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How Do I Choose the Best Advertising Strategy?

K.C. Bruning
K.C. Bruning

The best advertising strategy will present a company to the public in the most advantageous way so that prospects will be inspired to buy. It will usually take into consideration budget, the characteristics of the targeted audience and the long-term goals of the business. A typical general plan is to make the public aware of the product, inspire them to buy, and build trust that will turn into a lasting relationship between company and customer. This overall strategy can then be fine tuned to meet the specific needs of the company. This can be done by collecting information about the target audience, creating a marketing plan based on that data, and then using it to make decisions about advertising.

A typical advertising strategy is used to attract immediate sales while bolstering the public image of the company in order to build a framework for future sales and long-term success. It is an extension of the core values and goals of the company. The best advertising strategy enables a company to create a public image that supports its business and marketing plans

Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone
Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone

Market research is usually one of the key elements of creating an effective advertising strategy. There are several kinds of information a company can collect, including data about the buying habits of the target audience, competitors, and overall market conditions. This information can be collected through surveys, analysis of sales information, and the study of current buying patterns.

Part of a strong advertising strategy is to gear the product towards the target customer from the early stages of development. Based on market research, the company can determine what kind of product this group desires. This will typically ease the process of promoting the product as its features will often be sufficient to win new customers. The most significant tasks are to bring attention to and build trust in the company so that the product can essentially sell itself.

Another important part of building an advertising strategy is to choose the best mediums through which to promote the product. The primary factors to consider when picking a venue for promotion are what kinds of media the target group consumes and the available budget for advertising. For example, if the group tends to watch a lot of television, then it may be worth the money to promote heavily through that medium, rather than spreading resources evenly among print, online, and radio.

Discussion Comments

Mammmood

@nony - A company’s web advertising strategy has thrown another wrinkle into the mix too, from what I’ve seen. It’s the importance of keywords.

Usually you don’t have to think about these things with traditional direct mail or other media. But with an online advertising strategy you are trying to rank high in the search engines, and so keywords become your gold nuggets so to speak.

Companies bid high for coveted keywords and there are people who work full time to make sure that a company continues to rank well. I know, because I once interviewed for such a position. It was called a search engine optimization strategist, and all they do is conduct ongoing Internet campaigns to make sure that a company ranks well in the search engine and converts well – which means a certain percentage of their “hits” convert into sales.

I never got the job, but I found the whole thing rather intriguing.

nony

I think that advertising has come of age in the Internet and this has changed the way it works. In my opinion it’s no longer sufficient to put up a web presence and expect people to come in droves to buy your product. The reason is that you’re competing with billions of web pages on the Internet.

Nowadays you have to build trust between you and your audience. That’s why a lot of companies are jumping on the social marketing bandwagon. I think things like blogs for example help companies stay in touch with their customers and communicate with them on a more direct level, without marketing hype.

People want to connect with companies on a more personal level, and I think that blogs and social media platforms are becoming part of the Internet advertising strategy for these companies.

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      Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone