How often have you stayed to watch an entire TV or YouTube ad? How often have you clicked on a banner ad that has appeared while you were browsing? Unless the content is really interesting or the brand has an irresistible offer, you generally skip or remove the ad, don’t you?
For marketers, the biggest challenge is to ensure this does not happen. If you are a business owner, one of your main goals is to ensure brand recall. Your target audience should lap up your ad, flock to your website, and buy what you’re offering. Unfortunately, it isn’t all that easy.
Understanding The Components Of A Quality Ad
According to this data, the average length of a video ad on LinkedIn should be around 15 seconds. This is because people today have a short attention span. They’re always looking for the next thrill, and they’re impatient. In such a hectic environment, making an impact is most important. Everyone knows which brand the Just Do It tagline belongs to because it’s short and catchy. So what makes a great ad different from a good one? What can make your brand story stand out from the hordes of others? Here are five components that go into making a quality ad.
A Solid Story
Today, nothing sells more than a good brand story. While outbound marketing’s strategy of inundating customers with information works to some extent, nothing’s better than an ad that tells the brand’s story in an honest and identifiable way. This creates sustainable interest via inbound marketing. A case in point would be this leaderboard, which clearly shows that Nike’s Never Too Far Down ad was leading in terms of the ads that people searched YouTube to watch. Any ad that is emotional can persuade a consumer to make a decision instead of something that’s generic or looks and sounds like an announcement.
Good Writing
From ads that appear in local newspapers to those that appear in the New Yorker or even those that are memes on Facebook, every good ad features some great copy. You can choose to be suspenseful, or informative, or anything that will grab your ideal customer’s attention with great writing. Well-chosen words and a carefully crafted message can resonate well with an audience and help them remember you. A well-worded ad can quickly go viral and your brand can have a lot of visibility as a result. A badly-worded ad or one with typos can have the exact opposite effect. Something similar happened to apparel brand Old Navy when their branded tees had an apostrophe missing. Now for a clothing company, its product is an ad in itself. If you have a spelling mistake there, it’s a recipe for disaster. A memorable disaster that will get you noticed, but not in the way you may want.
Location Matters
Where you place your ad is going to impact who you might potentially reach. Any medium that you choose is a critical aspect of your entire advertising campaign. An ad that will appear on network television is very different from an ad on a social media platform. Along with the appropriate location, you also have to consider your target audience. Each medium has its pros and cons. For example, with television and national radio, you can reach a wide audience but not a very niched one. Digital media, on the other hand, allows you to target people who are already searching for products and services like yours. You can even target people with particular job profiles if you’re posting ads on LinkedIn. Where you place your ad and who that ad is aimed at, goes a long way in getting you the right customers.
A Good Call to Action
An advertisement without a CTA is like a car without an engine. You’re publishing the ad for a reason; you want your audience to do something– visit your website to make a purchase, or go to a physical retail store to buy something. A good ad persuades people to make a purchasing decision and even tells them to do so. If your ad doesn’t have any call to action, consumers will think it is a waste of time. For example, pay-per-click advertising is the most popular form of ad on the internet today. Every PPC ad has a dedicated CTA button that will take you to either the manufacturer’s website or a special landing page. This is an effective way to capture leads that can later be converted to sales.
A Fine Blend of Information and Entertainment
People detest ads that are preachy. On the other hand, an ad that is just funny, without being informational or offering some sort of entertainment value, is a waste of the marketing budget. As an advertiser, your ad needs to walk the fine line between information and entertainment. An average person sees around 5000 ads a day. To stand out, your ad needs to be a clever blend of why the consumer needs the product, and something witty that captures their imagination so they remember you. Advertisements on the radio during the ’60s and ’70s had an announcement-like vibe to them. That format doesn’t work anymore. Since advertising has evolved, so has the messaging.
Final Thoughts
While there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to producing a successful ad, the above points are a great place to start. As a rule, every brand is different, so as a marketer you must consider your target audience and define your objectives before creating your content. Any content should be crafted in a way that’s effective for every phase of your ad campaign. You should also keep an eye on your competitors to see what they’re doing, and craft your ad campaign accordingly to make your product stand out from them. A good advertisement is one that makes your consumer keep coming back to you despite the presence of competitors. Read our blog about ways to optimize your online ads so you can attract the right customers for your brand.
