Business and advertising are amongst the top 10 university courses in the UK, with around 200,000 jobs available in the industry. Yet, learning the principles of the subject at university is a lot different from putting them into practice, since there is a lot at stake when it comes to advertising for a business. Whether you’re starting up your own business or are beginning your role as an advertiser, there is a lot that needs to be learned. However, the skills learned when working in, or working towards, the advertising industry, are also skills that can be expanded and utilized across entertainment and marketing.
Safety comes first
Before discussing the creative side of an ad campaign and making it live, it’s essential to understand that measures need to be in place to protect your ads, which, ultimately, will protect your viewers. This is an incredibly important aspect of the creation and publication process. When launching an ad campaign, you’re preparing to throw it into the world wide web, yet you shouldn’t do it blindly. To put it into context, if you had a printed advertisement like a poster, you would think carefully about where you place it, opting for hotspots like train stations and hotel receptions. The same goes for online ads, except, in this case. the risks are higher.
So, you choose where you want your online ad going – Facebook, Instagram, an online magazine. Yet, choosing online placement doesn’t stop there. In an online space that is infiltrated with malicious advertisements, as we know them – pop-up ads, it’s unfortunate that your hard work could be taken away from you in an instant. That’s why considering ad verification software is vital, as it protects and bolsters your impressions, meaning that your advertisement has the potential to reach a wider audience. Without such software, your advertisement is at risk of getting lost amongst an array of bad ads and, as a result, will gain less attention. Since the purpose of an ad is just that – to gain attention – opting for such software is paramount and should be considered in your budget before beginning to create an ad campaign.
Launching and tracking an ad campaign
Once you have eliminated risk, your ad campaign can begin to run smoothly, hopefully, without any hitches. Considering your budget is a good indicator of what you can achieve, and, since the average advertisement campaign costs thousands of pounds, you’ll thank yourself later for advanced planning. Budget in mind, the vital aspects of an advertisement campaign are your target audience and key message. From there, a design can be implemented that caters to your business needs. This is the fun part since you can allow yourself to be creative, though, you mustn’t forget the business’ USP in the process, as it’s important that an ad reflects a company’s mission, values, and brand.
Once your creative online ad campaign is live, it’s a necessity to discover if your ad meets its purpose, which is likely, to reach a wide audience, gain customer interaction, and convert viewers into consumers. Without gaining this knowledge, the purpose of your ad campaign is almost pointless, since you won’t be able to see if it’s achieved its objective. Since trackability is in demand, there is a host of software available that you can take advantage of.
Whilst university teaches you the principles of marketing, it often lacks communication around ad safety and performance tracking. These are two things we have covered in this article since they are vital in ensuring your ads land safely on your audience’s screens and discovering how well they have met their objectives.