Essential Elements of a Complete Advertising Plan

When making an advertising plan, consider these five aspects!

1. From "I want to be famous" to understanding the market and audience

Before making a plan, determine the goals to achieve. The goal is not as vague as "I want to be famous" or "I want many people to know," but rather to understand where the market for the product or service is, what groups it targets, their purchase motivations, methods, timing, and the channels through which they encounter ads. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you formulate an effective plan.

According to the communication tasks and engagement level the ad aims to achieve, there are several types of ads:

1. Informative advertising

For example, when a new IoT car is launched, and no such product existed before, the ad focuses on introducing its performance, uses, features, price, etc., to stimulate initial demand.

2. Persuasive advertising

The well-known "This year, no gifts, only Brain Platinum!" belongs to this type. Through advertising, consumers are led to form a "preference" for your product rather than choosing others. This type of ad generally requires time to accumulate and does not produce immediate results.

3. Reminder advertising

A self-driving traveler driving through the desert asks his companion, "When will I get away from civilization?" The companion is puzzled, and he points to Coca-Cola ads appearing at intervals. Coca-Cola already has global recognition but still spends a lot on advertising to maintain its image and market share. Also, there is the case of "Wang Laoji renamed JDB."

2. Budget makes the art of advertising more scientific

How much does this plan cost? Compared to advertising by intuition, budgeting in advance is an important means of controlling advertising activities and provides an economic indicator for evaluating advertising effectiveness. Generally consider the following:

1. Product life cycle

A product often goes through introduction, growth, maturity, and decline stages. New products need extensive advertising to build awareness, stimulate demand, and quickly start the market. More specifically, products have peak and off seasons, so consider the phased use of funds.

2. External competitor situation

Generally, if there are many competitors, you need to increase promotion. They can also serve as a reference for your own advertising: what markets they target, how they do it, and the results, to seize opportunities to leverage or suppress.

3. Advertising frequency

To avoid disappearing after a sudden success, you need to master a reasonable marketing rhythm. When to launch, how many times, etc., all affect the budget.

3. Good content can move a thousand pounds with four ounces

This is the most important part, often after a dozen pages of "persona analysis," the client listens attentively and the agency focuses on it, involving creativity and so on. That is, what content to convey and how to express it to leave a deep impression on the audience.

The accuracy of the advertising appeal to some extent affects the effectiveness of limited advertising funds within a certain time. Sometimes, if the content is good, it may not require much money to go viral.

4. Select the most suitable and optimized channel mix

Choosing which channels to promote is also important. Traditional media and internet channels are all fine, whether TV, newspapers, celebrities, internet influencers, or others. What matters is which one suits you. Generally consider the following, conduct thorough research, and maximize the efficiency of your budget:

1. Target group's media habits

For example, if you produce a cute drink that young people are willing to buy, you might use Weibo, WeChat, live streaming, A-station, B-station, etc.

2. Choose media based on product characteristics

Different media have different advantages in expressiveness, visualization, explanatory power, credibility, etc.

3. Cost

If you only have a budget of 1 million yuan, but you want celebrity A to record a video, celebrity B to sing a song, and celebrity C to appear... then forget it. Start from the budget and honestly see which channel mix is optimal.

5. How to measure advertising effectiveness

This goes without saying: if you invest a lot of money in advertising, you need to measure and evaluate the results to ensure returns on investment. This is increasingly valued by both clients and agencies.