Advertising strategy

An advertising strategy can be defined as a blueprint to help sell a given product to consumers. There are almost as many different advertising strategies are there are products to advertise, and each company follows its own unique strategy plans. However, all forms of advertising strategy follow a few basic principles.

Principles:

Qualities of the Product

Before an advertising strategy can begin in earnest, the company must define the qualities of the product or service, according to U.S. Legal. That means stating what purpose the product fulfils, what features it includes and what advantages it offers over other products intended for the same purpose. These qualities will form the core of the advertising’s branding, helping to define the message of the strategy and the features the company wishes to emphasize in its ads.

State of the Market

With the product now defined, the question becomes who will want to purchase it. According to Adcracker.com, market research can pinpoint the characteristics of key customer demographics, including such elements as age, gender, social standing and interest towards certain forms of advertising (such as how often they watch certain television shows or read certain magazines). It also means defining how much of the market may be open to purchasing that product and what percentage of the market is currently occupied by rival products. It may also try to pin down the current economic climate in order to understand potential sales. For example, selling a luxury product such as a speedboat may be more difficult in times of economic downturn.

Advertising Goals

A knowledge of the possible market; including competitors, customer preferences and conditions for selling; and an understanding of the product itself can then lead to developing a specifics set of goals for the advertising. According to Rex Stewart’s “Building an Advertising Strategy,” the company can state what they hope to accomplish through the advertising (such as “increase sales by 15 percent,” or “promote further sales to women ages 24-39”) and the timetable in which they intend to meet those goals. That forms a road map by which the company can gauge the advertising’s success as the strategy continues.

Methodology

The company must decide upon the methods by which the advertising will be implemented. This includes the overall tone of the advertising, the particular qualities emphasized, the specifics medium (magazine ads, television commercials, product placements, and the like) and the geographic location of the ads (specific cities where billboards will be placed, television stations and/or programs where ads will run, and so on). In addition, the company must draw up a budget covering the resources they are prepared to spend on the advertising strategy and the specific ways in which those resources will be used. With the methodology firmly in place, the company can then go about implementing the strategy.

Types:

Seasonal advertising

This type of advertising strategy is used for the advertising of seasonal products or advertising of your business or products during a particular season. Several huge companies swear by this advertising strategy and advertise their products right before the beginning of the season and through the season. This advertising strategy proves to be beneficial as it provides a high return on investment. Because companies spend their money on advertisements when there is a need for their products in the market rather than wasting money on ads throughout the year.

For example, during important festivals like Diwali, Dussehra, Christmas, companies like Amazon and Flipkart run-heavy advertising, which results in the revenue generation of millions to these companies. Seasonal advertising is not only adopted by giant companies, but it is also popularly used by small businesses to attract customers.

Social media advertising

Social media advertising is one of the most popular advertising strategies used by companies to advertise their products and services and to stay in touch with their customers. Companies create their social media handles on different social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. and share information about their business on these platforms. People can not only learn about the products and services offered by companies but can also interact with the markets through these platforms.

Companies run their advertising campaigns on these platforms and also take the help of social media personalities to promote their products. For example, Olay Company advertise their face cream with the help of social media influencers and mobile companies like Redmi and Oppo also support the latest models of their mobile phones on their social media handles and even with the help of social media influencers.

Social media has become the first choice of advertising of both small as well as large businesses. Businesses are not required to spend millions on advertising using social media advertising strategies like they are required to pay when promoting their business on other advertising platforms.

Moreover, using social media advertising, they can learn about the response of people towards their advertising campaign and can make changes as per their reaction.

Ownership advertising

In an ownership advertising strategy, you make your customers participate in your ad campaign. For example, coke asked their customers to share their selfies with a coke bottle on their social media platforms and tag them in their posts.

In this way, they indirectly made people buy their product, and by sharing on their social media platform, they make their customers advocate their product to their friends and family.

Modelling the advertising strategy

The modelling advertising strategy is when companies make the use of celebrities or renowned personalities to advertise their products. It is an effective advertising strategy as the followers of the superstar will be influenced to buy your product.

Utility advertising strategy

The utility advertising strategy is a unique advertising strategy where you advertise your product by helping people achieve their goals.

Evocation advertising strategy

This type of advertising strategy to attract the attention of people by evoking strong emotions in them. You create a positive image of your brand and product by connecting with people at an emotional level.

Steps to implement:

1. Determine the purpose of advertising

The first step is to determine the purpose of advertising. There can be different purposes for which you want to advertise. For example, to boost the sales, to promote your newly launched product, to attract foot traffic in the store, to increase traffic on the website, to make people aware of the benefits of the product.

Having the clarity of the purpose of advertising is a step forward in the direction of creating an effective advertising strategy. You can select media platforms on which you want to advertise your product and services and can also decide how much you want to spend on your advertising campaign.

2. Determine your target audience

The second and even a crucial step in creating an effective advertising strategy is to determine the audience that you want to target using your advertising strategy. Knowing the audience that you want to focus on makes your advertising strategy more effective. You will create content that will grab the attention of your target audience.

Determining your target audience is not as easy as it seems. It is a complex process to identify your target audience. Your target customer is a person who will ultimately buy your product. You can determine your target audience by creating a profile of the customer who will buy your product. Next, you should evaluate the influence of the people around your target customer, such as family members, colleagues, friends, etc. who will influence the decision of your target customer. For Instance, if you are into the business of selling cars, then your target audience will be the people with regular income. The people who have a stable job or who run a successful business. The decision of these people will be influenced by the people they are working with, their friends, their children, and their spouse. Therefore, make sure that when you are creating an advertising strategy, then don’t forget to target this group of people.

3. Decide your advertising budget size

The next important step is to determine the budget for your advertising campaign. It is essential to decide your advertising budget before you decide on your advertising strategy. Your strategies will be ineffective if it does not match your budget.

Sometimes low budget advertising can do wonders for your business if you choose the right strategy that fits your budget.

4. Selecting media for advertising and deciding the schedule

Once you have determined your product and target audience, the next step that you are required to take is to choose the type of media that you want to use to reach your audience. There are many advertising media such as

1. Print media: Newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, posters, banners, etc.
2. Digital media: Website advertising, social media advertising, World Wide Web, email advertising, YouTube ads, Television ads.
3. Direct mails
4. Word of mouth
5. Outdoor advertising: Billboards, Advertising on public transportation like public buses and cabs.
6. Trade shows.
7. Radio advertising

All of these advertising mediums have their advantages and disadvantages. You can choose one or a group of advertising mediums to implement your strategy. For example, if your target audience is older people than advertisement medium like television ads and newspaper ads will be the right choice of medium to advertise your product.

On the other hand, if you are targeting youngsters, then to reach them, you should opt for social media advertising, YouTube ads, and the world wide web. Because nowadays, most youngsters spend their time on these platforms and spend less time watching television or reading newspapers.

Therefore, the right advertising medium can help increase the return on investment on your advertising strategy.

5. Implementation of the advertising program

The next step is to implement your advertising strategy as planned. The implementation of advertising strategies is referred to as an advertising campaign. An advertising campaign is a different concept from an advertising strategy, but an advertising strategy is used as guidelines to create an advertising campaign. As it is crucial to achieving across the board consistency. Everything that is part of your advertising campaign such as music, artwork, images should be as it is decided in the advertising strategy. It is essential to achieve consistency when you are advertising your product through several advertising mediums. Make sure to use one slogan, image, or a music track that creates the coherency of your advertisement on different advertising platforms.

6. Measure the effectiveness of advertising

The last step is to measure the effectiveness of your advertising strategy. Whether your advertising strategy was successful or not will depend on the return on investment that you get by the implementation of an advertising strategy.

Check whether your objective is met or not. For example, if you aimed to boost sales, then check how much your advertising strategy was successful in achieving the desired number.