Developing a marketing plan takes time. Everything from the timing to each ad’s placement needs to come together strategically in order to deliver solid ROI. But there’s one thing that shouldn’t get left off of the list: advertising creative. Using bad ad creative is a fast way to undermine an otherwise successful advertising strategy. Today we’ll cover four tips to help you use winning creative.
Branding
The branding you utilize in your ad creative can have a huge impact on how your audience perceives your company and remembers your message. Even something as basic as the colors you use can make a difference: color alone can lift brand recognition by 80%. Similarly, the words you choose are critical, as 45% of brand image results from what your business says and how it says it. Even the very shape of your logo can impact whether your brand is seen as sensitive, warm, and comfortable or quality, durability, and maturity, as well as a variety of other complex associations. Creative that doesn’t take advantage of branding will undermine its own influence with the customer.
Targeting
The actual tone and personality of the content of your advertising is key to capturing consumers, and that requires segmenting and targeting them. Segmentation allows you to fully understand your audience and the way they want to be spoken to, which opens the door to personalization and fully connecting with each customer. Remember that 64% of consumers say shared values is the main reason to choose and keep up with a brand, and 83% say that loyalty is driven by trust in a brand. The results of targeting your creative can be huge: targeting and testing a landing page can increase conversions by 300%, while sales lift 20% from personalized web experiences. Studies also show that segmented and targeted email campaigns can represent as much as 58% of all revenue.
Call-to-Action
Unless you’re running an awareness campaign, a CTA is a must. This is what directs a consumer to take action, and ultimately makes them a customer. It needs to be straightforward, easy to understand, and easy to complete. Amazing strategy and compelling elements won’t accomplish any of your goals if there isn’t a CTA to bring it all home.
Going Beyond the Ad
It’s important to remember that your creative is pertinent to so much more than just the ad in question. Your message needs to be consistent across every channel in your marketing mix, including your website. Furthermore, once you’ve gotten a consumer to the site itself, it needs to utilize your creative as a vehicle to maintain their interest and engage them to the point that they act on your CTA.
The truth is, the best marketing strategy in the world won’t do much for your business if it doesn’t go hand in hand with great ad creative. Powerful branding, personalized and accurate targeting, and engaging CTAs will help you leverage successful advertising. Always remember, you don’t need to struggle to build a plan with this kind of creative. Check out our free ebook, The 4 Step Process to Developing Killer Advertising Creative Ideas, and contact Zimmer Radio & Marketing Group today to find out what we can do for you and your advertising creative.
