In this economy, many businesses are doing more themselves to save money.  This do-it-yourself attitude can help you make the most of your money, but only if you do it right.  So here's a tip that will help you get the most for your advertising dollar.

Let's Pretend

Imagine that you have been asked to write a half-page description of your job that will later be read aloud to a gathering of people. What would you write?  Think it through a moment. 

After completing the task, you are told that the group that will hear your job description is a class of 5th grade students.  Did you write in a way that will be of interest to and understood by 5th grade students?  What would you have written differently if you had known the audience before writing?

This exercise demonstrates the importance of matching the message to the audience.  Many businesses, when producing their own ads, tend to overlook this vital concept and focus solely on getting their ad placed where the most eyes will see it. But being seen does not equal being effective.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Take a look at this hypothetical example.  Say we have an organization named "Heart Strings" that provides musical instruments and lessons to under privileged children.* They want to increase donations and awareness of their cause, so they have purchased ad space both in a popular guitar magazine and on a performing arts web site. They intend to use their usual ad:

It has all the information that the organization could want, and it has a picture that illustrates what it is they do. So what's wrong with it?

• The venues for the ad have two different audiences, therefore we need two different messages.
• Although the ad has all the information the organization wants —  and this is very important —  the audience doesn't necessarily want to hear all of it.
• The design is overly kid-like, which doesn't send the correct message.

Speaking their Language

We've put together some rough mock-ups of alternative ads that will more effectively speak to the audience. Final versions wouldn't contain the stock photo watermarks and would have cleaner edges, but roughing out a concept like this is the best starting point to see if a concept will work. The images used in these concepts can be purchased from istockphoto.com.

Below is a concept for the guitar magazine ad.  Most readers of this magazine are 18 to 35 and likely to have been involved in a band at some point.

What makes this ad appropriate for its audience is:

• A non-standard font that feels youthful and loud.
• A picture that the audience can relate to.
• The message is humorous to attract interest. 
• This ad's goal is to increase awareness, so it only contains the information needed to do so.

Below is a concept for the performing arts web site ad.  This audience's age range is 35 to 50 and likely to have children.

What makes this ad appropriate for its audience is:

• A message that focuses on donations, since this audience is more likely to donate.
• A picture the audience can relate to —  a child’s arm reaching out.
• A brief statement of what Heart Strings does. This would be of interest to potential donors.
• A more formal, established looking font.

Now It’s Your Turn

The next time you are involved in designing an ad for your business, remember to first identify who your audience is, and make a message to match. 

*Any similarity to an actual organization is purely coincidental, but also pretty cool.

by Dave Merrell

Dave’s 18 years of technical and design experience range from feature film visual effects and animation to web programming. He applies his cross-discipline skill set and commitment to excellence to every creative challenge.