Every day we are inundated with marketing messages — in our email inbox, social media feeds, while we veg out on the couch watching streaming TV — it’s a constant barrage of products, services, subscriptions, gimmicks, promises, offers. I read in Forbes that on average, people are exposed to between 6,000 and 10,000 advertisements or brand messages a day. Other sources shared similar mind-boggling figures. What’s even crazier is to think that companies spend lots of money to deliver all those THOUSANDS of messages to me — and I’d bet that I could only recall about a dozen of them at any given time. If even.

In a society where over-stimulation is the norm, it’s become all that more difficult for brands to effectively gain the attention of those they are hoping to influence. Long gone are the days where you could simply identify your target audience and serve them ads without giving much thought to the message and approach.

If your mission is to ensure that you deliver a message that makes someone take notice and pause, then you need to give great consideration to how you communicate your message. A few tips:

• Understand the marketing medium you’re working within along with associated best practices to ensure engagement and recall. You wouldn’t approach the development of a digital display ad in the same way as the development of an eblast. Understanding what each medium supports can help you craft messaging that will land as you hope.
• Keep it short and simple. You have a fleeting moment to get the attention of someone we’ve already determined is beyond distracted. Get to the point — quickly. And furthermore, keep the words simple. If your marketing message requires a decoder ring to translate a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo, I can assure you, you aren’t winning in the game of marketing.
• Know what will resonate with your customer. Speak to that. What problem will you solve? How will you make their life better? The more relevant your message is to me, the more likely I’ll take notice.
• Don’t beat around the bush with your call-to-action. Simply put, tell your audience what you want them to do. Don’t leave it to chance and assume they know.
• Don’t be deceptive. There is no greater turn-off than an ad that promises unrealistic results. Building trust with your customers is key to building a long-term relationship.
• Test messaging. Where possible, test messaging to see what content, CTAs, imagery, etc. resonates best with your target audience.

Sarah Short serves a dual role of Digital Advertising Manager, helping to guide growth in this key area as well as Regional Sales Manager, working directly with clients to develop comprehensive marketing strategies.

If you’re interested in learning more about our digital advertising services, please contact Sarah at [email protected]