. . . the art of design

Consistent Advertising

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Category: Advertising
Published on Friday, 09 December 2016 08:00
Written by Daniel Titus
Consistent Advertising

I love the word campaign.  As I've mentioned before it means "a systematic course of actions for a specific objective."  The word is often used in the realm of advertising.  We are all familiar with "advertising campaigns."  They are not collections of random ads with a wide range of foci.  They are ads that work together for a specific goal (even if they individually hit different targets).  One aspect of a campaign that must be kept in mind is consistency.

Lots of Media

I don't watch TV very often.  I know a few people who aren't on Facebook.  Some people never look at magazines or pickup a newspaper.  But, we all converse; we all occupy the same spaces; we all interact.  And, I don't know anyone who has only one advertising stream.  We all look at multiple media.  So, consistency becomes quite key.  Crossing platforms is no excuse for embracing disparity.

Let's say, for instance, that you advertise in a magazine, on Facebook and with an online news source.  A consistent campaign would not look at these three media as three different advertising opportunities, but three aspects of the same advertising opportunity.  Instead of creating three different ads, a consistent campaign would create three different variations of the same ad.  Each would be applied to a different medium with a different target and adhere to different standards inside of different dimensions, but the ad would still be consistent across the platforms.

Anywhere your potential clients looked they would see your ad and know it's you.  It is statistically unlikely that they will pay attention to your ad in every location, but (if it is consistent) they don't have to.  They can catch a glimpse and know it's you.  Every time, you will get more bang for your buck with a consistent ad campaign.

Not a lot of Budget

You might be thinking to yourself, "That's great, but we don't have enough bucks for all that bang.  We just advertise on one media."  That's no problem.  Consistency is not confined to advertising.  Let's look again at the above scenario and trim the advertising back to just one.  Let's say that you only advertise in a magazine.  How can you be consistent?  This will be fun, I'm going to see how many I can name!

Your single ad campaign can be consistent with your ...

  • Website homepage
  • Facebook cover photo
  • Instagram image(s)
  • Window displays
  • Image submitted along with a guest blog
  • Phone/Desktop backgrounds

I'm sure there are more!

Hey, I've Seen That

The point is that consistency is a better way of doing an ad campaign regardless of its size.  When there is consistency from one medium to the next, one platform to the next, it increases your chances of potential clients saying, "Hey, I've seen that."  I've seen that expresses familiarity.  It's the advertising equivalent of I know that guy.  It gives people a sense of comfort and confidence where trust would not be otherwise.  People like to stick with what and who they know.  So make them feel like they know.

Be consistent.  Don't just get an ad; start a campaign.