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Strategic Advertising

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: Advertising is expensive marketing. Get it right so you don't waste your money.

Strategic Advertising

Unless you have the dollars to get your message to your target audience repeatedly, don't waste your dollars on advertising. Advertising is a commitment where you run the same ad, in the same media, over and over again to attract the attention of your potential audience. Rarely does an audience get called to action when they've only read an ad once. It's through repetition where the consumer begins to take action.

Before you begin to write an ad, decide what you want to accomplish through your ad. What product or service are you representing? Who is your target market - be specific? Who are your competitors? What is your unique selling proposition? How is your product or service different from your competitors? What do you want the reader to gain from the ad? What do you want the reader to do after reading the ad?

When designing an ad, keep in mind the ad's appearance is critical. People will form an immediate opinion based upon the format of your ad. Certainly the larger size ads tend to draw more attention. Get the largest size ad you can afford and run it regularly. The secret to successful advertising in newspapers and magazines is repetition. Rather than spending the money to do a full page ad once or twice, it is far better to run the same ad consistently 10, 12 even 15 times. Find the publications that your target market is reading. Advertise in sections of the paper, or in specialty newspapers or magazines that your target market tends to read. Make your ad visually stimulating. It should have a lot of excitement and visual thrill.

When writing a newspaper ad, have a headline. If your headline doesn't attract their attention, chances are they won't read the ad either. Always look for a way to give them something for free. Use a photo of yourself or your product in action. Give the reader some type of an offer.

Graphic designers have told me that it works best to put borders around your ads, or if you can afford it, to use some color for your ad. I always recommend test marketing your ad and running it in many publications until you discover what works. However, remembering that repetition is key, don't get tired of your ad too quickly. Keep it running. When writing an ad, it is okay to use more copy than less. Give a lot of information about your product or service and use a story or testimonial that will appeal to your potential consumers. Be sure to have the phone number and way to contact you listed several times throughout your ad.

When writing an ad, pay special attention to your headline. Your headline should attract the reader instantly. Free offers are great headline grabbers. So are success stories. How about instructions such as why you should, how to do, or a top 10. A testimonial headline works well in addition. Also, try to create a sense of urgency within your headline. A headline such as "The Top 10 Things You Can Do To Add Profitability To Your Business" will probably be effective. It's a good headline, and if I could combine that with some type of a free offer and a way to inspire action, perhaps a deadline, call by X date to receive a free booklet, or if I'm even able to incorporate a coupon within the ad, or a cutout within the ad, chances are I will get the action that I am seeking.

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Article Tags: advertising, business, marketing



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Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
Personal duties - Great topic Kevin! My business is obviously my website, a part of which are these forums. In terms of tasks I usually do the following: - Business vision and direction: 10 - Strategic partnerships: 8 (I do it for most of my site while Kevin has begun for the forums) - Managing staff and assigning tasks: 8 (Again, I do it for most of my site while Kevin has begun for the forums) - Content development: 2 (Most of this is done by my authors and staff but I get involved in the management from time to time) - Advertising / sponsorship: 10 (I'm very hands on here as it's the way that I make my money) - SEO: 10 (With so much of my traffic coming from the search engines, if I'm not on top of new developments then I'm not driving traffic and I'm not in business) Generally I've picked the tasks that I most enjoy and feel that I can contribute my skills to. The other tasks are given to people who have expertise in those areas and produce great work.
Different Hats - CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company Strategic Vision 10 Alliances & Growth Strategies 10 Hiring & Managing People 8 Mentoring 8-9 Strategic Planning for Clients 10 Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty) Financial Management 9 Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0 Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff) Writing & Publishing 9 (getting better all the time!) Speaking 10 (so I have been told) Self Promotion 9-10 Web development & Promotion 6-7 (learning more and have brought on players who are 10+) Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have) Great topic Kevin!! Jude
Re: Essential Leadership skills - Vision Values Mission Strategic Thinking Decision Making Communication Team Bonding People Development Coaching / Mentoring / Guiding / Grooming Presentation Thanks Robert
Ideas for developing my business - Advertising is the life-blood of any magazine. Get some advertisers and you're set. You've got your target market, now start working on the "buzz" around the mag.


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