Tips & Advice
Your business is viewed and judged by others the way you portray it - this includes your advert. With a business to run there is often little time to think and carefully plan what will go into your advert and how it should look but there are a lot of things to consider that can affect the response you want to acheive.
Money well spent
If you don't already use one you may want to consider using the services of a graphic designer, after all if your area of expertise is plumbing or cake making then no-one can expect you to have the time or know how to create a marketing masterpiece! A good designer will get the best value for your budget whether it's limited or limitless. If you don't know any deisgners then ask your business associates or network, look in the directory or give me a call (I know plenty!).
Doing it Yourself
If you are anything like me then you will want to do it all yourself (well it's your business isnt it?). No-one i know gets things right first time every time and it may take testing and revising your advert until you reach your objective but consider
including the following elements in your advert to increase it's effectivness.
1. Attention-grabbing headline
2. Complete and concise copy
3. Simple format
4. A great offer
5. What your customers want to know
6. Call to action
Advert Styles
Whether it's a product, discount or just to let people know more about your business you need to decide which type of advert will best suit your needs.
Business Card Style - Says who you are, where you are, and what you sell.
Kept short and sweet it could be a small advert that's run twelve months of the year. Book a 12 month 'display' or 'Direct' annual package.
Display Style- As above this tells people who you are and what you offer although with more information, product detail, visiuals and products images than a business card advert. Book a display advertisment package in any size.
Coupon Style - Great for a sales promotion. Using a discount or money off voucher can bring new custiomers to your business and an easy way to monitor
the effectiveness of your advert. Book a display advertisment in any size.
Sale Style - Invites readers to visit your business to receive a discount on a product, brand or all merchandise. Most advertisers limit the duration of advertising featuring a clearance or reduced price sale. Plan in advance, book a front cover or premium page to make an impact.
Spotlight Style - Drawing attention to a particular product, product line, or service this type of advert looks good as a larger display advert run just a few times each year. Book a full page or front cover disaply advertisment.
Editorial / Advertorial - Less 'hard sell' with the opportunity to give readers an insight into your business. Could be written as a regular Q&A feature offering
professional advice on a topic your business covers or in a journalistic style to be
read like an article instead of an advertisement. Book an editorial feature.
Do's & Dont's
So if after deciding on the objective and style of your advertising you still want to do it yourself here are some basic tips you may find useful when designing your advert.
Your attention please
If you want to get people's attention then use an eye catching but simple headline or message. If your main objective is to offer a discount then make it stand out - don't shove it at the bottom of the advert where it may be overlooked. Make sure you tell readers what's in it for them.
Say What?
You may have listed a lot of facts in your advert but is it all relevant to the reader? Think about your existing customers and what they need and use you for now, and then make sure your advert is telling your potential new customers what they want to know.
Crystal Clear
Is your message clear enough? Do readers know what you are selling them? It may be obvious to you - but it's your business. Make things straight forward and easy to understand and try to keep text as brief as possible - if there's too much to read then it becomes hard on the eye and may not be read at all. If you've too much to tell them then book an editorial and make use of headlines and journalistic style copy to provide more information.
Making a move
If you don't tell your potential new customers what their next move should be then you will confuse them as to how to use your business..and they won't. If you want them to make enquiries or call for more infomation or request a free brochure then dont forget to tell them. Call your customers to action or you may not get any response at all!
Avoid clutter
A bright busy advert can look fabulous but be careful it doesn't get cluttered. Try to keep it tidy and make it easy on the eye; clip art, logos, banners and text all over the place may turn a reader off.
Images and Logos
Visuals can be used to illustrate your business, display an image of what you sell or add interest to the advert, but the way you use them is important if you want to create a good impression. Low resolution, fuzzy, blurred or even distorted images and logos can look very unprofessional and reflect badly on your business image.
If you want to use an image make sure it is in proportion and clear (be honest - would you call and book a wedding cake from someone who used a blurry picture of a wedding cake that was squished into a tiny space at the bottom at of their ad?)
Use images that acurately reflect your products - while stock images are great they can cause people to beleive it's actually your product in the advert which could be seen as misleading.
Copyright & Permission - be careful
Be inspired by other peoples designs and adverts but start your advert from a blank canvas. If you copy a design (layout, images or whole design) created by someone
else, or copy and re-use images from the internet / elsewhere without permission you could be infringing copyright law. It doesn't necessarily follow that the copyright for an advert although designed for your business is owned by you, so if you are unsure
it's always safer to check with whoever created the design or owns the image first. You should also check you have permission to use images/photos of other people
in your advert - even those taken by you.
Happy Designing!