Advertising campaign strategy planning the smart way
Advertising is a way of communicating your message to your existing and potential customers. As a small business, you need to be able to connect with your audience in the right place and at the right time. To do this, you should know who your audience is and where to find them.
You should adopt a S.M.A.R.T approach to your advertising strategy. Ask yourself is your strategy:
• Specific?
• Measurable?
• Achievable?
• Realistic?
• Timely?
Specific
Your advertising strategy needs to be relevant to your customer and executed with an accurate and simple message.
You’ll have two objectives. The obvious one is to make money through sales, and the second is to build brand awareness. You need to let your customers know what makes you stand out from your competitors. What products and/or services do you have to offer that they don’t?
You can’t afford to waste money. Conduct research first to identify your customers needs and where they are located. You can conduct online surveys on platforms like Survey Monkey. You can also use Nielsen for insights data and global information.
Measurable
Your advertising campaign needs to be measurable. You should be able to track its progress, and be constantly testing, learning, and improving. You can use online tools, like Similar Web and moat.com, to research your competitors.
Achievable
You need to be realistic about your advertising strategy. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, but if you set the bar too high, you’re bound to fail. Do you have the resources, time and budget to effectively execute your advertising campaign?
Realistic
You should know your budget, the total available market for your niche, and your customer persona, i.e. the personality type of your potential customer. In addition, you’ll need to know what stage they are at in the sales funnel.
Focus on the customer experience and how to connect with your customers. To begin with, concentrate your advertising efforts on owned media, e.g. your website, social media platforms, and reviews.
Timely
Execute your advertising message at the right time. It could be a seasonal, trend, or even economical-driven, and it may involve a series of related advertising messages over a given period of time. You’ll also need to think about the days and times your customers are looking to buy your products and services.
