Advertising on 98.3 The Dove is a great way to invest in your brand through an effective advertising campaign. However, there’s a difference between a good advertising campaign with “ok” results and a great advertising campaign with phenomenal results. What’s the difference? We’ve listed 10 advertising tips below that are not to be ignored if you want to elevate your overall marketing success.
1.) Set Goals
If you don’t have a clearly defined target, in the form of a goal, how will you know if you hit it? Knowing what you want to accomplish goes a long way toward building a campaign that will help you get there. Set your desired end result and then work backward from that goal to build a strategy to get to where you want to be. Otherwise, your advertising campaign will likely be hit-or-miss and not very effective or efficient.
2.) Plan For The Year
Most business owners approach their advertising campaigns with a “wing it” feel. They don’t plan out or buy advertising for the year. This can lead to many thrown-together campaigns with little to no overall planning. Instead, plan for the entire year. Now that you know your goals, work backward to plan the campaigns that will drive store traffic and sales in the appropriate places. Schedule your campaigns, sales and promotions, and media schedules on a calendar. This not only takes the stress out of advertising but gives your campaign a focus and strategic direction.
3.) Take Advantage of Station Promotions and Sponsorships
At 98.3 FM, The Dove, there are tons of opportunities to leverage your radio investment by capitalizing on the station’s existing promotions and sponsorships. You will benefit by partnering with a station on an existing promotion and by connecting to sponsorships that listeners already know and love. Never underestimate the power of linking to programming like news and weather. By the same token, ask your marketing consultant to keep you informed of station promotions. These happen year-round and can leverage your advertising dollar more than with a simple radio schedule at times when you need it most.
4.) Be Consistent With Your Creativity and Strategy
Spotty advertising in general generates spotty results. Conversely, the best marketing campaigns build value for your brand through consistency. That consistency builds trust in the mind of the consumer and generates top-of-mind awareness. Therefore, when they are ready to buy, your name comes to mind. Build consistency by including certain elements of your campaign in every ad. This can consist of the positioning statement, music bed, voice talent, writing style, or more. Be sure to change the featured product or service periodically, but don’t abandon your brand theme.
5.) Build Your Brand First
Consistent advertising is smart. It builds your brand into a household name. That should be the foundation of any campaign strategy. Then, fill in with promotions throughout the year that drive short-term traffic. Avoid only running price-driven sales over and over. Doing so teaches consumers to wait for the next sale. A better strategy is to build your brand with consistent advertising to provide motivation and a sense of value to encourage customers to come in all year long. Then, augment your branding campaign with a periodic sale announcement to drive traffic strategically.
6.) Work From a Budget
Failure to budget results in spotty advertising and erratic scheduling, and we have already looked at the importance of consistency. Without a budget, you tend to spend too much on one area, and not enough on another. At the end of the year, your marketing budget is blown and you have minimal results to show for it. Instead, the majority of your budget should be allocated at the beginning of the year. It’s okay then to hold a small amount in reserve. This gives you the flexibility to act on good ideas that come up throughout the year.
7.) Partner Your Campaign with a Magazine
Studies have shown that the best memory recall happens when consumers hear, see, and touch an advertising message. Therefore, partnering your ad campaign with a professionally designed magazine campaign will increase results. It’s also a simple way to build your brand in the most efficient way possible. Advertising to two similar but distinct audiences gives you the benefit of reinforcement as well as expanded reach. Plus, the visual advantage of magazine pairs well with radio working both ends of memory recall.
8.) Boost Your Campaign With Social Media
The majority of consumers are on at least one form of social media. Therefore, social media is another great way to reinforce your ad campaign messaging. Make sure that the offers you have in your ads are also shared on your social media pages, as it’s an easy way to layer and reinforce what you are trying to accomplish. Link back to your website to drive organic traffic. Viewers will see your offers on your social media, hear them on the radio and view them again when they visit your website. That’s the power of repetition!
9.) Drive Traffic And Expand Reach With Digital Promotions
Custom-designed promotions through quizzes and contests work to drive engagement, give people positive vibes, and provide you with an efficient way to grow your database. This lets new people know about your business who might not have heard of it before. After all, everyone likes to win something, so partner with your media company on different digital promotions where people are invited to answer questions for prizes. You receive valuable data about individuals who are interested in what you offer and can follow up with those people later via email.
10.) Don’t Cut Corners on Your Website
Your website is your first impression. In fact, around 90% of all sales start online with a quick internet search. Therefore, when customers view your website, they will draw conclusions from that experience. This will lead them to make a split-second decision on whether to stop by your store or contact you. Don’t invest your money and energy into crafting a great advertising strategy only to let customers down when they visit your website. Instead, create a website that will further your message, back up your campaign and offer additional value for visitors.
Get The Most Out of Your Advertising Investment
Talk to your 98.3FM The Dove marketing team today. We work with clients on a daily basis to leverage the 10 tips outlined above to generate positive results. We can help you build a winning advertising strategy that will put you in line to succeed throughout the next year. Contact us today to learn more.
Sweet! Savvy marketing strategy…another reason why we LOVE the Dove!