Advertising: Purpose, Strategies, Campaigns
Advertising is almost any paid marketing opportunity. Digital, print, outdoor, guerilla, broadcast. PPC social is advertising. Bus shelter posters are advertising. Television commercial, billboards, direct mail, SMS, and the all familiar print.
The important thing about advertising is that it needs to be viewed as an opportunity. An opportunity to:
- Reach a new market
- Reinvigorate a channel with the latest news or a new product
- Expand your audience
The return does not happen when you sign the insertion order.
Advertising Strategies
Your creative strategy needs to capture the audience 's attention (awareness), your acquisition strategy need to compel the audience to reengage and act on your campaign (consideration), and if possible engage (intent) for additional conversation.
Advertising is a means to an end, the top of the funnel of opporunity. Creating a well-thought out plan increases the likelihood of movement through the funnel.
Expanding the Media and Editorial Opportunity
Aligning your advertising with calendared editorial topics can create additional media opportunity. Either buffering an editorial topic or in the same space, advertising products or businesses in alignment with the planned content can offer the advertiser additional add-on opportunity.
Creating a plan that contracts your ad space for the year can result in pro bono opportunity, through PR, additional programs and media relations building.
Understanding where, what and when to place your ad dollars is important when economizing your budget and looking for the best ROI.
Not All Metrics Are Created Equal
Pass along value, readership and circulation are not the same.
An audited circulation guarentees the audience through its subscription base, readership is the pass-along value. When a publication only has a readership, it means the audience recieving the publication may not even want it, this is the case with a number of publications, so advertisers need additional means for of measuring the value of the opportunity.
In digital, many times key preformance indicators that digital marketers sometimes use are not transparent and don't offer any return on investment. Even deeper impressions like click through rates can be generated by non-human traffic (Bots). These bots have cost the industry $7 billion per year according to AdAge.
The advertising and marketing world has its own set of noise and static, knowing what works, what doesn't, and how to get the most out of your paid spends is imperative to your ROI.
Integrated Strategies
Creating advertising that offers value-based customer experience opportunities through lead-magnets that capture the audience offer additional opportunity for engagement, and help ensure that interest moves from awareness to consideration and into the intent and conversion pipeline.
Advertising is highly effective awareness strategy. Well thought out, well planned campaigns help ensure the opportunities are investments in growth.