Advertising: Attracting Clients and Building Following

When we talk about advertising, the first thing that comes into our mind are commercials, banner ads, billboard, and posters. With the evolution of technology and as time goes by there are certainly a lot of changes when it comes to advertising. Despite this though, the need for advertising hasn’t changed, and neither has the techniques and best practices that make for quality advertising.

Advertising is all about creating messages to persuade and motivate someone to take action. Good advertising needs to be extremely influential, memorable, and, at times, risque. Always remember that your advertisement needs to break through the clutter and noise of everyday life, disrupts the viewer’s attention, and demand their focus. 

In this modern era with the internet taking over most of our lives, online advertising is one of the most effective ways when it comes to attracting clients and your target audience. There are almost 4 Billion people using the internet every day which you can use to your advantage. If you’re not advertising online, then you can’t be on top of your game. Not only does the internet offer you direct access to more than half the global population – including more than half of your target audience – but it also provides so many different channels on which to advertise. 

Marketers now have the flexibility to reach their target audiences in multiple fronts, in multiple ways, for multiple budgets. Here are the most common ways to advertise online:

Paid Search Advertising

Almost everyone who has access to the internet already maximizes the use of search engines. Whether it’s Google, Yahoo, or Bing, all of them have their own paid advertising. This is referred to as pay-per-click, or PPC, and involves bidding on keywords and placing ads at the top or sides of search results.

When someone performs a query using one of those search engines, advertisers have the ability to display ads above organic search results. That’s what makes PPC so powerful — it gives your advertisements prime real estate in front of people already searching for relevant topics.

Social Media Advertising

The most popular way of advertising online is through social media platforms. They offer the option to sponsor or boost posts that are familiar to everyone. Social ads put your message in front of your target audience and encourage them to engage, click-through, and buy. More and more, social media sites are prioritizing ad space over organic content because, well, it brings in more revenue.

If you’re starting your business or a new brand, running some social media advertisements can be a huge plus. These will not only advertise your products and services but also promote your social media pages and grow your following.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter each have their own version of ads like these.

Banner and Display Ads

Banner and display ads are an extension of search ads and follow a similar PPC model. But instead of a text-based ad, consumers see a more visual advertisement.

Banner ads are typically the horizontal boxes on top of a web page, whereas display ads are smaller in nature and shown on the side.

Advertising Best Practices

When it comes to advertising, there are a lot of best practices, tips, and tricks. Advertising is an art that has been perfected for years and with the rise of modern advertising and new media, best practices continue to manifest. 

In this section, we are going to cover some famous advertising concepts that still work today. When used correctly, these advertising techniques can do wonders for your brand and even give you rapid results.

Appeal to Emotions

For most of us, we usually change the channel or scroll up when there is a commercial or an ad that is hard to watch. But if it is something that tugs at our heartstrings, we’re more likely to watch it until the end or even more get the product or make a donation. 

It is proven that most people rely on emotions, rather than information, to make brand decisions. If a person has an emotional response to ads it can influence them to buy the actual ad content. 

Whether you try to evoke happiness, sadness, fear, or anger, appealing to emotions can help your target audience feel your message — not simply read or hear it.

Create Positive Associations

When consumers associate your product with a feeling of happiness, state of achievement, or accomplished goal, they’re more likely to take notice, remember your product or service, and make a purchase.

This trick usually works with an influencer. Imagine your favorite celebrity posing with a product or brand and you want to look the same with that person, the result is you might end up buying the product that they endorse. Companies create this subconscious connection in advertising hoping that you associate your positive feelings with the product or service they’re promoting.

As you create your advertisements, you need to consider what feelings, desires, or goals with which you want your brand to be associated. Associate these feelings or goals into your advertisements through stories or videos. Look for influencers who align with your brand’s core values and demeanor and include them to promote the positive association. 

Establish a Bandwagon Effect

Human desire is what makes the bandwagon effect so effective. People want to fit it. It’s human nature. Neither of us is immune to it. Let’s face it, people don’t want to be left out. They find value in their peers’ opinions, and they don’t want to be the only ones not using the latest or greatest product. 

You can use customer testimonials, survey data, or shareable content to advertise your brand as one worth following or buying into. You can also take another approach by promoting a discount for sharing your brand with a friend or family member. In this way, your audience will do the selling for you. The key to this is to use your advertising to create an inclusive environment people will want to join.

Focus on Benefits Over Features

When promoting a brand or a service, you need to focus on the benefits rather than the features. In this way, your target market will take interest in what you are promoting because of what it can do to them rather than what it looks like. Features and benefits are two very different things. 

Features are the details of the product or service you’re selling while on the other hand benefits explain why a person should buy your product or hire your services. Advertising should focus on the benefit your product or service brings, not explain what you’re physically selling.

Focus on talking about ways on how a purchase can make a positive impact on your customers rather than wasting your time in providing specifications or service details. If you do this right, then your audiences will be the one to research the features on their own. 

Use Storytelling

Storytelling helps you paint a bigger picture of a brand or company, not simply promote a single product or service. Also, when stories resonate with someone, it’s far easier to motivate him or her to take action. Storytelling is the most powerful technique that you should infuse in all your advertising.

If you haven’t started crafting your brand’s overall story, you should definitely do so. It is proven effective that stories that illustrate a brand as “necessary, believable, and integral” are the most effective for engaging and influencing consumers.

Determining your brand story will help you learn how to best discuss your brand in all marketing efforts, not just advertising.

Advertising is an incredible tool to add to your marketing toolbox. A magnetic brand that attracts customers, establishes a following and generates revenue.

Do this and your brand will grow into a household name that stands the test of time — just like advertising itself.

Advertising can be a little tricky and you really need to put a lot of work into it to make it successful. The VA Hub offers Virtual Assistant services for your business needs whether it’s Marketing, Prospecting, Lead Generation, Customer Service, Administrative tasks and more!

Contact us for more information:

Call 1-888-923-9323

Email businessadvisors@thevahub.com

 Contributor: Dannielle Palarca