Creating an Advertising Plan

Creating an advertising plan is a mix of analytical preparation and creative conceptualization. Who are you trying to reach? What do you want to say to them? How, when and where are you going to reach them? In preparing the guideline or framework for your advertising plan you need to concentrate on defining your target market. You want to look at their age, location, marital status, income, and life stage.

Strap down your easel and get ready to develop, is time to begin the creative process and strategy. We want to concentrate on appealing to the needs or wants of the consumers or target base. We need to focus on where people are going to first see our product/service to make an immediate lasting impact. Remember it is all about getting noticed, we need to create ads that resonate on the minds and hearts of our viewing audience. There are numerous forms of advertising media we can use, such as; direct mail, public relations promotions, display advertising, directories, brochures/flyers, door to door leaflets, transit ads, internet, TV, radio, Cinema, exhibitions, and trade shows. In its simplest form, your creative strategy needs to answer these three things: What benefit are you promising and what’s your selling proposition? Who are you making it to? Why should they believe you? There are two modes that our customers shopping habits can be classified as, transactional and relational. Transactional customers focus on today’s transaction and they fear paying more than they should have. They are very research oriented and they enjoy comparing and negotiating. At the same time these costumers are great for word-of-mouth advertising. Relational customers think of today as a beginning to all the transactions to follow.

Timing is an important aspect when placing advertising. If you place an ad too soon, people may forget about your event. If you place an ad too late, people may already have plans or purchased another product. For a seasonal plan, you may want to begin running a campaign early enough to catch the people who plan and continue running your ad in order to catch the last-minute trip crowd. When developing your plan you need to concentrate on the timing of your advertising. We refer to this as the purchase frequency –that is, the more frequently the product is purchased, the less repetition is required. Companies need to consider the rate at which your advertisement is forgotten, or the speed at which buyers forget the brand if advertising is not seen nor heard. Most approaches to advertising are divided into two timing schedules; continuous and flight schedules.

The law of “3” has long applied to visual and audio advertising. That is, if a target customer can read your message 3 times in a short period of time, or hear your ad 3 times, it will increase the chances of them remembering the product. When developing slogans, phrases, or any words that we will use in ads we need to use evocative words. Words that evoke a reaction from the viewer, remove them from their current thoughts, and place them on your message. The most important part of developing an advertising campaign is to be consistent. If the product/service can be recognized in numerous areas of placement through a consistent message delivery, it will become a part of the consumers buying habits.

When deciding which type of firm to use in implementing your advertising plan you should look at the options. A full service agency does research, selects and purchases media, and develops ad copies and produces artwork. A limited-service agency specializes in one aspect of the creative process and they can provide a range of services depending on the company needs. Your last option is visiting a business incubation professional who can help you develop a plan utilizing a mix of limited services and consulting based on in-house resources you can use to do it yourself. If you utilize all the tools that have been mentioned in the article you will be able to develop and implement a great guideline for your advertising plan.

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