BUSINESS INSIGHT: TAKE ADVERTISING MORE SERIOUSLY
Right from 4000BC, advertising has been one major strategic approach used by most successful businesses to put words out to the public about their products or services. Even though ancient business people didn’t have as much options as the modern entrepreneurs do currently, they made sure they used the materials at their disposal.
Using a material called Papyrus which is similar to a thick paper, the Egyptians, ancient Greece and ancient Rome created sales messages to advertise their products. While in continents like Asia, Africa and South America, business folks utilised walls and rocks to drive home sales through wall or rock paintings.
It must have been such a relief for most companies as more forms of advertising began to spring forth from the eighteenth century when the very first advertisement appeared on an England’s weekly newspaper. Then the 1920s came jiggling with lines of adverts in homes and offices through radio. It went visual in the 1950s as businesses leveraged on commercial television advertisement. To further create more advertising ease in the 1990s, one of the best medium was born, the internet. All these have evolved to what is now known as the modern advertisement.
While the evolution took place, more attractive advertising approaches emerged as well with the likes of Thomas J. Barratt, who is referred to as the father of modern advertisement, spearheading advertising campaigns which included the use of slogans, images and catchy phrases. As usual the aim was to conceive more people about the products and services of a company but beyond that they wanted to leave a lasting image in the minds of customers.
With the rise of more modern media that has further enhanced advertising such as social media, websites, blogs and even text messages, the present day entrepreneur has a wider door of opportunities to take advantage of in order to make more sales and gain a larger customer base. It’s now left for business owners to utilise all the options in front of them. The good news is there are many options that will enable companies spread word about what they can offer through their products and services.
Whether it is words imprinted on a newspaper or magazine, or maybe a jingle blaring out from a radio speaker, or visuals showcased on the television screen, or a billboard standing firmly with persuasive words, or the more advanced social media popping up graphics designs; all can be used to communicate to prospective clients what they stand to gain when they patronise a particular brand.
Now even though the goal of advertising most of the time is to make more people patronise a company’s commodities. However, whatsoever a company’s target is, when it comes to advertising, the first thing should be to promote the brand’s qualities to their existing customers and prospective ones. In view of building a lasting brand, the aim should be to convince the minds of potential customers that certain traits which they need and have been searching for are associated with a company’s products and services.
Despite the fact that advertisement is a sure way to attracting more customers, most times companies get the concept of advertising wrong by trying to give out too many information at once and in the end fail at their attempt. So here are some tips that could help any company increase its visibility in the eyes of clients.
- Choose and deliver the most important message, resist the temptation of reeling out all your services and products
- Try to inform and educate prospective customers and even existing ones about the quality of a brand or a new product released by the brand.
- Be known for a particular word or phrase; for example Peak, “it’s in you” and Nike, “just do it”
- Use of celebrities; in our present time whatever a celebrity does or buys becomes the new trend.
There is a lot to advertising that can give any business the much awaited results they have longed for. Leverage on advertisement and begin to get the desired attention.
Written by Jennifer Chioma Amadi Need help with drafting advert scripts? We can help you create one suitable for any type of business you do. Shoot us an email at wecare@mapemond.com
