Advertising and marketing generally share the same objectives. And at times, a lot of people use it interchangeably. But you have to remember that these two have different concepts. Let’s put it this way, marketing is the big umbrella where you plan and implement several activities that can be both beneficial to the company and its clients. On the other hand, advertising is one of the activities in the entire marketing process. And to date, it is known as the most expensive part of the plan. After the marketing blueprint is plotted, marketers then think of the best advertising tactics.
Now since advertising is deemed to be costly, you have to make sure that you have the best tactics for ad campaigns. You wouldn’t want to spend a lot of your company budget and end up not getting good results, would you?
This 2020, you have to make sure that you level up your advertising game. We have here some of the best tactics you can use for ad campaigns. That way, every dollar spent is worth it.
Different Channels for Advertising
Before we talk about the best advertising tactics, let’s have a run-through of the different channels where you can place your advertisements.
- Radio
- Posters
- Sponsorship of TV Shows
- Outdoor Ads
- Public Transit Ads
- Newspapers
- Sponsored Web Content
- TV Commercials
- Online Ads
- Social Media Ads
Looking at the list, you now know that there are different options where you can place your ads. But that doesn’t mean that you should use them all. It is important that you understand which channels your target market will likely see your advertisements.
Best Advertising Tactics for 2020
What are the ad tactics every brand should use this year?
1. Understand Your Goal
It is with high importance that you first establish your goal. Thus, we added it to the top of our list. Knowing what your objective is can help you identify which actions and activities to do. Ask your team, is it for brand awareness? Is it to directly generate sales? Is your advertising tactic for building business relationships?
Although you want to avoid trial and error approaches as much as possible, your advertising scheme has to be strategic and start with a goal.
2. Study Your Competitors
One of the ways to come up with an effective advertising tactic is to see what your competitors are currently doing. This is not to say you have to copy their style. If you do, it will definitely backfire on your brand. The reason why this step is crucial for you to determine what works and what doesn’t. From there, create a new and better formula.
Have you seen some of the funny commercials of Burger King? For some, the brand took it to a whole new level. Clearly they are imposing that they are better than Mcdonalds, implying the latter is just a stopover to reach Burger King. It was so effective that the video went viral.
3. Impactful Graphic Design
Whatever your chosen advertising tactic or channel is, there is always a strong need to create a graphic design that will generate an impact.
Remember that humans are naturally visual creatures. Plus, you only have a few seconds to spark one’s interest. If your graphic designs are mundane, they will not stand out.
Those who aren’t good with graphic designs must get help from professionals. If you must know, graphic designing for advertisements has its own principles. It’s not just about randomly putting elements together. There is a science behind it. And if your advertising team needs help, Penji has the best designers to work on your graphic design needs.
Remember this, blending isn’t what you want with your advertising campaign. You need to have something that can disrupt the market.
4. Think About Each Word
Since placing advertisements of any kind can be expensive, you have to maximize every second. Having said that, choosing the right words is necessary. If you are creating a video or a poster, every phrase has to be concise, clear, and should definitely influence the right market.
Let us give you samples of company slogans that are so successful, they are considered classics.
MasterCard was so sleek and created “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.”
And how about M&M’s “Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands.”
Again, you can be creative, insert humor, and at the same time directly state what your brand is all about.
5. Make Everything Connected
A campaign is far more different from creating a stand-alone advertisement. When building a campaign, all your advertising materials should be cohesive. It should clearly show your main objective. This is to strengthen the message you want to deliver to your audience.
Dove has been known to run advertising campaigns empowering women. They have released a number of advertising materials like videos and posters and these clearly show the brand’s main objective. More often than not, they will use non-celebrities to promote their advocacy. And it proved to be more effective than hiring A-listers.
6. Target Emotions
A lot of companies use emotional appeal in their best advertising tactics to win customers. Instead of directly selling the products and services, they highlight the emotions that audiences can potentially feel if they patronize the brand.
A good example is what Oreo did for their 100th birthday. Instead of taking the usual path, they took it up a notch by targeting emotions and bringing back the good old times. It was nothing short of nostalgic and a lot of people participated. They also used social media which we will discuss further in the latter part of the article.
7. Look at the Benefits and Not Features
Normally, brands would usually highlight their features. But did you know that citing the benefits is even more powerful? Instead of enumerating your product or service’s features, show how these features can help your customers. As always, consumers are more interested in how your products or services can improve their lives.
Take a look at what Gillette did here. Instead of directly stating how amazing their razors are, they highlighted one of the benefits. You get to have smoother skin which enables you to be closer to your children through skin-to-skin contact. This is good, most especially for fathers.
8. Storytelling Approach
Remember when we were still kids and the only way we could sit still is if we hear stories? That same principle applies when creating a good advertisement campaign.
To engage more people, come up with a good story. Choose one that is timely and use emotional appeal. You can refer back to our previous tactics and see how emotional advertisements can help your company.
Have you seen the beautiful advertisement from John Lewis Insurance? It’s about a tiny dancer going around the house. There were scenes wherein the little girl was about to break expensive vases and furniture. At the end of the advertisement, you will realize that it was for Premier Home Insurance. It used humor and the story itself was enough for you to stop what you are doing and watch the entire thing.
9. Maximize Social Media
Social Media is one of the things you shouldn’t ignore when it comes to your brand advertisement. It has the capacity to influence people on a massive scale. But be careful though. Placing advertisements on social media should be strategic as well. It’s more than just creating images, videos, and captions. You need to know the right content and even the perfect schedule to post your advertisements.
This is what Red Bull did when it introduced an extension of its brand. When they promoted their ‘Summer Edition’ drink, they used teaser photos which can be seen in their feed. These photos were enough to spark the interest of their already huge following. They even created an easy to recall hashtag for the campaign, #ThisSummer.
10. Use the Latest Technology
Traditional advertisements such as billboards, radio, print and TV ads can still be seen to this day. But you have to keep up with the times. You must use different technologies not just because of its efficiency, but it gives your brand an impression that it can easily adapt to changes.
For example, you can use chatbots. Fandango is using these advancements and it proved to be highly effective. As a strategy, the company is letting people watch trailers from Facebook messenger. Instead of hoping that the market will find their advertisements, they are using the technology to reach out to their audience.
Conclusion
While some of these advertising techniques have been in existence for years, we still believe in its impact on your brand’s campaign. However, as a rule of thumb, always be on the lookout for trends and new technologies. Use it with the basic principles of advertising tactics and you will eventually get the best results.
