Growing A Business With Advertising: A Step By Step Guide to Marketing Products or Services

The purpose of advertising is to make money. Yet, if done improperly, it’s actually possible to lose money with an ineffective ad promotion. That’s why it’s important to study the target market before developing an ad campaign. People want to buy, but they don’t want to be sold to. This is why advertising needs to show consumers why they need; and for you, that includes your particular product or service. In other words, don’t provide a list of ingredients in your product – give them information about how much better they will feel after using your merchandise, and how much easier their life will seem with your service.

Think like a buyer. Give consumers reasons to want what is is you are selling them. This is usually done by making a promise. “Use ABC soap and have softer, younger looking skin.” The headline tells the consumer what the product is going to do for them. Think about the benefits of using your product – that is what will get the consumer’s attention. This is why advertisers need to know everything about the product through many different kinds of research before beginning their marketing and advertising campaign. The more facts presented about a particular product or service, the more likely they are to come up with a BIG IDEA for selling it.

Next, the product is “Positioned”. Positioning shows the intended consumer what it does and who it is for. For example, advertising genius David Ogilvy positioned Dove soap as a toilet bar for women with dry skin. This ad is still working today, over thirty years later. If they had called it a detergent bar for dirty hands, they surely would have lost money. The lead, or big idea here, is having softer, more youthful skin for women. Because their intended market wanted softer more youthful skin, their product was successful.

Following the headline, the “lead” makes promises to capture the attention of the buyers. This is what keeps them reading the ad or watching the television commercial. The more promises the ad makes, the better – as long as it will deliver on those promises. There is nothing that will stop the success of a product or service faster than false promises or pretenses.

The body of the ad reinforces all the features and benefits of the product to make it irresistible to the reader. Younger looking skin can lead to more fun and romance. This is also where knowing your product is so important. The more features and benefits promised, the more desirable the product will be.

After there is enough evidence to prove the credibility of the product – it’s OK to ask for the money. This is called closing the sale. Usually, when asking for the sale, a specific offer is made. The offer usually contains a guarantee that if you are not happy with the purchase, the money will be refunded – no questions asked. Then a special price is offered, for a limited time only.

Finally details are given to complete the purchase – Toll free number, address to mail to, or website details.