Top 5 Advertising Tips

1. Know your target market 

Most businesses cannot appeal to everyone.

Be as specific as you can be. If you’re a 50-year-old businessperson who is selling a product or service to ‘young people’, you might think that 18-year-olds and 25-year-olds are pretty much the same. Well, they’re not. 

You need to put yourself in your desired customer’s shoes. Know what they want. 

Service, value and innovation are what customers want. You must show that your business can deliver in these key fields.

There are now so many different types of mediums to advertise on. Pick the one that suits your target and then dominate it so there is no chance they will miss your message. 

2. Make sure your product is the best available

This should be the first rule.

In such a cluttered marketplace, if your product isn’t good then you won’t sell anything, no matter how much you advertise. There is a well-worn saying that: “You can sell any rubbish; once.”

Consumers are much more demanding nowadays, and there is plenty of competition around that allows them to choose good quality. 

The better your product is, the more people will talk about it and the more people will buy it. 

Take the blockbuster TV show Game of Thrones, for example. You probably heard a friend talking about it, then another, then another, until you just had to see what all the fuss was about, and the rest is history.

So, before you do anything, ask yourself if your product is amazing. If it isn’t amazing, work on making it so you tell the world that it is amazing.  

3. Know your product benefit

What does your product mean for consumers’ lives, and their sense of wellbeing?

This is important as this will guide what you say in your advertising. It will help you stand out from the crowd and stand out from your potential competitors.

Find the one thing that differentiates your brand from another. Ad agencies call it the ‘unique selling point’. This will help you to understand what you should be saying. If your product or service really is amazing then there are two ways to look at advertising: either an insight about what makes the product so unusual and brilliant, or an insight about the target audience and how it will help them. Sometimes that’s one and the same.

4. People want quality and are prepared to pay for it

They don’t want inferior services or being ripped off. You have built a successful business and you should be proud to tell everyone how good you are.

If you are an industry leader then tell everyone. You didn’t become a leader for nothing. You worked hard. You developed and improved your product. If you win an award, then tell everyone.

Customers buy because they want or need a product. They don’t want problems. They want to get what they paid for. They even want more than they paid for, so give it to them. Happy customers return and tell their friends.

5. Simplify your message

Edit, edit, edit and edit some more.

Consumers are busy and they generally don’t have the time or energy to carefully read, watch or listen to your ad. Make your ad as simple as possible.

Consumers are faced with thousands of ads a day, so for your ad to stand out in the crowd you need them to ‘get’ your message as quickly as possible.

Entice consumers, make them feel important and promise the best from your business.

Alexandria Dodds