1. Internet Advertising TechniquesDo understand the most powerful advertising technique on the Internet is showing up in organic search results (ideally first page, in the first three results).Do understand that Wordtracker.com is currently your best tool along with Pay Per Click suggestion tools (from Google, etc) to discover which search terms get the most search volume.Do understand that text links almost always outperform banner ads as advertising techniques because they look more like content and people are used to clicking on content (text links) far more than ads.
Do understand that Internet display ads perform best with flash animation, motion, or video.
Do understand the eye reads top left to bottom right and that impacts your click-through rate depending on where your text links or display ads are on the page.
Do understand that the page upon which the consumer clicks is just as important than the ad or link that got them there.
Do understand that improving or optimizing your own pages and your own site has more impact than optimizing your advertising techniques in text links or display ads.
Don’t underestimate the importance of this sentence above.
Don’t assume that just because you built a website people will visit it.
Don’t underestimate the power of words: You, your, asking a question, amazing, discover, now are all proven “power” words that produce far higher response. See more on this down below.
2. Direct Mail Advertising Techniques
Do use a stamp vs. a bulk mail endicia – Open rate on envelopes with physical stamps is 13% higher.
Do make your letter look like newsworthy content – Content gets read, not advertising.
Do attach news articles blown up to fit on 8 ?” x 11” paper as an attachment to your direct mail piece.
If you are using a card vs. letter, use 6” x 9’ stock or larger.
Do not use any “special offer inside” language on your envelope or “hey look at me” advertising techniques when using a letter envelope.
Do not use an adhesive address label unless it’s a label from Stamps.com or endicia.com.
Do not use an 8 ?” x 11” letter in B2B direct mail, but do use A4 or executive sized stationary – higher read rate and higher response rate vs. full sheet letter.
3. Writing as Advertising Techniques
Note: this applies to anything to do with Direct marketing, Internet marketing, even memos to your boss.
Do understand that the use of certain words are power words which produce results.
Do use present tense – better response than past tense.
Do use the word “you” or “your” far more than “I” “me” or “we.”
Do use words like these in your writing or advertising techniques which produce demonstrated higher response rates:
You
Your
Now
Discover
This
These
Amazing
Do understand that asking a question with the word you in it is one of the best ever advertising techniques.
Don’t, however, ask a question where the answer can easily be “no, and I don’t care.”
4. TV Advertising Techniques
Do use TV as a way to legitimize your brand, launch your brand, or reposition your brand. When used prudently and selectively, it can be one of the best advertising techniques depending on your situation.
Do investigate buying “remnant” TV media and making opportunistic buys for a fraction of retail prices.
Do make sure your TV spot looks like nothing else on TV (in order to stand out).
Do make sure you have a compelling offer, and a compelling newsworthy announcement.
Do pay special attention to audio in your TV spot…recall of ads with music in the ad (not background music) produces higher recall and captures more attention.
If you have people in your TV spots, do make sure to have them with their eyes looking right in the camera…the stopping power and attention rates are higher with ads that have people looking at you directly in the eye.
Do have a response medium (website, telephone number, SMS number, etc). If you don’t, it could be one of your worst advertising techniques.
Do understand that for response, early AM and late evening produce higher response rates (if someone is up at those hours, they often have nothing else going on and are paying more attention than normal).
Do understand that the creative that you put into the costly media of TV makes all the difference in the world. A bad TV spot in good TV media can be one of the worst advertising techniques.
So: do test your TV creative on the Internet before putting it on TV…or test at small levels before putting on untested TV creative in large media buys.
Do understand one of the cardinal rules of TV creative: see and say. See the product when the words are said. P.S. don’t forget to show the actual product. See and say in TV is one of the most basic, but often forgotten TV advertising techniques.
Do understand that likeability of ads (plus the offer) produces the highest correlation to sales.
Do understand the basics of targeting, but index the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) with the index of propensity to buy your type of product/service (e.g. a TV show with an index of 180 for buying laptops @ $20 CPM is actually more expensive than a TV show with an 130 index @ $10 CPM).
Don’t always do what you like…let the numbers dictate.
Don’t accept mediocrity in your TV creative. Mediocre TV spots in costly TV media, is the most common blunder in all advertising techniques.
5. Public Relations as one of the “Earned” Advertising Techniques
Do understand that Public Relations is fundamentally different than advertising. PR is not necessarily in the genre of advertising techniques, but on average PR is 6X more powerful because people pay attention to content 6X more than advertising (that’s starting at 500% higher ROI).
The four keys to PR are the following:
A great story: see the chapter in my book for the five most frequently written news stories in America.
A great headline: consumers read headlines 19X more than body copy and the same is true for reporters you are pitching. Also know that the first 8 characters in your headline are more important than ever because a reporter only sees the first 8 characters in their Blackberry. Headlines are 19X more powerful than body copy—you should spend 19X more time working on the headline. Headlines should be less than 11 words.
A great database: contrary to popular belief, it’s not who you know, but if you have a great story. Even if you know the editor of The Wall Street Journal, it means nothing if your story isn’t newsworthy. You need a large database blended between custom and a standard news reporter database. Reporters are everywhere today and so is the Internet. All reporters want great stories…you need a database not necessarily a chummy rolodex.
Luck: yes. Reporters have 4-7 stories in various stages of development. If you happen to land on their desk when they just finished a story, it’s luck and the law of large numbers when sending/phoning a pitch. Luck is a factor.
Test your pitch much like you would test a direct mail piece using the advertising techniques learned here. Test small, see what responds, and what doesn’t. Find out before you blast a big push which may not work.
And my shameless self-promotion: everyone should know the five most frequently written news media stories in America. These five most frequently written news stories are in my book, Buzzmarketing.
6. Print Advertising Techniques (Newspaper, Magazine, etc)
Do understand that a print ad which looks like an “ad” will fail unless you have an amazing offer (great discount, sale, limited time only). Without an offer, an ad that looks like an “ad” won’t get read.
Do make your ad look like content (use the same font style and layout as the publication) or make your ad look like no other ad in the pub (reference Infiniti print ads from 2005 and Pfizer’s Celebrex print ads from 2007).
Do understand that white space can stop people in their tracks, and produce a higher response rate. One of the greatest advertising techniques is white space.
Do understand that a photograph of a person with their eyes looking directly at you produces a higher response than a photograph of a person with eyes looking elsewhere. Perhaps the most powerful of all advertising techniques in print, or even on the Internet.
Do understand that a print ad with a “Drop Cap” gets read more than without one.
Do understand that ads with lists and bullet points get read more than ads with paragraphs.
Do understand that a photograph’s caption is extremely important…a good photograph can be the first thing a reader sees, and the caption the second thing they read. If the caption fails, they skip the rest of your ad…if the caption works, your ad gets read. Smart captioning can be of the most effective print advertising techniques.
Do understand that copy in quotations gets read 13% more than without quotations.
Do understand that ads delivering news value get read more than anything else.
Don’t ever use a reverse print ad (black background with white font) it’s hard to read and has proven repeated lower response rates…one of the worst advertising techniques.
7. Radio Advertising Techniques
Do understand that radio advertising works best with high frequency and proper timing.
Do understand that the first five seconds of your radio ad may be the most important…a cell phone and the radio preset button is a moment away from avoiding your ad.
Do understand that you need to say your brand name a lot more often than you would ever imagine in a radio ad (people daydream in their car), and you need to drill your brand name often.
Do understand that reads from DJ’s get more attention because they seem like content from a familiar voice versus a stranger’s voice.
Do understand that one of your most powerful advertising techniques is to produce fresh radio creative every week versus running the same radio spot for more than a week.
Do understand that if it sounds like content, people will listen…if it sounds like an ad…people won’t.
8. Word-Of-Mouth and Buzz as Advertising Techniques
Note that word-of-mouth or buzz is created with pull, not “bought” like print advertising.
Also note that this lost art which was practiced before the advent of Television is more powerful than any other set of advertising techniques (Euro RSCG Study found it 10X more effective than TV or Print advertising).
Do understand that the root of all buzz is a seven-letter word: stories.
The crux of buzzmarketing and word-of-mouth is to give people a great story to tell, which they, in turn, can tell others…and by them telling the story it makes them interesting, fascinating, and newsworthy.
Do not confuse buzz marketing with some other services which pay people to talk about products (still a push technique). Buzz marketing is about creating a pull. Creating a story which gives people social currency. Buzz marketing is about creating a story which pulls a brand along with the story (like my own renaming of Halfway, Oregon to Half.com, Oregon).
What creates a good story can be found in my book or in the free chapter download on this site’s book page.
Buzz marketing happens when people start conversations that begin with “Hey did you hear…” or “Hey, you’re never going to believe…” and then they tell a story which pulls your brand along with that story.
Hope these advertising techniques were helpful.
Humor is the best medicine, and this holds true in advertising as well, humor is one of the best ways to captivate your audience’s attention. Whether the humor is blatantly obvious, or a subtle joke, funny advertisements are always appreciated by the public, which is why so much effort goes into Superbowl ads. Here are some creative and funny advertising ideas!Funny Creative Advertising IdeasHumor is the best medicine, and this holds true in advertising as well, humor is one of the best ways to captivate your audience’s attention. Whether the humor is blatantly obvious, or a subtle joke, funny advertisements are always appreciated by the public, which is why so much effort goes into Superbowl ads. Here are some creative and funny advertising ideas!
All entrepreneurs of both online and offline businesses know the importance of advertising. But if you plan on advertising online you should know the various options that are available before you spend your marketing dollars.If you own a small business and are thinking of advertising online then you should know that you have various options and it is limitless. So you may have built your own website (though it is not necessary), got your products ready, and sorted out your pricing plan then it is time to let people know about your business.
An effective marketing plan will do wonders for your business because in your plan you will think of means and ways of making sure your prospects find your business. Advertising online involves various activities from registering with search engines to conducting email marketing.
Since we all know the importance of advertising online we have to think of ways and means to get the most out of our marketing dollars. So, here are some advertising options that are available, and if done the right way these strategies can be a big help to your business.
Advertising Online Strategy #1: The use of online publications
You will soon find out that there are a lot of successful online entrepreneurs who do not have their own website, because in truth it is not a requirement to succeed. There are many businesses that use a mail-order only structure and they do not have a store where shoppers can go to. The bottom line is that you can attract consumers online without going through the hassle of building and maintaining a site.
If you plan on advertising online without your own website what you can do is advertise your business in an online publication, such as a newspaper or magazine. If you are going to use online publications then make sure that you look for online publications that your prospects read then advertise through them.
The beauty of using publications when advertising online is that you get to reach many of your prospects and also you will probably pay half as much to advertise as compared to using search engines.
Advertising Online Strategy #2: The use of directories and search engines
Say for example you own a restaurant and you want to let people know about your restaurant so you will contact an advertiser and have them make you a billboard. Now this billboard is going to be placed in a location where motorists passing by can see it is like telling them that your business is ahead and ready to take care of their needs. In the same way, if you plan on advertising online the best way to do so is at high-traffic areas where you will have the largest audience possible.
One of the most widely used directory when advertising online is Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/). Yahoo! offers a lot of advertising businesses ranging from mom-and-pop shops to corporate giants. Smaller businesses may want to opt for a free listing in the Yahoo! Yellow Pages database.
Advertising Online Strategy #3: The use of banners
If you are constantly glued to your computer and I am pretty sure that you know and you have seen hundreds of banner ads. If you plan on advertising online then you should know that banner ads are generally are rectangular- or button-shaped graphics and it usually includes words like “click here” for more information about a company or product.
According to a research that was done regarding the effectiveness of banner ads the research states that a single exposure to a banner ad can boost brand awareness, brand perception, sales potential, and consumer loyalty. Incredibly, most of this increase comes without a click-through to the advertiser’s website.
Advertising Online Strategy #4: The use of websites
Before you go ahead and contact a web designer or web developer, you must ask yourself two questions, first, “Does your business really need to have a website?” and the second questions is, “Where would I get the people to develop my website and maintain it as well?”
As what I have mentioned earlier if you plan on advertising online having a website is really not a requirement. If people are interested in your products or service then they will most definitely be satisfied reaching you over the phone. However, if you choose to have a website, you must have the ability to answer inquiries and orders that will come to you online.
Let me just mention the biggest advantage of having a website, it gives your customers the opportunity to visit your business anytime they want.
Advertising Online Strategy #5: The use of email marketing
Advertising online is not complete without the use of email. Email marketing has been around for sometime now. Email marketing has to be used with care as no one appreciates receiving “spam” – junk email that makes no sense whatsoever to the receiver. Email marketing has had tremendous results because it is so cost-effective and delivers an instant message.
Advertising Online Strategy #6: The use of reciprocal links
Just as business networking is important in the real world; it is just as import ant and useful when it comes to online businesses. Establishing links between your website and other business websites that are significant to your customers is a good way of increasing online exposure.
Advertising Online Strategy #7: The use of clubs
Another method you can use in advertising online is creating a join-for-free clubs. It is a creative way to attract new customers. People want to belong to something, why not your online club. Your join-for-free clubs should be highly relevant to your online business.
You as the moderator can provide free e-mail newsletter for club members only. Have a member’s only message board, e-mail discussion group or even chat room. Post your advertisements on all the club information.
It makes use of several tools and techniques to attract the customers outdoors. The most common examples of outdoor advertising are billboards, kiosks, and also events and trade-shows organized by the company. Billboard advertising is very popular. However it has to be really terse and catchy in order to grab the attention of the passersby. Kiosks not only provide an easy outlet for the company's products but also make for an effective advertising tool to promote the company's products. Organizing special events or sponsoring them makes for an excellent advertising opportunity and strategy. The company can organize trade fairs, or even exhibitions for advertising their products. If not this, the company can organize several events that are closely associated with their field. For instance a company that manufactures sports utilities can sponsor a sports tournament to advertise its products.
Also known as ambient media, guerrilla advertising (or marketing) has become prominent over the last 20 years. It is a broadly used term for anything unconventional, and usually invites the consumer to participate or interact with the piece in some way. Location is important, as is timing. The driving forces behind guerrilla advertising or marketing are creative ideas and innovation, not a large budget. Quite often, you will ask for forgiveness rather than permission with these campaigns, and they will spread via word of mouth and social media.
Comparison advertising puts aside imagery for hard facts. This is another way to set yourself apart from competing companies."Channel 4 is the only station with live radar. Not Channel 5. Not Channel 17. No one but Channel 4 has this lifesaving equipment," is a form of comparison advertising.
If your audience isn't noticing the reasons why your media product is unique, comparison ads may be the solution. But care must be taken not to appear mean-spirited. If your station wants to be seen as the friendly, neighborly station, comparison advertising may not work at all.
You can soften the punch by not naming your competitors directly. "No other station but Channel 4 has live radar," is more polite, but watering down your ad makes it less effective.
1The most complained about ad in Australia in 2010 was an ad from the Advanced Medical Institute about erectile dysfunction. To advertise the effectiveness of the drug, the ad showed a wife using her husband’s erection as a step stool to reach something out of a high cupboard.
2
Ice cubes in beverage advertisements are typically made of acrylic so they won’t melt under hot photography lights or move around. Bubbles are made by adding detergent, and water is added so light will filter through better.
3
A York University study revealed that U.S. pharmaceutical companies spend twice as much on advertising as they do on research.
4
The famous Marlboro Man ads began in 1955. The Marlboro Man actually included a variety of masculine figures such as athletes, gunsmiths, and captains, but the rugged cowboy image proved the most marketable. Three men who appeared in the advertisements later died of lung cancer, earning the brand the nickname “Cowboy Killer.
5
TV commercials during Super Bowl XLV in 2011 are estimated to have cost $3 million for a 30-second spot.
6
More than $500 billion a year is spent on advertising worldwide.
7
By the time a person in the United States is 65 years old, he would have seen an estimated two million television commercials.
8
In fashion advertising, women are often pictured lying on bearskin rugs, wearing furs and feathers, or dressed in tight-fitting leather clothing. Some researchers criticize these kinds of ads because they feature women as “prey.”
9
Women’s bodies are often “dismembered” in ads and shown only as “body parts.” This type of representation has been criticized for objectifying women and contributing to the underlying culture of violence toward women.
10
In 1900, the standard billboard was created in America, creating a billboard boon along streets and highways.
11
Many researchers argue that advertising is the most powerful art form on Earth.
12
Over $15 billion a year is spent in advertisements directed toward children in the U.S.
13
Though the commercial “1984,” which launched the Apple Macintosh computer, ran just one time on American television, during the Super Bowl, it has had a lasting impact on advertising. Directed by Ridley Scott, the commercial was the first example of “event marketing,” or when a promotion deserves as much coverage as the product itself.
14
One Kirshenbaum & Bond sidewalk ad in New York reads, “From here, it looks like you could use some new underwear.” This type of advertising is termed “guerilla” or stealth advertising to label a breed of “edgy” urban advertisements.
15
The first advertisement widely believed to be the first to feature a homosexual couple aired in 1994 when an Ikea ad featured two male companions shopping together for furniture.
16
A Disney ad which showed a woman with the words “lift my shirt to see more” over her breasts was banned in 2009. It was an advertisement for the film Adventureland.
17
Most watches displayed in advertisements are set to 10:10 because the hands of the watch frame the watch brand name and they make a smiling face.
18
The American Psychological Association (APA) reports that children under eight years old are not able to critically understand advertisements and that they regard them as truthful, accurate, and unbiased.
19
Fast food companies (soda, fast food, and cereal) in the U.S. spent about $1.6 billion in advertising in 2006.
20
In 2006, soda companies spent an estimated $492 million in advertising. In contrast, the Milk Processor Education Program, which sponsors the “Got Milk” ads, spent about $67 million.
21
The average child in America watches over 40,000 television commercials in a year, or over 100 a day.
22
Advertisers consciously try to create a ‘nag factor” by bombarding kids with ads encouraging them to buy certain products in order to become popular. American children ages 12-17 will ask a parent for products they have seen on television an average of nine times until parents finally give in.
23
In a national survey, more than half of the children who responded reported that buying certain advertised products made them feel better about themselves.
24
Channel One delivers two minutes of advertising and 10 minutes of news to approximately 7.7 million students. Over 27% of Channel One advertisements are for junk food and 10% are for military recruitment. Channel One also advertises movies, TV shows, and video games with alcohol and tobacco use, violence, and sex.
25
The very first U.S. paid advertisement was a 1704 ad in the Boston News Letter which advertised an estate in Oyster Bay, Long Island.
26
Researchers note a correlation between sexual imagery in children’s ads and an increase in eating disorders among girls.
27
In 2008, approximately $2.6 billion was spent on political advertising in the U.S., the largest ever during a presidential campaign. Obama's campaign spent $70 million on ads for the primary and $240 million for the general election. McCain's campaign spent $10 million for the primary and $126 million for the general election.
28
In 2006, Microsoft spent over $11.5 billion on advertising. That same year, Coca-Cola spent $2.5 billion, Yahoo spent $1.3 billion, eBay spent $871 million, Google spent $188 million, and Starbucks spent $95 million.
29
In 2000, U.S. Internet advertising revenue was $8.1 billion. In 2011, that figure jumped to $32 billion. In 2013, the figure is expected to reach $42 billion.
30
Advertisers often use a technique called “affective condition,” which means they take a product and place it next to other things consumers feel positively about. For example, a detergent ad will juxtapose their brand with babies, sunshine, flowers, or other similar items. Repeatedly showing their brand with these items makes consumers feel good about the detergent too.
31
Advertisers appeal to several common psychological themes to motivate people to buy their products. Some of the most common psychological appeals are to self-preservation, sex, self-esteem, fear, authority, and imitation.
32
Studies show that repeated exposure to a stimulus that is barely perceptible creates an “exposure effect,” which increases positive feelings toward the object. For example, even though most people do not click banner ads, the ads still positively influence the way people feel about the product. In fact, the “wear out” effect of banner ads did not appear even after 20 exposures.
33
Food advertisements often use “food stylists” to style food for advertisements. For example, food stylists for roasted chicken will pull the skin tight on the chicken and sew it up with a needle and thread. Then they will stuff the chicken with wet paper towels, which keeps the chicken plump and creates steam. The chicken is then roasted just enough to make the skin bumpy while the insides remain raw. The bird then is painted a golden brown.
34
In advertisements for children, child actors are typically older than the target audience. For example, a commercial for 8-year-olds will show 11- or 12-year-old models playing with an 8-year-old toy. Advertisers use older children as role models, as an image of what younger children will want to be like.
35
Microsoft allegedly paid the Rolling Stones $9 million to use their hit “Start Me Up” in its Windows 95 advertisements. Additionally, unknown songs by new artists can become hits overnight because of their association with a popular advertisement. For example, Cansei de Ser Sexy’s “Music is My Hot, Hot, Sex” became popular when Apple used their song to advertise its iPod.
36
The first American magazine advertisement appeared in Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine in 1742.
37
Life was the first magazine to make $100 million per year in advertising.
38
In 1938, radio surpassed magazines in generating advertisement profits.
39
Prerecorded advertisements became possible in 1956 with the invention of videotape recording.
40
Interpublic, WPP, and Omnicom Group are the top three largest advertising companies in the world.
41
Many kids are plugged in to some kind of media for more than seven hours a day, which means their exposure to advertising is at record levels.
42
Because the Mars candy company found the character ET in the movie ET: The Extra-Terrestrial so ugly, they refused to allow M&M’s to act as a lure for the creature. Instead, Reese’s Pieces were used. Sales for Reese’s Pieces went up 65% once the film was released.
43
Doyle Dane Bernbach’s “Think Small” ad for Volkswagen at the end of the 1950s is considered particularly brilliant because it took a German car initially created for Hitler and successfully sold it to post-war Americans.
44
A new kind of advertising called “viral advertising” uses blogs and emails to promote a product. For example, Dove’s “Evolution of Beauty” campaign was an overnight viral sensation when more than a million people watched a time-elapsed video of a model being made beautiful on YouTube.
45
“Ambient ads,” which legally and illegally advertise on unexpected places, such as store floors, washroom stalls, or sidewalks, have been so successful that marketing firms have actively sought out new and shocking places to display their products. Researchers note that this use of “edgy” space intensifies a sense of distrust and alienation because it makes people suspicious that any human interaction may be a commercially staged event designed to get us to buy something.
46
A new study finds that the best strategy for advertisers trying to persuade a skeptical audience is to leave out facts and focus more on emotional ads. On the flip side, it found that those who are less skeptical are more persuaded by more information-based ads.
47
The 1970 Crying Indian advertisements helped usher in not only Earth Day but also the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). It also motived 100,000 people in the first four months of the ad to request a booklet on how to reduce pollution, helped reduce litter by as much as 88% by 1983, and is described as one of the 50 greatest commercials of all time.
48
Before the printing press, advertisements were often vocal announcements. The invention of the printing press in 1440 ushered in the advent of modern advertising.
49
The largest group of advertisers is food marketers.
50
Controversy arose when ABC and Fox censored a sexy Lane Bryant ad for plus-size lingerie but allowed a Victoria Secret ad to air unedited. Lane Bryant claimed that there is a bias against plus-size women in lingerie.
51
Most Victoria Secret models in advertisements are a size 2, with a 34”-36” bust, 23” waist, and 34”-35” hips.
52
Advertisers are expected to spend $4 billion on Facebook in 2011, of which $2.19 billion will come from U.S advertising.
53
Researchers report that women’s magazines have 10.5 times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do, and over 75% of women’s magazine covers include at least one article title about how to change a woman’s body by diet, exercise, or cosmetic surgery.
54
Ronald McDonald was first introduced in 1963. In 2010, the advocacy group Corporate Accountability International argued that the clown has hooked kids on unhealthy food for nearly 50 years, creating an epidemic of diet-related diseases.
55
Using sex to sell a product is not new. Advertisers have used sex to sell products since the early days of modern advertising. For example, pictures of naked women were placed in tobacco ads in the 1800s.
