The scramble customer attention online is gruesome nowadays. This is why now more than ever before adverts are inevitably central to business or startup success. At least more and more enterprises are embracing and rolling out marketing campaigns. However, it is not just about coming up with adverts because you are being encouraged to do so. You have to be smart and strategic when it comes to putting together adverts. Adverts are, at their core, meant to disseminate valuable information to both existing and prospective customers. There are fundamental questions your adverts must answer and I discuss some of them in this article.

Who Are You?

Generally, people will not give you an ear if you do not properly introduce yourself. In making an advert figure creative ways of making people know who you are. What is your focus and what do you seek to achieve – basically what your brand is all about. This helps in making it easy for people to identify you such that they do not dismiss your adverts before finishing them or giving them an ear. If you are starting as a brand you might have to do more in this regard. If you are already established or operational, then you might not be under extreme pressure to properly introduce yourself. All the same, introduce yourself, making your brand known in an advert.

What Is The Problem Or Challenge? – Pain Point(s)

My definition of entrepreneurship is, “The addressing of a common, widespread problem using a novel or disruptive solution, often tech-based that is monetizable.” This means you cannot start pushing a product or service without real pain points. In fact, it is dangerous to even come up with a product or service without ascertaining if the pain point(s) exist and is or widespread. That is why most products or services fail to take off – they will be perceived rather than proven to be necessary.

So when putting together an advert it must start by enunciating the problem or challenge that you are or seek to address. In some cases, it might be a problem that people have not even been noticing that they actually have. That is the genius of advertising because it can even open people’s eyes to things they had not noticed before. Once they see that you are dealing with a real issue then they can stay hooked to hear what more you have to say.

What Solution Are You Proposing? – Product Or Service

What solution are you proffering or proposing given the aforementioned pain point(s)? This in essence constitutes the product or service you are selling. Describe what it is and what it can do. The core focus should be selling benefits and convenience rather than the features per se. Most people get it wrong on adverts because they focus more on features. People are not so much as concerned about the features as what they stand to benefits from them. Covering all these aspects will give prospective customers a clear picture of whether this is something they would need. You cannot sell something people do not understand is as far as what it is and what it does is concerned.

Why Is Your Solution The Real Deal? – Unique Value Proposition

This, in most cases, can be the most determinant part of your advert. Why you and not other players? Typically it is the case that you are selling something that other players already sell. What makes you a cut above the rest then? You need to clearly explain that in an advert with unquestionable proof. That is why you find that things like social proofs (especially user-generated content) are important. People trust more what other people who have used your product or service say. You can blow your own trumpet but people nowadays want to hear more from other people other than you. Things like demos can also help here where you demonstrate that your product or service surpasses others. You probably are familiar with toothpaste or washing powder commercials where they juxtapose what their product does with what other products do. The whole crux there is to demonstrate that you have a superior and unique value proposition. Essentially you are telling your prospective customers that you are offering something like no other or better than others.

Where And How Can People Get The Solution? – Call To Action

If you have managed to keep people hooked then they will be waiting to hear what you want them to do. Basically, businesses and entrepreneurs are all about sales. You want people to buy your product or service but how do they do that? That is where you detail where they can get the product or service. You also get to lay out the prices and any early bird incentives and the like. You also highlight your contact details, your physical outlets or digital ones (if any). Overall, once someone is done with your advert they should be able to know exactly what to do to buy or make enquiries.

If you use these 5 questions as a checklist for your every time you make an advert you will nail it. You are in principle thinking like a customer and providing answers to what the customer will most likely need. Who are you? What problem are you addressing? What solution are you offering? What makes yours unique? What can I do to get it? Those are the 5 questions people usually have when coming across an advert. Answering them adequately (in an advert) is the key to landing and retaining customers.