Building better ads makes a big difference
Or I know why your ads sometimes don’t work!
1 of 4 posts
A few years ago, I put together a sheet that is called “Building better ads – Types of ads and how to use them better.” It goes along with a two hour seminar that I teach that helps businesses determine the correct type of ads to run for what they are trying to accomplish.
Many advertisers will use an image building ad and don’t understand why they aren’t getting great results like the traffic building ad they used to run did. They also try using the wrong ad in the wrong medium. This helps explain some of why the results you want, aren’t happening.
I will show you the eight type of ads that are used and how to use them correctly. While this isn’t going to be an in depth session on advertising, I am going to help you understand the types of ads that are used and how to better use them. I will do this in a four part series (two each time). As always, if you have questions, any of my marketing consultants can help you determine what ads are best for you and your business. These are not for print ads only. These principles work for radio, TV, direct mail and many other mediums. I do make them more from print for ease of use.
Name Recognition Ads – These type of ads are designed to tell who we are. They are generally smaller ads, and don’t use an offer. These are used by insurance companies, investment firms and even some doctors and other professionals. They are designed to be run over and over for the long term and are designed to build brand recognition. These ads are some that I get asked all the time as to why an insurance company isn’t getting lots of calls like his friend that runs the store up the road. They are not designed to build traffic (that is for the Traffic Building Ads – next). These are designed to be out there and introduce you to your potential customers. When you call on people they will say something like “I know you. I’ve seen you in the Journal.” or “I’ve heard about you on the radio.”
These are used by many large companies to build their brand – Allstate, Toro, Farmers Insurance, Michelin Tires, State Farm, Bosch Kitchen, SAS Shoes, even some real estate company ads. They are usually co-op type ads and build the brand of the main company while adding an agent or authorized company name to be linked to them. This is better for the big company than it is for the small agent or company. But you do get benefit by having the company pay 50 – 100% of the ad for you.
Be careful – these ads don’t have an offer in them or it is a weak offer ($25 off a $749 lawnmower is a weak offer). Don’t expect many phone calls without a call to action or compelling offer. That is not what this type of ad is about.
Traffic Building Ads (or Increase Traffic ads) – These are generally medium to large size ads. Some have a great offer while others don’t have an offer. These type of ads are to get people to know they need to come to you. This may be with a compelling deal or a hard to get product. Remember every Christmas there is one or two items that the stores can’t keep in stock. Can you say Cabbage Patch Doll or Nintendo? Perhaps you have a truckload of the product and you can sell them for whatever you want to. Other times it is that you have the best price on a product that is wanted or needed.
Grocery ads are these type of ads. They have the loss leaders and super specials for the week for that store. It brings people in for the commodities that they need and they are hoping you will buy those things that are not on sale to help them make a profit (or a better profit).
These need to be aggressive when pricing is the issue or timely when you have what everyone wants and your competitor doesn’t. It can also be a special price on pizza (or any restaurant) for dinner or it could be an offer with the right price for new glasses. Don’t confuse this one with an inventory reduction type ad (covered in two weeks).
Watch out for – These are either price sensitive or time sensitive ads. They sometimes will build customer loyalty but it takes time to build a habit. They are great to introduce you to a potential customer or to keep current customers coming back.
In the coming weeks I will cover the other six type of ads: Image ads, Competitive Edge ads, Inventory Reduction ads, Target Market ads, Customer Awareness ads, and Budget ads. If you would like to get more information on seeing this seminar, please talk to my marketing consultants.
Boyd Petersen
Certified Marketing Coach
Tip: A good coupon helps people do more of what they want to do, rather than what you want them to do.