a unique URL or call to action will allow you to track your success. Set up a specific landing page for each campaign and follow the success in Google analytics.
A strong CTA is important because, without it, your target audience might not understand what the next best steps are, even if they are interested in your products or services. A strong CTA that makes sense with the rest of your ad can be an effective way to gain customers, subscribers, likes, and shares. It can help you collect contact information, such as email addresses, and help you build a network to connect with for future advertisements and to make future sales.
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5. The Follow Up
Many marketers are hesitant to follow up with their audience after their initial ad. After all, if they were interested, wouldn’t they have contacted you in the first place? In many cases, the answer is… not necessarily. In the digital age, your potential client base is constantly being exposed to different information. It is only natural that even if some of it was very valuable to them, it might take a few tries before it fully reaches them.
Even though you might have the same goal in mind as your initial ad, your follow-up communications should still feel fresh and new. One way to do this is to take advantage of seasons and special offers you might be extending. If it seems like you are reaching out because of a new opportunity for your potential client, this will be much more appealing to them than advertisements that just serve to “check-in.” Following up with your leads is a delicate art. You want to send your communications soon enough that you are still top of mind while leaving enough time in between to avoid being annoying.
What is most important here is that your business follows up in a way that is considerate rather than the opposite. The way you follow up with your leads can make the difference between them ignoring you and engaging with your business in the future.
Each advertisement will have its own objective and therefore, will have different key components. Keeping the elements above in mind while you create your ad will help you stay focused on your audience and drive content that caters to them. Maintaining positive communications with your audience is the first step towards a long and successful customer relationship.
Conclusion
Advertising truly is an art. When you are able to combine the 5 elements above with your existing brand story you will find that you are able to connect better and convert more customers.
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At Scorpion we use the most up to date technology to get the most of your search and social advertising. We even use artificial intelligence to help you rank higher organically on search engines with SEO. The best part about it? We have the team to manage it for you so you can focus on your business. We have helped thousands of small business owners just like you get the most of online advertising. Get started with Scorpion.
Not ready to talk to someone yet, then check out this guide to online advertising.
