So you want to start making ads huh? Of Course you do, or else you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Well the good news is that you’re in the right place and it isn’t as hard as you may think. And even if you are already experienced in the world of advertising, this blog might just in fact remind you of some tips and help you better organize yourself.
To create an ad we must first understand what an ad even is in the first place. According to Dictionary.com an advertisement is: “a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy.” Advertisements may seem quite simple in nature but in reality a lot of thought process goes into them. They can come in all shapes and sizes and can be executed in a variety of ways. Right now we are going to discuss the most crucial points to consider when making your own advertisements.
1.) SWOT Analysis
Before diving into everything with the ads you want to take a second to look at yourself and your company first. You should begin by analyzing all of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for both the company and the product or service you are advertising. Advertisers call this a SWOT analysis.
2.) Set Up Your Main Objectives
You want to also consider what it is exactly you want to accomplish. What do you hope to get out of this? How do you want your clients to react? Are your goals realistic? You want to ask yourself questions like this and try to answer them as unbiased as you can. Be honest with yourself and be logical.
3.) Research the Market, Your Competition, and Your Intended Audience
You still are not fully ready to make an advertisement until you conduct the appropriate research on the important factors that your campaign depends on. For example, it’s important to understand the market you’re in and it’s behavior over time. You wanna get in the habit of studying how things have changed recently and what other people who have their eyes on the market are predicting for the future.
It’s extremely important to always be aware of your position on the market as well as those of your competitors. Pay attention to your competition and analyze how they advertise their products. Do not copy them, simply make note of them and learn from them. You want to come up with something fresh, something new that will grab the attention of your potential clients.
To do all of this, you will also need to know a few things regarding the typology and the personality of your ideal client. Always consider who it is exactly you are hoping to address and the demographic of people that will seek out your product or service. Consider things like: What type of device will they be using? What are their online behaviors? Etc.
4.) Identify Your Target Audience
Ask yourself what type of people are most likely going to buy your products or services? If you want to have any chance of creating a successful advertising campaign you need to fully understand who you are going to be addressing in the first place.
As an example if you are going to be selling wedding dresses then it would be relatively obvious that your target audience are adult females who are going to get married. It just wouldn’t make sense to appeal to children or young men or anyone that is single. So as a result your entire approach will reflect your chosen demographic group.
Of course every campaign is different and some have demographics that are more broad than others. But nonetheless here are a few questions to ask yourself about your target audience:
- what is their social status?
- what is their age range?
- are they employed?
- what is their education level?
- where do they live?
The list goes on and on. But what’s important is to really focus on those that fit your goals and to address them with honesty.
5.) Select Your Channels
Fortunately there are several sites that can help you with making professional ads in no time at all. One site in mind is Bannersnack. Bannersnack allows you to create a full set of advertisements and makes it easy to design them for various channels. But keep in mind that designing your ads is one thing and deciding where to place them is a whole separate battle.
You can narrow your search to more specific channels of media distribution suitable for your campaign by doing a bit of research into your demographic. As an example if you are targeting clients who are known to be on social media then you definitely need to put your efforts into making ads that are optimized specifically for social media. And as always don’t forget to to select the most appropriate channels based on your target demographic.
6.) Always Brainstorm Fresh Ideas
The process of creating an ad may seem simple at first but over time your creative flow can be hindered. You might get too used to a certain method or way of thinking. It’s extremely important to always be on your toes and to always be thinking of things you haven’t tried yet. The digital world moves very fast and it’s easy to get left behind.
When coming up with new ideas be sure to refer to all of the information you’ve managed to gather up about your products, competition, and your targeted niche. The good news is that as time goes on, the more research you will have done and essentially your approach to ad making will improve.
It also can be helpful to have a notepad nearby when planning things out. Write down some key words, phrases and ideas you feel are important. Mix up these things and do not rest until you’ve come up with a list of several possible approaches you can take. It will also help to make visual representations and rough drafts to look over.
7.) The Design Process
Now it is finally time to begin your design process. You’ve done all the research, you’ve got your ideas organized and found your targeted audience. It is time to use everything you’ve learned to start creating your banners, flyers, and brochures etc.
You obviously want to start with your top three or four ideas and use them to create some polished raw advertisements. If you did decide to use Bannersnack or another similar website then all your drafts will be conveniently saved online. You can go back to make adjustments whenever you want and they will all be ready to send out to any location.
Also feel free to share your ideas, sketches, and rough drafts with peers. The more eyes you get on it and the more feedback you get, the better.
8.) Put Your Ads Into Effect
Now is where the real fun begins. After you’ve polished all your designs and they’re ready to be delivered, you can finally begin your online campaign.
You can now begin to define your budget and select how exactly you’re gonna go about publishing your banners. No matter what the advertising platform is, they usually will allow you to post your ads within your own completely customizable parameters. These parameters include things like demographics, age, types of websites, industries, countries, religion, gender, etc.
9.) Analyze the Results
Many people think once their ad is posted they are done and the reality is that your work is just beginning at this point. The best ads have come from trial and error and much observation.
Once your campaign has come to a close, you want to pay close attention and see just how your audience reacted to your banners. Take note of the things you felt were successful and even more importantly analyze where things didn’t go as well as they could’ve. This data is crucial for your future campaigns and hopefully with a little bit of time and patience your ads will get exponentially more and more successful.
All in all, optimizing an ad campaign isn’t something you just do in an afternoon. The process takes a lot of careful thought, planning, and organization. But with a little bit of practice and patience you will be on your way to making successful ads in no time at all. If you felt this reading was helpful be sure to check out our other blogs here. And if you or someone you know needs digital marketing assistance, our team at Bryant Digital is always more than happy to help!
