Top Five Ways Advertising Can Help Your Business
Jen Root, Senior Marketing Manager for adQuadrant
What are the top ways to ensure your advertising is effective, memorable and meaningful? There are several ways to stay ahead, and when used effectively, you may just see that boom you were hoping for in your business. Advertising is more than just leading someone through a funnel to a sale; effective advertising is all about getting your brand or message into the world, on the proper channel, in meaningful, memorable and relevant ways — ways that inspire action and create connectivity.
1. Be Relevant
The digital age demands businesses stay relevant or risk being left behind. People want a brand they know they can trust. Advertising is an effective way to stay relevant to your target audience, who, according to eMarkter, are increasingly likely to be on social media. They report that 90.4% of Millennials, 77.5% of Generation X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are active social media users.
As a business, advertising allows you to tap into your target audience by commenting or leveraging current trends and news topics that are instinctively relatable.
Spotify, the music streaming service, showcases the power of relevancy and connectivity almost intuitively. Its pre-created playlists elicit a feeling, emotion, or place, such as a “July 4th” playlist or “Working From Home” favorites. According to DJ Mag, Spotify has seen an increase of listeners happily paying for music again, so much so that their global revenue soared last year to $7.4 billion.
2. Time Your Exposure
Successful, sustained advertising is all about the long game. Although times and technology have changed significantly in the past decade, buying habits have not. You still need to nurture people into spending their money on your product or service. Think of advertising to your target audience like leaving a trail of digital breadcrumbs. You want to raise awareness of your brand, product, and benefits bit by bit with the goal to eventually lead them to a sale.
The amount of time it takes for a lead converting to a customer will vary. However, according to Search Engine Watch, 90% of searchers haven’t made their mind up about a brand before starting their search. Equally, a study by Google also showed that one in three smartphone users have purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended to because of information provided at the moment they needed it. This demonstrates that although gaining exposure from your advertising efforts may not be immediate, it is effective in getting people to buy from you and even sway them from choosing your competition.
Another huge component in advertising is influencer marketing. According to Business Insider, the influencer marketing industry is on track to be worth up to $15 billion by 2022, which is up from as much as $8 billion in 2019.
3. Build Trust Through Credibility
One of the best ways to stay ahead and stand out from the crowd in advertising is to build credibility through trust and integrity. A finding from the Edelman’s Brand Trust survey revealed that 45% of consumers would never trust a brand again if it displayed unethical behavior or was involved in a scandal. 40% say they’d stop buying from that brand altogether.
On the surface, that finding may seem discouraging, however it demonstrates the importance of a business and brand proving itself as credible in the eyes of its audience. In that same survey, 81% of consumers said that trust impacts their purchasing decisions.
Therefore, if you can position yourself as a pillar of transparency and honesty through your advertising, you will stand out in your market and get ahead.
For example, Starbucks asserts itself as a company “To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” It continues to deliver on that promise through its different local and global initiatives, making its customers feel confident and happy to continue buying their products.
4. Find Your Competitive Edge
WPForms found that the reasons people decide to buy include competitive pricing (36%), preferred website (30%), best delivery options (17%), and stock availability (14%.)
By advertising your business, brand, product, or service, you are actively putting yourself side by side with your competition. It forces you to draw parallels with everything from your messaging and targeting to selling and product positioning. This is a healthy way of looking at your business in a brand new light and finding unique ways to stand out.
One of the most high-profile rivalries in the modern world is Apple and Samsung. They’ve been competing for market share for years, constantly jostling for domination of the global smartphone market. Even to the untrained eye, the back and forth between them is plain to see as one product launch is almost simultaneously followed by a counter move. According to StatCounter, in April 2020, Samsung held 30.14% of the market, while Apple was close behind with 28.97%. It might be impossible to decide on an outright winner. However, the positive effect of healthy competition between the two is utterly undeniable.
As a business, you too should see competition as something to leverage and learn from, whether it’s a close battle or you’re a clear winner. It’s a tool to help you continuously keep on top of your game, which can only lead to more growth and success in the future.
5. Innovate, Pivot, and Grow
By entering the advertising market, you’re entering into an ever-changing world of algorithms, compliance, red tape, and patterns in demand. For many, this is seen as an inconvenience and nothing more, however it should be seen as an opportunity for creativity and innovation. The small confines of compliance mean you have to approach the way you present, talk about, and sell your product or service differently than you would one-to-one.
The innovation culture advertising has created not only encourages you to stay ahead, but it drastically reduces your chances of following the same fate of the likes of Blockbuster, Blackberry, and Nokia. They are all examples of companies who failed to innovate, and as a result, got left so far behind they couldn’t recover.
In contrast, companies like Coca Cola and Always continuously make a habit of innovating and staying ahead of their competition. Coca Cola’s name on the bottle advertising campaign led millions on a hunt to find their name and keep it as a kind of trophy. Then, there’s Always who ran their #LikeAGirl campaign, which encouraged their audience to champion girls’ confidence.
By remaining relevant, connecting your messaging properly to your audience, and providing key information timed with your customer’s buying cycle, you can grow your business and stay ahead of your competition. Add innovating and building trust to create a lasting impression and you are one step closer to sales and conversions.
Happy Advertising!
Jen Root is the Senior Marketing Manager at adQuadrant, Orange County’s premier Omnichannel Marketing Agency. adQuadrants leads with a strategy first approach and is your partner in growth by providing advanced digital solutions.
To find out more, go to: https://adquadrant.com/
