You’ve defined your target audience and the goals of your advertising efforts. You built a foundation for your marketing by learning the basics and having a clear vision of what’s to come to grow your business.
Now, it’s time for all your ideas to flow, and for the creative, innovative, and imaginative side to come out.
Let’s Imagine
Imagine your dream advertisement. Your dream leads. The audience members who will find value in every aspect of your business and then some. The one who would try and become an affiliate.
At this point, don’t place any constraints on the possibilities. Forget budgeting, creative, and all the other potential roadblocks you may hit while strategizing.
Where is the advertisement? On TV during a national program? On the phones of attendees at a local event? One of the top results on the Google search page? On billboards?
Who makes up this ideal audience? Of course, we never wish problems on anyone, but this person has a challenge you can genuinely solve and aligns with the audience you serve. What stage of life are they in? What town or city do they live? What is their profession?
You might be able to envision anything and everything, and that’s okay too. We will continue to refine our ideas.
Now how do we make these ambitions actionable?
Let’s make sure your big ideas are right for your business. How do you find your target audience?
One exercise we often use when onboarding a client who is new to advertising — or ready for a refreshed strategy — requires you to tap back into your imagination and think creatively.
- Imagine you are your target audience (you may be!).
- Imagine having the problem that your business solves.
Now that we’re in these shoes, let’s think about if you were to hear about a solution to your problem:
- What would make you turn your head?
- What would comfort you?
What you learn here can be applied to the creative and messaging used in your ads, and the medium in which would be best to advertise on. These efforts will actually attract your target audience.
In our previous blogs in the ‘Advertising 101’ series, we’ve discussed how to identify your audience, and how to deduce what channels your audience engages with to see your ad; you wouldn’t put an ad for a casino in a high school.
Channels inspire how you communicate
Once we decide on the best channels, we can come up with some ideas on how to effectively communicate our message that adheres to the channel we are working with. Obviously, different channels have different requirements:
- YouTube and TV commercials need a video
- A Google paid search campaign only needs strong copy for the user to click on your website
- A massive billboard ad will have little copy but ramped up visually enticing elements
- A blog’s copy and wording will be the stars of the show
In our busy world, we must make sure that no matter the medium we use, our advertisement is attention grabbing and trustworthy, including creative elements.
535media can help you determine which parts of your overall message to highlight and offer strategic recommendations along the way. With years of advertising agency experience with a wide range of industries and audience types, we’ve developed a deep understanding of how to connect with your audience.
But then, do you have to hit every channel?
You can! But you don’t have to. Variance is healthy, but we know our audience will see and engage with some channels more than others.
Plus, what’s great is creatives and copy are transferrable between channels – a TikTok ad can easily be used in a Meta Reels campaign, or a CTV ad can be used on YouTube or as a PreRoll video online. So, you’re getting the most out of your efforts.
The more variance, the more opportunity to hit your “ideal” audience member. However, amongst this variance, cohesion is vital to create trust with your audience; when you trust a business, you’re more likely to return, promote, and engage. We always recommend cohesive brand identity across advertisements and websites. If you’re wondering, how do you develop a brand identity? We can help with that, too.
Back to reality
Now that we’ve envisioned our possibilities, it’s right to feel excited about achieving your advertising goals and increasing ROAS for your business. One thing to consider is that different channels and mediums have different capabilities in targeting, and thus, cost more or less than others.
Budget is no fun to consider, but rest assured, no matter how big or small the advertising budget, we will work with you to create a better advertising strategy. You’ll be using money wisely, not wasting it on avenues that aren’t the most opportunistic for your business.
535media will take your aspirations for your business’s advertising strategy and make them into a practical, profitable and precise plan. Stay tuned to learn about employing the tools we have at our ready, and to see the evidence of your message resonating with your audience.