Why your advertising isn’t working
7 out of 10 prospects we speak with all have one thing in common: they don’t want to advertise because they tried it in the past and it “does not work”. Every advertiser or marketer reading this understands specific pain. Here’s the universal issue that lead to the “it does not work” opinion: a lack of understanding of how advertising actually works.
People tend to think that advertising is some magic pill that cures a business of a lack of revenue overnight. Effective advertising doesn’t work like that. We like to split advertising into two major segments: brand awareness and engagement. Both need to be done simultaneously and they are equally important to the whole strategy. And that’s the first step: a strategy.
Establishing your strategy objectives is key, and most businesses end up with two: brand awareness and sales. They work together to achieve the goal and tend to feed off of each other. In order to have any kind of consumer demand or need, consumers need to become aware of you. If they don’t know you exist, they won’t be looking for you as an option when they are making a purchase.
How does brand awareness work?
You’ll need a brand to start off with. The stronger the brand, the better the results. Coca Cola’s brand has undisputed territory even with all the other beverage brand options out there because of its strength. They have cornered that part of the market for their own, and they have never disappeared from the advertising space, ensuring that we’re always reminded of their presence, and never forget their name.
Branding should be done professionally as we’re trained to be aware of the competition and have a good idea of public perception, saving you the hassle of a disjointed brand, or worse, one that no one remembers or cares about. It saves a lot of time and money in the long run to get it right the first time around, or before you decide to advertise again. Most agencies, like TILT, will tell you if your brand needs some strengthening to be more effective or differentiated.
If your brand is already prepped for take off, then it’s time to get to work. Advertising is a never ending task. It does not need to break the bank, but for it to be effective, you need to be constant. Brand awareness campaigns aim to burn your brand into someone’s mind, but in order for your brand to become a subconscious beacon, you need to be there, always, in their newsfeeds, on their routes to work, in the forefront of their minds when they are remotely thinking about a similar purchase. Brand awareness is a subconscious, living campaign that manipulates a consumer to want you, rather than your competition. And that’s why you need to do it all the time, because when you aren’t on those airwaves, your competition is.
How does direct response advertising work?
Direct response kind of does what it says on the tin: it engages for a direct response, or action, from the consumer. This wide category of advertising is usually more effective when you have a brand awareness campaign running, as it increases the response rate. These ads can be social media, email marketing, billboards, television ads, and loads more. Some would say that it can be present in any form of advertising, as long as the ad is designed to encourage the consumer to make an immediate opt-in.
How many times have you passed a KFC billboard and instantly become ravenous for fried chicken? I’m not going to lie, just writing that made me wonder where the nearest outlet is… That is direct response marketing at its best, but if KFC did not have decades of brand awareness campaigns running, telling you about how juicy and delicious and original KFC chicken was, then you would not have that instantaneous craving for it, even if you don’t even like chicken that much.
Brand awareness coupled with direct response is an advertising powerhouse. But as a business owner, you need to understand that you cannot switch off advertising if you want to expand your business. If you are happy with where your business is, and you are not interested in growing your consumer base, then by all means, stop advertising. However, the second you stop is a win for your competition because everyone knows that the power lies with the consumer, and the road to the consumer is through brand awareness.
If you’re ready to get started, give us a call or ping us an email and let’s TILT your brand today!
Feel free to contact us at 07955805340 or by visiting us at www.TILTcreative.agency.
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