Editors Note:
There's a difference between advertising and "successful
advertising". Advertisers merely throw their name out
there, perhaps make it look attractive, and often have no idea if
what they are doing is actually successful.
Successful
advertisers go many steps beyond. Their advertising isn't
always successful, but they learn what works and what doesn't, and
equally important, they include the basic elements that should
exist in every advertising campaign. Using Christoph Puetz
article below, go through your advertising steps to see if you are
on the track to being a truly "successful advertiser."
Elements of a Successful
Advertising Campaign
by: Christoph Puetz
A successful marketing
campaign needs certain elements to be successful. The
following information will help you to develop a successful
marketing campaign.
1) Establish a feeling of urgency
for the buyer. Basically tell your customers, "You need to
sign up today because it will make you reach your goals."
Don't tell your customer the offer will still be as good tomorrow;
they must buy today! Urgency! Study how successful ads make the
customer act now.
Remember the X10 Spy Cam
advertising campaign? They always had their website set up with a
deadline for a special deal. Something like that is easy to
program and will eventually urge the customer to sign up today.
Don't over do it - use this tactic for a week - then switch to
something else.
Rotate these marketing tools.
Start looking more closely at the marketing vehicles (email,
letters, postcards,) you receive yourself every day, and you'll
begin to see that effective marketing always gives you a reason to
act now.
2) Show a list of benefits if the
customer signs up with you. There must be a list of benefits to
make him sign up. Will you be smarter using your services? Will he
get more visitors? Will your server be better than the
competitions hardware? Will your business help to make the site
more successful? Or make him richer, or healthier, or
faster?
Focus on the client, not the
advertiser. Most benefits need to be skillfully integrated into
the ad. It is a waste of time and money in an ad or on your
website if you don't work in benefits and present them properly.
3) Call to Action: Tell them what
they must do to get it. Don't assume that your prospects and
customers will figure out how to get what you are offering. They
won't do your work for you. So, go ahead and tell them what to do.
If they have to call you to get it, then tell them to call (to
call you now!).
If they have to write or drop a
post card in the mail, or fax something to you, then tell them
clearly and in words easy to understand. The point is to make it
as easy as possible for your target customer to do what you want
them to do. People don't like to do anything that is going to take
work on their part. Make it as easy for them to respond as
possible, or they won't = no good results for you.
3a) Do it again: You have to
(must) tell customer what to do (to sign up with you). Tell your
customer to order now (this moment). So many ads assume that the
customer will guess to fill out the contact us form, email you, or
telephone for the information, or product. Tell the customer what
to do. Provide the customer on how to respond today in several
ways. As more options you can offer, the better will be the
results.
4) Plan your advertising calendar
and campaign several months in advance. Failure to plan
advertising in advance will waste a lot of your money. Rush
charges, poor design, rate increases, poor creative and poor copy
are common results of failing to plan in advance. “I didn’t
have enough time”, “I was under the gun to get this placed”,
are common phrases heard under rushed circumstances.
Take a blank calendar and fill in
the days, months, or quarters to advertise to your target markets.
Figure out the number of ad insertions that will make sense and
negotiate a contract with the various media suppliers (e.g. local
newspapers). Book banner web space on the important website early
in advance. Prepare your website with a special landing page for
the expected visitors.
5) Test your banners and your
ads. Only by trial and error will you be able to set a baseline as
to the best response rates for your ads and banners. It is very
important to maximize response for the amount of dollars spent.
Sometimes re-phrasing text or adjusting the ad layout can make the
difference between a low or just average response and a great
success and high ROI (Return on Investment).
You will need to find out what
works best for your business. After you find this out, you’ll
want to stay on course and base future advertising campaigns on
the success of the old one.
6) Avoid misleading or dishonest
advertising in hopes of converting duped readers/website visitors
into using your products or services. Honesty and integrity are
the primary key to repeat sales and repeat business. If you have
to trick your audience to get their attention, you will have a
very hard time keeping their attention and their business if they
sign up at all.
7)
Running On-(Web) Site Events. Running events on your website is an
excellent way to encourage repeat traffic and repeat visitors.
You'll want to begin running events once traffic from your site
launch begins to fade. Examples include contests, games, on-line
interviews, chat sessions and maybe even audio broadcasts. Do the
things your competitors don't do.
