5 Successful Advertising Rules for Your Business

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Advertising has changed from what it used to be many years ago, with the advent of digital. However, it is crucial to note that some rules in advertising have remained through this evolution. These rules can be what differentiates a successful business advertisement from an unsuccessful one. Advertising remains a big persuader and influencer even in today’s world. With billions of dollars invested into marketing every year, there is no doubt that it is effective.

Effective marketing leaves a lasting impression on the audience and influences their decision-making. However, to be effective and successful in advertising your business, there are specific rules that you must keep to:

1. Have a unique selling proposition

Rosser Reeves created the term Unique Selling Proposition (USP). According to him, a successful business advertisement starts with knowing why it is beneficial to the customers and why your product or business is different from your competitors. When creating your USP, there are three things that you must note:

• Your advertisement must propose something to the customers. Make sure you are direct. Let them see the specific benefit that they will get from buying your product.
• Your proposition has to be something that your competition lacks or cannot offer. That’s how it can be unique.
• Your proposition must be strong enough to motivate the audience to buy what you are selling.

2. Research is key

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Knowing your audience is a crucial part of advertising. It would be impossible to craft the message in the best way to address the audience if you do not know them. So, you must do your research before you start creating an ad to put out. Know your target audience and their demographic; their age, gender, occupation, income level, etc. Without knowing these basic things, you won’t be able to advertise to them appropriately. Knowing your customers or audience is a significant ingredient to success in advertising. Once you know everything you need to know about them, you can think about how best to connect to them.

3. Stop being too promotional

This one may be hard, but it is crucial. Make sure your advert is selling your product without trying to sell the product. This means that you are offering the consumers something that they want without being too salesy or giving a cheesy sales pitch. Tell the consumers how the product benefits them and improves their lives. Show them why they can’t and should not live without it. Your focus should be on the consumers and not the business. Do not tell them about the product your business developed. Instead, tell them about a product that solves their problem. Your emphasis can’t be on your business or why you think you are the best. They do not care about all of that; they want something that solves their problems and improves their lives. Offer your product as that solution.

4. Don’t use deceptive pricing

Most bargain ads use very low sales prices, which is allowed in advertising. However, you must ensure that your sales price is lower than the item’s regular price. For instance, if you put up a shirt for $50, that has to be your sales price, not the shirt’s regular price. It is deceptive to make up fictitious regular prices to make the sales price appear lower. This could make your customer lose their faith in you.

Also, if your product is not free, do not advertise it as free. Make sure you are transparent in your adverts. If there’s an additional service that the customer needs to pay for, state this clearly in your advert. Mostly, consumers know that when a product is “free,” they may need to buy another item to get the free one. However, increasing the price of the item they are buying will be deceptive to make up for the free one you are giving out. It is not only deceptive, and it is illegal. If they have to buy a product to get another one free, do not raise the price of the product they are buying.

While free offers are great for marketing, you must be honest with them.

5. Endorsements and testimonials

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Testimonials are effective advertising tools. However, everything they are saying must be true whether you are using your regular customers or celebrities. Disclose it if you pay an endorser unless it’s an expert or celebrity. Also, when you use the testimonials of your regular customers to show your product’s use, ensure that it’s how they use the product normally. If the product is used differently than usual, or you retouch a part of the image, you must disclose this.

Conclusion

Advertising can be effortless and straightforward. However, even though it has evolved and is more digital now, there are several rules that you must follow to be successful.