Small Business Advertising – 5 Components of a Great Ad

As we are getting closer and closer to the last quarter of the year, I wanted to get people motivated about advertising. Whether traditional (print, TV, radio) or social (internet), the components for a great ad remain the same. I originally found an article from The James Group that spoke about 4 Types of Advertising Campaigns that Sell quite some time ago and have embellished this a bit based upon experiences in traditional advertising.

5 Components of a Great Ad:

1. Single Message. While you may have a lot of product or offer a variety of services, promote 1. Think of ads for Diet Pepsi. They promote Diet Pepsi and not Aquafina or any other Pepsi product.

2. Catchy Word/Song/Jingle. Growing up in NJ, the NY Lotto tag line stands out “Hey Ya Never Know.” Song that comes to mind is the Monday Night Football theme. No matter where you hear it, you think of MNF.

3. Memorable Character. Orkin Roach. Albeit creepy it gets the message across and we identify with the roaches and for that matter all bugs and associate it with food.

4. Consistent Design Elements. Colors, placement of the logo, font, etc. These elements are so important to get consumers to recognize you by a glance. Absolute Vodka. Same blue font on the clear bottle.

5. Repeated Theme. Similar to single message and consistent design element but think about Corona and the focus on the beer bottle. You know that they are on the beach but never do you see the faces nor really much more than the table, bottle, the sand and beach. Creating an emotional response to relaxing with a beer. No mater what the voice is saying, you know it is Corona.

Traditional advertising is not dead. It has taken a back seat due to budgets. You still need to be heard. Social media tied in with traditional advertising gives a stronger voice. Traditional and social advertising differ but still are similar in that you have to know where your target market is. People still watch TV, listen to the radio and are on the internet.