Business Bullets - Marketing

I spotted a really interesting article in Marketing Week by Mark Ritson which shows how Radiocentre and ebiquity’s new 2018 report shows marketers’ perceptions about which channels perform best, versus the reality. The results show that marketers are really missing a trick when it comes to putting all their eggs in one basket and investing their entire budget in digital.

I’ve lost count of the amount of businesses we meet who say they’ve wasted money on advertising by being persuaded to go down a particular route with little or no return.

Many of these decision makers are not looking at the full picture with the consumer in mind – they are just sticking to what they know best or what they think they should be doing in a digital world where they are attracted to the latest new shiny thing.

TV, radio and outdoor media has come a very long way in the last few years to be more measureable and targeted in today’s digital climate, but some marketers are still overlooking it at their peril.

In today’s economic climate and squeezed marketing budgets, your advertising budget has to work even harder than ever to get results.

It’s important that before you embark on an advertising campaign you don’t get wooed by a good deal that’s too good to miss when it comes to media.

Plan your media and strategy around the consumer first.

Important questions to ask are; who are they? What media do they consume? What do they think about your company/your competition? What’s the problem you’re trying to solve with your product or service?

With 20 years advertising experience I thought I’d share my pearls of wisdom which will help you plan and deliver an advertising campaign.

Get a good media consultancy

Before you start working on a creative brief, or any ideas with your creative agency it is important get a good media consultancy on board. Your creative agency may already work with one they can introduce you to. At Stone Collective we have a few media specialists who specialise in different media (e.g. one is more digital, one just specialises in TV and radio).

I stress the word consultancy, as having worked with many media agencies and buyers in the past, they don’t really adopt a consultancy approach by not looking at all media and understanding the overall comms strategy. They just want to sell you what is the most profitable for them.

Think about what makes your company different

Think about your USP compared to the competition and ensure this is communicated in your brief and discussed with your creative agency. If you don’t know what it is about a product or service, your creative agency will work with you to dig a bid deeper to discover what it is.

A good headline makes it memorable

Having a good headline that grabs attention of the time-poor consumer is even more important in the digital age and has to cut through the noise. 

We worked with Northumbria Police and created the BE THE DIFFERENCE headline which captured the essence of their officers recruitment campaign perfectly.

It really does pay to have a team with an experienced ad copywriter.

Keep all ad copy short and sweet

It’s important that the consumer gets it quickly and give them an offer they simply can’t refuse is equally as important. I spotted a bus back the other day and the body copy was short but way too small so you couldn’t even read it.

Have a strong Call to Action

Something that’s easy to remember if it’s a poster or TV ad and tell them what you want them to do (and give them a reason or a matter of urgency e.g. today or limited offer for example).