Abstraction showing things having something in common

This is a guest post by Alicia Rother, a freelance content strategist and writer based in Tanjay, Central Visayas, Philippines.

Successful advertising is one way to reach out to prospects and customers to keep them informed and gather quality leads. In order to get all the benefits from advertising, companies work with reputable and reliable advertising firms. This means your company has to invest in creating and running an effective advertising campaign.

Choosing an advertising firm to help you reach your short- and long-term  goals isn’t an easy decision to make. Most businesses know that all advertising companies are not created equally. If you make the wrong choice, it could be an expensive mistake. Or at worst, detrimental to your business.

chart showing 5 steps to successful advertisingBut if you make the right choice, you'll reap the benefits now and in the future. Read about the five characteristics of successful advertising.

Small businesses often look at the most successful advertising efforts for guidance. Obviously, small businesses can’t afford to pay for top advertising agencies. However, you can study their efforts to see what characteristics they have in common that make their advertising get noticed. Then, you can use these traits as the benchmark for choosing which  advertising firm to work with.

What makes successful advertising experience

Find successful advertising firms that have experience working with multiple marketing channels. They understand people spend their time accessing content, researching, and browsing across a variety of platforms and with different types of devices. They understand the success of their work – and your advertising – lies in reaching these people on various platforms. If they're good at it, it increases the chances you'll reach your audience when they're online. 

How do you know if they're good at what they do? Successful advertising companies have a proven track record generating leads – and driving sales – from the digital world. This is due to their proficiency in executing social strategies, email marketing campaigns, mobile marketing, content strategy and creation, link building, SEO, marketing automation, landing page creation, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and website development.

See the advertising section of our website here.

What you make, is not what you sell

what you make is not what you sell illustrationIt's more than having a beautiful and thoughtful logo design for your advertising and marketing campaigns. You have to catch someone's attention as they're online because advertising is interrupting what they're doing. The way to do that is to explicitly show how your product or service benefits your prospect. If you don't do that in the fist 5 seconds, you'll be wasting their time and your money. For example, you might build homes, but you're selling a lifestyle. We create ads, but we sell getting your prospects attention. So spent time focusing on the message, not just the design.

It's more than having a beautiful and thoughtful logo and design for your advertising and marketing campaigns. You have to catch someone's attention as they're online because advertising is interrupting what they're doing. The way to do that is to explicitly show how your product or service benefits your prospect. If you don't do that in the fist 5 seconds, you'll be wasting their time and your money.

Why do you need to do catch their attention in the first few seconds. Because advertising is interrupting what someone is doing, whether it's for pleasure or business. Your marketing message has to give them a reason to stop them in their tracks and see what your offering will make their lives better or easier.

Communication is critical

Communication, both with your company and within the advertising firm, is crucial to the success of your advertising campaign. Successful advertising companies not only have good internal communication, but keep you in the loop every step of the way. There's a lot of moving parts when it comes to an effective and successful marketing campaign. However many people are  involved, communication is vital.

Of course, that communication extends to your target market.  

Creativity in Content and Storytelling

Creativity is essential for creating a marketing or advertising campaign that will be successful.

Successful advertising firms have experienced, creative individuals creating your advertising. But effective marketing can’t be created without good content. It is the expertise of these companies that help attract your prospects, convert them to customers, and retain them, that differentiate them from the others marketing companies.

They create content that gets your company’s story noticed in a creative and appealing way. They understand there needs to be variations in content at different points in the sales funnel, as well as within different channels. This is what sets them apart from the rest.

Data-Driven

showing data in an abstract_wayThe use of data and analytics to track the  success of your marketing is another component that most successful advertising companies have in common. Data proves how effective their initiatives are, as well as helping make better decisions going forward.

The most successful advertising companies track the success of each of your campaigns. They're informed about the progress of your marketing efforts, and how close they are to achieving your goals.

In conclusion

These are the elements to consider when selecting a firm to do your marketing and advertising. Successful marketing firms can share their experience in these areas to prove their expertise.

Alicia Rother is a freelance content strategist who works with small businesses and startups to boost their brand reach through creative content design and write-ups. Her area of expertise includes digital marketing, infographics, branding, and graphic design. You can connect with Alicia at Alicia.rother@gmail.com