The most important things to keep in mind when preparing for advertising include:
Getting the Content Ready
Ensure proper design and right content (both for print or broadcast advertisements).
Get the help of professional designers or production houses in preparing the content.
Ensure that fonts, colors, visuals, text and other design elements are chosen very carefully.
Keep the overall brand guidelines in mind and keep the design elements consistent.
Check the spellings and grammar of the text very carefully. An advertisement with language errors is extremely undesirable.
If it is translated in other languages, get the copy matter properly checked by a reliable language expert.
In case of a TV / radio advertisement, take professional help to ensure the consistency and integrity in visuals, audio, brand image, message tone etc.
If there are some government guidelines / restrictions applicable to be followed in the advertisement content, ensure that they are adhered to.
Insist on checking the final release before it is sent to the publication or the broadcast channel.
Getting Setup and People Ready
If we have given phone numbers in the advertisement, ensure that those numbers are really working and somebody is always attending them, at least during office hours. On many occasions, I have called up phone numbers given in advertisements which are not answered by anybody, even after repeated attempts. We should ensure it does not happen in our business.
The same applies to email or other contact points given.
The people who are going to pick up the phone must be thoroughly prepared and trained.
They must be shown the advertisement and explained the purpose and meaning of everything written in it.
These people should know all the probable questions and their answers. If possible, prepare a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and their answers and train them properly about the same.
If our people are supposed to seek any details from the respondents of the advertisement (e.g. names, phone numbers, email IDs or addresses), they must be properly trained in asking the right questions and noting down the details in the right manner at the right place.
Also, guide them to contact somebody senior in case of some unexpected query from a respondent.
If the response is received by mail or email, ensure that there is somebody to read them as soon as possible and give an initial reply, if required.
If we are promising to send something to respondents (e.g. brochure, catalog, price list, samples etc.), make sure that it is sent as per the promise. Make necessary arrangements to ensure that what we promise is delivered in time.
Learn more about how to prepare before advertising only at the LSBF, one of the well-known private business schools.
