5 keys for any business to create good ads

Most businesses don’t have the budget to hire a whole lineup of celebrities like T-Mobile did for its 2024 Super Bowl commercial or a rotation of professional athletes like State Farm does. You’re not going to compose an iconic jingle or song like “Nationwide Is On Your Side” or Coca-Cola’s “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.” You’re not trying to win advertising industry awards with an idea like McDonald’s “Follow the Arches” or British Airways’ #lookup.

Fortunately, you don’t need any of that to create an effective ad. Here are five tried and true principles that anyone can adapt:

1. Line up your aim, audience, medium and message.

For every ad, there are four questions you should ask:

Make sure all four of these align. Start with your business objective. Do you need more foot traffic? Brand awareness? First-time or repeat customers?

From there, determine which audience you need to go after. How old are they? What do they do for work? Think about profiles like “soccer mom in the Valley,” “Boomer retiree in the OC” or “surfer in the Beach Cities, 20-30 years old.”

Think about the medium and where you should meet that audience. What are they reading, watching, listening to and - most importantly - trusting and acting on? Where do they live? This will also dictate if your ad’s format: text-only, video, image and/or audio.

Based on all that, craft the right message. Take the most important differentiators and value propositions of your business and cater them to the aim, audience and medium.

2. Clear is better than clever.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of Advertising entitled, “Recall and Persuasion: Does Creative Advertising Matter?” found that the benefit of creativity in ads is largely limited to “unaided recall,” or “that funny commercial just popped into my head,” and that creative ads aren’t actually better at impacting purchase intent or brand attitudes.

Don’t worry about being clever. Worry about being clear. In other words, KISS - keep it simple, stupid. As a Harvard Business Review article based on a survey of over 7,000 consumers put it, “To Keep Your Customers, Keep It Simple.” That means:

• Say your company’s name, then say it again. The one thing you want people to remember is the name of your brand.

• Have one key message. Don’t have a laundry list of all your products, services, differentiators and qualities. Pick the one your target audience needs to hear the most and hammer it home.

• Use simple and easy language. It’s not Shakespeare in the Park!

3. Tell them to do something.

“So what?” Always tell the audience what to do with the information. Every ad should include a call to action (CTA). Common CTAs include:

• Visit our store at…

• Learn more by…

• Sign up…

• Call us…

Remember to align your CTA with your aim, audience, medium and message. For instance, don’t read a website URL in a radio or podcast ad. QR codes work well in shopping malls and grocery stores, where people are walking around. If your audience is younger, push them to text or message you on social media, not to call or email.

4. Use tech.

Don’t use Word, PowerPoint, Paint or a voice memo to create your ad. There are far more sophisticated tools available to you. Many of them have free versions and/or very affordable premium ones. Here are some to get you started:

• Visual ads

  • Canva and Adobe Express: Easy-to-use design tools that you can use with zero design experience. Feature massive libraries of templates, graphics (both static and animated) and royalty-free photos, videos and soundtracks. Easily resize and design for different formats (e.g., social media, print newspapers/magazines, digital display).

• Audio

  • Garageband and Ocenaudio: Free (Garageband is available on Mac, iPhone and iPad) audio editing tools that are simple and easy to use.

5. Gather data before, during and after.

Before crafting your ad, you can gather data to inform how you answer the four questions about aim, audience, medium and message. Look at studies about your target audience’s behaviors. Make sure to find out the reach of the advertising medium (listeners, viewership, subscribers, etc.). You can do this research anecdotally, too. Ask your existing customers about their behaviors, what content they’ve been consuming and what they’re looking for from businesses in your sector.

During the process of creating your ad, get feedback. Have focus groups with those existing customers and ask, “What do you think of this?” The key is to stick with existing customers; your friend or family member might have thoughts about your ad, but they’re not necessarily the thoughts your target audience will have.

After running your ad, monitor performance. If possible, have a unique phone number, link, landing page or email address associated with the ad so that you know how many people you’re reaching through it. Conduct A/B testing if you can: have different versions of your ad with alternative headlines, visuals and CTAs to see which performs best.