How To Make Advertising Work

Whilst most advertisements could win design competitions, many don’t deliver on the simple, fundamental, characteristics required for effective marketing communications.

Here’s a top 7 list (we all like numbered lists, right?) to help identify the key characteristics of a solid advertising concept. (We’d be more than happy to share some more resources on this topic if you’d like to dig a little deeper into this subject).

Engagement – does the advertisement stop the reader and engage them to continue spending their time to learn more about your offer?
Credibility – are your claims believable? Can they be backed up?
Impression – will the ad be remembered? Does it create a lasting impression? How likely is this ad to be recalled in a future survey?
Action-Oriented – does the ad provide a strong, clear, call-to-action?
Significance – does the ad promote features & benefits the audience will care about? Is there any way to make the message more relevant?
Integration – is this advertisement part of an integrated, multi-channel campaign that accurately reflects your brand & core messaging?
Branding – how well does this ad promote your key brand attributes?

Here are some practical actions to get you started on the path to creating solid advertising concepts.

Establish Your Brand – if your brand isn’t integrated, up-to-date, or just needs a tune-up, then now’s the time to get stuck in. Again, we’d be happy to share our scorecard template to help you establish your brand with clear goals, objectives, targets, & initiatives.
Position Each Product/Service – this is a critical step to help you to define your core messaging. A product positioning worksheet is a great tool to help you achieve this.
Assess Each Ad Concept – we have an advertisement evaluation spreadsheet to evaluate the effectiveness of each proposed advertising concept. We’d be more than happy to share this tool to help you identify where each advertisement can be improved before production.
And Lastly, Make the Right Decision – re-assess improvements & select the best advertisement for the campaign.