 | • Marketing content basics You don’t have to be a graphic design guru or marketing wizard to create eye-catching, attention-getting, marketing content. Many things have changed as the digital age grows and expands, with numerous apps available to help create advertising content. The general public has less patience for being ‘held-up,’ making the need for your content to have a clear point and draw viewers in for a closer look earlier. Optimal load time for mobile websites is under three seconds, according to Google® best practices, and decisions about advertising are made in mere milliseconds. |
If your budget won’t allow for a marketing agency, or you want to be more aware of what your viewers are experiencing, let’s look at a few areas we can all improve.
Choose Your Platform.
How will you be advertising? Print, digital, a combination? Social media prior to an event? This will determine how you want to draw in viewers.
Print Ads
You can really use imagery to draw viewers into reading more details about your venue, services, event, etc. Ultimately, you want viewers to read your ad and look up your website or call for more details.
Digital Ads
It is best to keep items short and sweet, you want people to ‘bite’ and click your ad for redirection to more information on your website or landing page.
In both cases, the use of a short headline, brief description, and call to action (your website) is the best practice for every situation.
Social Media
Advertising, when not being used exclusively as a redirecting tool, is more like an invitation. People want the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How upfront in all forms of advertising, so don’t skimp on it over social media. Using teasers to spike interest is good, but one or two will do. You set the hook, now give them the information to take a bite.
Organize Information
Display content in the way you want the viewer to read it. Where should someone look first? If you use too much imagery, text, and colors it becomes hard to read and will lose the audience’s attention. Make note of lines, shapes, colors, balance….where is your eye automatically drawn? If you are drawn away from your ‘point,’ try to reorganize the information. Using the ‘Rule of Thirds’ is helpful in creating compositions that flow, while utilizing contrasting colors can create a ‘pop.’
Double check that the important information is visible. Company name, location, and contact information should be available. For example, if someone is looking for ballroom space on Mars, but your Alien Ad doesn’t mention you are located on Mars, you could be missing a chunk of potential clients who just won’t take the time at look up your website without knowing your location.
With superb apps and tools available to every layman with a smartphone, using Canva (www.canva.com), WordSwag (wordswag.co), SnapSeed (available in the Apple App Store or Google Play), and others, see if you can’t save some social media advertising budget by creating your own graphics.
Here are a few dramatized examples:
Choose Your Platform.
How will you be advertising? Print, digital, a combination? Social media prior to an event? This will determine how you want to draw in viewers.
Print Ads
You can really use imagery to draw viewers into reading more details about your venue, services, event, etc. Ultimately, you want viewers to read your ad and look up your website or call for more details.
Digital Ads
It is best to keep items short and sweet, you want people to ‘bite’ and click your ad for redirection to more information on your website or landing page.
In both cases, the use of a short headline, brief description, and call to action (your website) is the best practice for every situation.
Social Media
Advertising, when not being used exclusively as a redirecting tool, is more like an invitation. People want the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How upfront in all forms of advertising, so don’t skimp on it over social media. Using teasers to spike interest is good, but one or two will do. You set the hook, now give them the information to take a bite.
Organize Information
Display content in the way you want the viewer to read it. Where should someone look first? If you use too much imagery, text, and colors it becomes hard to read and will lose the audience’s attention. Make note of lines, shapes, colors, balance….where is your eye automatically drawn? If you are drawn away from your ‘point,’ try to reorganize the information. Using the ‘Rule of Thirds’ is helpful in creating compositions that flow, while utilizing contrasting colors can create a ‘pop.’
Double check that the important information is visible. Company name, location, and contact information should be available. For example, if someone is looking for ballroom space on Mars, but your Alien Ad doesn’t mention you are located on Mars, you could be missing a chunk of potential clients who just won’t take the time at look up your website without knowing your location.
With superb apps and tools available to every layman with a smartphone, using Canva (www.canva.com), WordSwag (wordswag.co), SnapSeed (available in the Apple App Store or Google Play), and others, see if you can’t save some social media advertising budget by creating your own graphics.
Here are a few dramatized examples:
 Example of a basic advertisement that draws the eye with color, graphics, and has the basic information needed for someone to make contact. |  Yes, this is overdramatic to make a point. This ad hurts the eyes…the colors, lines, shapes. You know there is space but, what kind? where? how do you make contact? The right is so bare… Not good. |
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