Have a Complete Advertising Program!

Many marketing and advertising professionals continue to take marketing budget from traditional advertising and place it in the digital media environment. In the past few years I have seen the trend go from 20% to 25% and now trending to hit 33%!

This raises the question of how to allocate your budget across all channels. First, you should not be moving your precious marketing dollars to digital because people tell you to do so. You need to have a plan with what to do with your money. Think of it this way, you know you should invest your money, but that does not mean you just dump it into one stock on the NYSE! Financial advisors get paid to “manage” your money. In the same fashion, I feel that as a marketing professional I am responsible to manage any client’s money and have it work for them in the best way possible to achieve their business goals.

Secondly, you want to make sure that you can track the results and be able to adapt your plan based on what is working, and then test new strategies along the way. Continue to earmark what works and churn out what is not delivering for you.

What goes into a plan?

Advertising falls into two categories – Creative and Direct

Direct advertising is putting your message in front of people who are looking for what you do, but do not know where to go and get it (think SEM and SEO). This is the low hanging fruit of advertising and you want to get as much of that fruit as possible. After all, these people are currently LOOKING for what you do!

Creative advertising is a “top of the buying funnel” strategy. Businesses need to let people know what they do and who they do it for so when the consumer has a need, they remember that brand or service.

 

 

In the digital environment, creative advertising can be video, display, social media ads, etc.

WHERE you place the ads should be on sites or with content as relevant as possible to your potential consumer.

WHAT your ads say should also be relevant to your potential consumer and can have variations based on gender, age, interests, and other demographical information.

Bottom line, just like a financial planner, you need to work around your business goals AND diversify your exposure!

 

Blog written by Jim LaSalle, Managing Partner at Ferocious Media.