Does Advertising Still Work?
The short answer is yes. However, more than ever before your advertising needs to work hard to attract attention. Australians are inundated with an estimated 1,500 commercial advertisements from the mainstream media every week. On top of this, every day we’re confronted with ads on our buses, trains, at our supermarket checkouts… they even wait for us in our letterboxes.
Get the message right
In one or two attention-grabbing sentences you need to capture the essence of your product or service. The best tag-lines are those that concisely sum up what the customer has to gain by using your product or service. Avoid headlines that don’t mean much unless you’ve read the whole ad. Use your headline to let them know what you can do for them, such as saving time and money, avoid hassle or help them gain or accomplish something. People want to know how you can benefit them because what they buy from you is not your product or service, but the result it helps them achieve. A home owner, for example, doesn’t pay for home and contents insurance, but for peace of mind.
Advertising needs to be seen often. This is known as the ‘frequency’ concept. The more exposure your message receives, the better chance it has of being noticed by your target demographic. You need to give your advertising a chance to work. There’s no point running your ad once and sitting back, waiting for the phone to ring off-the-hook. Give your material time to register with consumers and wait on any feedback so you can refine your message.
When it comes to print media, your ads are more likely to be noticed if they’re in colour and featured in a prominent position. Think about the newspapers and magazines your ideal customer might read and target these. You often have to pay a premium for prominent positioning, but if it heightens your chances of being seen, it may improve the return on your advertising budget. Be sure to link your ads to relevant sections of the paper — if you sell luggage, advertise in the travel section. You may also consider ‘outdoor’ advertising, which involves prominent advertising in customer-dense places like airport terminals, bus stops and shopping centres.
