Advertising Design part 2

So we are going to continue on with our Advertising Design series. In Advertising Design part 1, we started exploring the concept of features vs. Benefits. I am sure you have listed for yourself the features and benefits of the product or service you are trying to market.

Onward bound! In our example of the broom, we came up with several pointers of what its benefits are. Let us consolidate it into several short message benefits.

This broom will make you feel:
1. Responsible
2. Safe and healthy
3. Efficient
4. Stylish

This technique is a really great way to really hone your marketing message. Now you have 2 choices: 1. You can decide to list all those benefits in your advertisement. or 2. You can be more effective by designing a series of ads with each ad targeting a specific benefit. The beauty about target marketing is that you are speaking to each type of consumer that may want to buy your product. it is not a given that a person that feels responsible for the environment also will want to feel stylish.

Step 2: What does Target Market mean and how will that impact your advertising design?
According to Inc. Online, “target marketing allows you to focus your marketing dollars and brand message on a specific market that is more likely to buy from you than other markets.” it is interesting because many businesses when asked the question “who is your target market?”, answer “whoever would like to buy my product” In this economy, it is very important to know specifically who would be most likely to buy.

This leads us to our next question:

How would you define and pinpoint your target market.

Here I will go back to Inc Magazine online with these smart suggestions:

1. Check out the existing client base: look at what they have in common. A suggestion I have would be to send a survey to your current customers with targeted questions about the benefits they receive from your product, what made them decide to purchase your product or sign up for your service. You see we are going along lines of benefits that would speak to other people that would potentially be interesting in your products/service.

2. Check Out Your Competition: Who are your competitors targeting? Who are their current customers? Don’t go after the same market. You may find a niche market that they are overlooking. Inc Magazine really raises a very interesting point here. That is a good point. Instead of butting heads with your competition, focus on a servicing a market that is not yet targeting by your competition.

Now that we know what a target market is, you would need to pinpoint who is your target market. For this your benefits you have listed for yourself will really help you out.

In Part 3 of our Advertising Design series, we will start on crafting your marketing message