Pick up your palette and slap that paint on the canvas??We are
about to prepare a masterpiece!
Creating an advertising plan is a mix of analytical preparation
and creative conceptualization. Who are you trying to reach?
What do you want to say to them? How, when and where are you
going to reach them? In preparing the guideline or framework for
your advertising plan you need to concentrate on defining your
target market. You want to look at their age, location, marital
status, income, and life stage.
Strap down your easel and get ready to develop, is time to begin
the creative process and strategy. We want to concentrate on
appealing to the needs or wants of the consumers or target base.
We need to focus on where people are going to first see our
product/service to make an immediate lasting impact. Remember it
is all about getting noticed, we need to create ads that
resonate on the minds and hearts of our viewing audience. There
are numerous forms of advertising media we can use, such as;
direct mail, public relations promotions, display advertising,
directories, brochures/flyers, door to door leaflets, transit
ads, internet, TV, radio, Cinema, exhibitions, and trade shows.
In its simplest form, your creative strategy needs to answer
these three things: What benefit are you promising and what?s
your selling proposition? Who are you making it to? Why should
they believe you? There are two modes that our customers
shopping habits can be classified as, transactional and
relational. Transactional customers focus on today?s transaction
and they fear paying more than they should have. They are very
research oriented and they enjoy comparing and negotiating. At
the same time these costumers are great for word-of-mouth
advertising. Relational customers think of today as a beginning
to all the transactions to follow.
Timing is an important aspect when placing advertising. If you
place an ad too soon, people may forget about your event. If you
place an ad too late, people may already have plans or purchased
another product. For a seasonal plan, you may want to begin
running a campaign early enough to catch the people who plan and
continue running your ad in order to catch the last-minute trip
crowd. When developing your plan you need to concentrate on the
timing of your advertising. We refer to this as the purchase
frequency ?that is, the more frequently the product is
purchased, the less repetition is required. Companies need to
consider the rate at which your advertisement is forgotten, or
the speed at which buyers forget the brand if advertising is not
seen nor heard. Most approaches to advertising are divided into
two timing schedules; continuous and flight schedules.
The law of ?3? has long applied to visual and audio advertising.
That is, if a target customer can read your message 3 times in a
short period of time, or hear your ad 3 times, it will increase
the chances of them remembering the product. When developing
slogans, phrases, or any words that we will use in ads we need
to use evocative words. Words that evoke a reaction from the
viewer, remove them from their current thoughts, and place them
on your message. The most important part of developing an
advertising campaign is to be consistent. If the product/service
can be recognized in numerous areas of placement through a
consistent message delivery, it will become a part of the
consumers buying habits.
When deciding which type of firm to use in implementing your
advertising plan you should look at the options. A full service
agency does research, selects and purchases media, and develops
ad copies and produces artwork. A limited-service agency
specializes in one aspect of the creative process and they can
provide a range of services depending on the company needs. Your
last option is visiting a business incubation professional who
can help you develop a plan utilizing a mix of limited services
and consulting based on in-house resources you can use to do it
yourself. If you utilize all the tools that have been mentioned
in the article you will be able to develop and implement a great
guideline for your advertising plan.
? Copyright 2004-05 by www.motivatedentrepreneur.com
About the author:
This article was written by Ryan M. Hoback. He is founder of The
Motivated Entrepreneur Business Incubation & Consultation. They
help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.
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