Brand advertising is more effective than many small businesses realize. Here are some example ads and ideas on how to create brand ads for SMBs.
The goal of brand advertising is to get your brand/business name in front of your target audience – and to get them to remember you.
Brand ads are different from direct-response ads, which are ads that make a specific offer and are trying to persuade some to take immediate action.
For example, this is a direct response ad. It has a specific offer with pricing and directs people with a strong call to action:
This is a brand ad. It focuses attention on the brand name and logo, with a short value statement (Top Rated Local):
At Marketing 360®, we’ve discovered that brand advertising for local SMBs and small eCommerce websites has higher ROI than many businesses expect.
And although brand advertising is more difficult to measure than direct-response campaigns, we do track brand searches that drive website traffic as a KPI – and an important one. In fact, we find that over the long-term, this and other brand lift metrics often produce the most value.
This happens for several reasons.
The first is that online consumers are inundated with information. This turns everyone into a methodical buyer that researches before making a buying decision.
So instead of searching for “chiropractors Pheonix” and immediately setting an appointment, people will do that search then research the practices that look most promising. During this secondary research they become familiar with business/brand names.
They end up buying from businesses that they (1) remember and (2) trust.
That’s exactly what brand advertising is designed to do. These ads are effective in lookalike or online retargeting campaigns, but they also work well as print ads, vehicle wraps, or electronic billboards.
People trust businesses they recognize; effective brand advertising biases people’s thinking towards your brand.
Part of this is just the repetition of it, but brand ads work best when they communicate value in a memorable way.
Depending on your goals, your brand ads should:
Highlight your brand name/logo.
Briefly communicate what you do via text and image.
Briefly communicate the benefit of your offer via text and image.
Mention your location (if you’re local).
Have a clear, brief call to action.
If it takes more than a couple of seconds for people to recognize your brand and understand your offer, you have too much info in the ad. These ads are snapshot designed to make an immediate impression.
Here are some examples of brand ads Marketing 360® designed. Contact us if you need to design and run a brand advertising campaign.