Essential Advertising Research
In advertising research is key to your success. It’s not enough to get your message in front of as many people as you can, because what’s important is how many people you’re in front of are actually going to be interested in what you have to say.
For example, to put an ad for pork sausages in a magazine aimed at vegetarians would be madness, no matter how wide the readership of the magazine was. One property investment company some years ago placed a full-page ad in a broadsheet national daily newspaper at a cost of over £10,000 just for the ad space, never mind the “creative” costs, and received only 35 replies and no sales. In contrast, a small well-researched ad in a niche magazine can bring in hundreds of responses for very little outlay.
And the difference is all in the quality of the advertising research.
Here are some simple things to consider.
1. What are you trying to do with your ad? If you’re trying to make sale right off the page, then you’re going to have to work much harder in the ad than if you’re just asking for people to contact you for more information, or asking them to visit a website. In your advertising research for this, you need to balance the extra cost of the ad with the benefit of making those immediate sales. In general, making a sale right off the page is something you don’t want to be trying until you’re sure of your market.
2. Whom are you selling to? Don’t be tempted by publications just because they have a wide circulation. Local “b2b” businesses, for example, rarely do well in local newspapers simply because it’s the wrong audience. I know it can be tempting because of the apparent numbers of people you’re going to be “seen” by, and the ad. rep usually has some “amazing” deal for you. But it’s often worth paying more for an ad in a specialist publication, simply because your audience is much more highly qualified.
3. Who else is advertising there? This is a vital part of your advertising research. Get hold of back-issues of the publication and see who keeps appearing issue after issue with the same ad. If you see the same ad appearing over and over again and you know from your studies of what makes an ad effective it’s been properly designed, then that’s a positive sign. Some ads have run (literally) for decades and have been a constant and regular source of income for businesses. However, don’t be hasty: if an ad looks terrible then the chances are it’s been placed there on a “multi-insertion” deal. Check back over 6 months to a year.
4. Who reads the publication? This is slightly different from No.2. With this advertising research you’re thinking not so much about what you’re selling and the niche publications (where competition is likely to be highest), but where else you might find the people you want to target. For example, the “obvious” place to find over-50’s who are interested in health-and-fitness products is in niche health and fitness magazines. But it can be useful to think laterally. What kind of over-50’s person would be interested in an active lifestyle and have disposable income? First thing springing to my mind is Vintage Car magazines. A totally different niche but one worth doing more advertising research on.
Advertising is as much of a science as it is an art. And as with any science, the secret to getting it right is in the research.
Have a look around the rest of this site and see some of the specific advertising research secrets and strategies you can use to increase your profits starting TODAY!
Happy Advertising!
Chris Cardell
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