How to develop an effective advertising campaign

Develop a brand to create loyal consumers

One of the most effective tools for businesses seeking to have a strong advertising campaign is to develop a brand around a product or series of products. Brands help consumers identify with a product. They are the little jingles that people find themselves humming when the radio is off. They are the colors and shapes that immediately make people think of a particular company or product. They are the symbols, slogans and subliminal messages people receive, creating a perception that motivates them to have brand loyalty and support the businesses that provide the brands they’ve grown attached to over the years.

Plan brand management and strategy

Planning brand management and strategy requires getting into the mind of individual customers and capitalizing on things they will automatically respond to, thereby filling a need or desire through an attractive and effective advertising campaign. However, it is not enough to create a campaign. Marketing strategies must also be employed to sustain brand management.

• Integration: Advertisers should use all appropriate media at their disposal. Recognizing their primary consumers, it is important for advertisers to deliver campaigns through the best media outlets, at the most opportune times. For example, working parents are not likely to respond to a strong advertising campaign being delivered on television in the middle of the day. However, they may respond to a radio campaign playing on the radio during rush hour or an Internet campaign in the evening.
• Accountability: Effective advertising campaigns make a point to prove they are reliable. They do not need to be loud and “in your face.” Most of the time, the products represented in effective advertising campaigns develop a reputation that promotes repeat business. Products often sell themselves in effective advertising campaigns.
• Responsibility: Effective advertising campaigns back their products. They stand by what they are selling, making it even more attractive to potential consumers. If for any reason, a product doesn’t live up to the reputation presented, companies make every effort to take responsibility, ensuring their customers are satisfied and remain brand loyal.

Maximize brand potential by managing brand perception

Communication is vital for companies wishing to maximize brand potential, and ultimately manage brand perception. Competition is everywhere, and noise levels in the advertising marketplace are increasingly intensified. The reality is, it’s not about the business that screams the loudest, but the one that reaches true customers, delivering a message that resonates with them and strikes a chord.

Reaching customers can be done in a variety of ways. Messages should be tailored for the greatest impact with their intended audience. For example, developing an advertising campaign with loud rock and roll music would probably not appeal to women in their 70s and 80s seeking a great place to get their hair done. However, this same type of advertising campaign could connect with teenagers desiring to find a cool place to achieve the latest hair fashions.

Effective advertising campaigns test the marketplace. They strive to deliver an accurate message to their intended target audience keeping two important things in mind.

• Know your customer to deliver a clear message
• Research responses from potential consumers

Maximizing brand potential requires discovery of who the customer is and what they like. It is not as much about selling the product as it is making the product sell itself. Products sell themselves when they are perceived to be something consumers can’t live without. The way to determine consumer perceptions is to test the marketplace, conduct invaluable research from numerous audiences and accurately assess the information received from that research so that an effective advertising campaign can be developed and implemented.