You racked your brain to come up with a compelling offer and hope the world responds. You found some free images online and wrapped your words around them. You hold it up, you look at it, you fully understand it and just know that everyone who sees it will as well. Sorry, but failure lies just around the corner.
Visit the places you want to place your ad, papers, magazines, websites, etc. How well does your ad hold up against the others? You will find that there is a lot of noise and competition for attention. Be honest, does your ad miss the mark in communicating at a glance? Does it even possess any of the pizazz of the ads you think are impressive? One of the most important things you can do is show your creation to a third party; one that is not vested in the outcome and assess their comments about whether they were engaged, “got it” or fully understood the message. Do this with more than one person and you have a focus group.
Images and words need to be married to be successful. It is a symbiotic relationship of two very different centers of the brain. The closer you make the connection between the emotions that are driven by the words and the visual, the more successful your ads will be.
Face it, you are paying to put your message out there. Even if it is online, and very inexpensive, it is your image and offer. You want it to succeed. Unless you are a marketer or graphic designer who has been trained in the use of visual arts you should keep your hands off the process. I guarantee that without a skilled professional any type of graphic creation you come up with will be less; less in quality, less in presentation, less in communicating and less in pleasing the eye. In a word, boring.
Your goal in ad creation is to achieve a look that communicates the message. Words and images as much as possible should be able to stand alone. To understand this concept, look at high end luxury brand ads like Rolex, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Chanel and such. Many times, they will utilize bold highly emotive images and very few words; sometimes only one word. However, the connection is clear, succinct and dramatic. Your desire to possess the product is instant. That is the result of good ad design. It is a long journey to be able to produce such results. Hire a pro and it will take you much further. Reaching the point where you can honestly say your ad is “outstanding”; is very difficult indeed and without a professional, near impossible.
Millions and millions of dollars are spent every year by global companies to put an ad in front of Super Bowl viewers. They are expected to present their message with flair, creativity and most importantly originality. Over the years, the bar has been set higher and higher to be considered the best commercial aired.
Some companies who are trying to make it to the big stage take a chance and invest huge sums in creating a commercial that will make their mark and win customers, some succeed, many don’t. GoDaddy.com is a good example of making the grade. In fact, their very first commercial is still mentioned among the 10 best Super Bowl spots.
Maybe the analogy is a bit unfair but the point is that your ads, even your print ads, should strive to be as memorable as possible. If nothing else, your brand depends on it. Investing in professional help can be a tipping point for your business. If you put messages and images in front of your audience and they don’t resonate or produce results, what is the point?
Improving the effectiveness of your advertising is essential to your success. I am always available to discuss creating your advertising. Together we can make it memorable and effective.
I can be reached at greg@lgcli.com