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It is important to spend time getting the design and content of your advertising correct and to build in some kind of brand building so that consumers start to recognise that the ads are yours. This helps to build confidence in your target audience.
The creative aspect is vital to the success of your advertising. Trying to cram too much into any space will often have the wrong effect making the advertisement hard to read and not giving the consumer anything to concentrate on, thereby creating a ‘need’.
Far too many people rely on their PC to ‘knock’ something up in 10 minutes, but there is nothing worse than a poorly thought out advertisement and no excuse for not investing wisely in some creative input. A good advertisement gets the message across simply and quickly and will produce results. Too many words are not good, but big pictures are. Most of us will know someone who can create artwork based on a good brief and good copy, and it need not be overly expensive.
Once your advertising starts to appear it creates a whole new stream of ‘great opportunities’ offered by publishers monitoring other magazines and newspapers. However if you have set a budget and put in place a plan then its vital to stick to that plan and avoid temptation. I have seen many businesses finding themselves in trouble through not having control over the advertising budget generally caused by making decisions under pressure. To clarify that point, whilst writing this I have had three calls from non-nursery market magazines with great last minute offers for one of my clients, but the budget is set, the target audience mapped out and we will stick to that. However, we collect information so that when the time comes to plan the next schedule we have all the data to hand.
Monitoring the response to advertising can be difficult but is very necessary as it helps to identify what’s working and what’s not, making it a little easier to place your advertising in the future. Some companies use complex response mechanisms and customer codes, but by simply asking where people found you and keeping a note you will soon build up a picture that helps to make future decisions.
Contact Nick Butler of Practical Media Services on nickbutler@practicalmediaservices.com for marketing advice
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