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Today is a fun topic, as it’s not really about the platforms or channels you can use in online marketing. But rather stepping outside the thought process of stock image ads and your brand marketing when working on those channels. I should also say that just having a nice simple image and your company logo is not a bad thing. I would encourage most to do this simply for brand recognition.
Working with the Client in Online Marketing
I want to discuss how you can get creative with your company’s online marketing. Creativity in online marketing can help you go beyond where you are now. One of the things I want to get out of the way upfront is that many of the platforms I’m about to mention have some type of ad builder attached to them. Do they do an ok job? Yes, for the most part. I’ve also seen ads created by them that simply don’t hold a candle to well thought out professionally done advertisements
Do I myself, as a marketer, sometimes use these tools for online marketing? Yes, I do. Sometimes it’s because the client’s creative content simply lends to good-looking ads when created by the platform’s internal creation tool, and other times it’s because professional ads cost money and clients haven’t budgeted marketing dollars into things like a photoshoot or manpower to create a masterpiece.
How to Make a Good Advertisement for Online Marketing
With that said, I’m a firm believer that the quality of your creativity in advertising matters. Consider, as an example, how many times you’ve been browsing a website that contains ads that when scrutinized are just not well put together or thought out. You probably don’t have much thought on this because a poorly created ad doesn’t catch your eye nor lend for you to take enough interest in it to stop and consider what it’s trying to tell you. On the other hand, an ad that pops off the page due to things like content, color, or composition gets you to stop and take notice. You’ll remember those and that is what makes a good online marketing campaign.
Since I mentioned Content, color and composition let’s explore each briefly.
Content
This is the actual content of your ad going to resonate with the end-user? It pains me when I look at an ad’s image and honestly have no idea what it’s representing and there is not supporting content to explain this to me. Again, yes it ok to put out ads that push things like emotions with little focus on your product or service, but if you do you need to be aware of this and make sure the ads copy is put front and center and explains what the ad is about. Otherwise, it’s just a picture people will quickly gloss over and that is never the goal in online marketing.
The ideal advertisement catches the user’s attention with subtext suggesting how the advertisement relates to the client. If done right this can be a very powerful form of messaging for online marketing. Let me re-iterate this, being creative is good, heck it’s great. Just make sure you have also explained yourself well enough that it’s obvious the purpose of your ad. If you can do this, the sky is the limit for your ad’s creative content.
Color
This should go without saying but I’d like to point out something that a whole lot of people do not do, and it’s a simple and effective way to spruce up your ad. When creating an ad I look at two main focuses for color. The branding colors and anything stark color-wise in an image. I create my ad and then play with the image’s current color palette to emphasize text or focus by borrowing the image’s most prominent colors and then matching my font or the emphasis on something like a call out to that color.
There is a whole lot more to the use of color, and I would encourage you to take the time and research this as it’s often not considered as highly as the other categories, but in the end, it does make a world of difference in online marketing.
Composition
The bad composition is things like cramped images or content that doesn’t balance positive and negative space. Images that have no focus, competing colors, or simple lack of in a lot of cases. The list can go on from here.
Take Time to Think
One thing I would emphasize when trying to stretch your creativity is to work on your ad’s overall presentation. Leave it alone for a while and come back to it later. Even when I feel like I’ve created a masterpiece, I often find a few places for improvement. Once I’ve stepped away and come back later it can give me a whole new outlook on what I’ve made.
If possible, I’ll try to step away at least long enough for my mind to move on to something else. That way, when I review my work it’s from the outside and fresh in my eyes. A good goal here would be something like six hours or even a whole workday if you can. Your online marketing campaigns will most certainly benefit from this.
When you’re very close to something you are creating it’s often easy to overlook small details because your mind fills in that gap because of your focus. True story, I’ve seen entire websites laid out with no way to return to the homepage. When I pointed this out, I’ll admit someone felt silly.
Platforms for Online Marketing
The above explanations were very brief, but hopefully gave insight on where you can improve your creativity in your content. With that in mind, let’s jump into a few common platforms where you can liven up your companies advertising immediately.
Google Ad
Displays Ads – This is primarily where you’re going to be able to flex your muscles on the Google platform and make a statement with your creativity. It’s hard to say what your creative avenue might be. Because everyone’s online marketing is going to be different depending on the nature of your company. What I can say is that alongside your standard nice-looking image and company logo ad, you have a wonderful opportunity to think outside the box and create advertising around things like how your product is used, the funny or serious ways it’s used, images depicting the product causing emotions of joy.
I think what I’m trying to say here is that each company has a wide variety of options when it comes to creating an online marketing campaign, don’t box yourself in with the boring.[bctt tweet=”I think what I’m trying to say here is that each company has a wide variety of options when it comes to creating an online marketing campaign, don’t box yourself in with the boring” username=”ThatCompanycom”] At the end of the day if a person is only going to retain a few things they saw on the internet that day, don’t you want it to be your advertising.
- Display Re-marketing Ads – This follows the same principles as above. I just would offer a thought that this is a perfect opportunity to reengage with your potential client/customer on an amazing level because you can not only tailor your companies message and imaging, but you get a chance to tell them a little more of the story that you possibly started elsewhere. If you have multiple levels to a campaign, it’s the perfect opportunity to change up the message at every level and guide your potential clients/customers through their journey to converting with you.
Remember that Facebook marketing is more push marketing in the fact that most of your viewers more than likely are not actively looking for or have recently looked for your brand. This is where I think your creativity can really work for you. I always start my Facebook campaigns with a theme in mind. Then, I see how much I can stretch it while still maintaining a strong cohesive online marketing message.
Final and Random Thoughts
Remember to push your social media presence whenever possible in online marketing. Don’t miss out on opportunities to put your social media connections such as your Twitter handle, Facebook, or Instagram on business cards, PowerPoint presentations, emails, etc… It’s a little thing once, but it adds up quickly. This is one thing we focus on with our white label social media, and it is of the utmost importance that you do as well.
Twitter is a great place to join a conversation and get yourself noticed through a healthy use of hashtags. It will not only increase your voice in a community but often leads to followers. There are many more places often underutilized or simply overlooked. In a future blog, I’ll attempt to pick up where I’ve left today and run through other opportunities and platforms. Happy online marketing.
Need help with online marketing? Consider using our white label services to meet your digital marketing needs. And don’t forget to contact us to let us know what you think of the article and how you are planning to get creative with your advertising.
