When it comes to creatively—and strategically—reaching customers, companies may find themselves composing a fairly impressive to-do list. Logo design, website development, magazine advertisements, Facebook banners…the list goes on. Before getting started, however, it’s important to decide which will best accomplish your goals: a local advertising agency, or a local marketing agency.
The right team can make all the difference in sparking excitement about your brand to kindle new business. Whether to choose an advertising or marketing agency depends on how you want to approach customers and which strategies will energize them to take action.
So, which do you need?
Your Local Marketing Agency
There are a number of different strategies within the marketing puzzle, including branding, research, positioning and segmenting audiences, and oh, advertising.
That’s right—advertising is actually a component of marketing. It’s one strategy of many that companies use to attract and communicate with their customers.
Marketing uses four main phases—product, price, place, and promotion—to create relationships between companies and their customers. Marketing focuses on planning and implementing strategies to foster those relationships.
Research gives marketing strategies an added boost, allowing companies to better understand their potential customers.
As a result, companies can craft their marketing plan based on consumer behavior, pinpointing exact opportunities. With the help of your local marketing agency, you can differentiate your business from competitors by showing customers what they uniquely gain from your product or service.
Promotional materials—including advertisements—are then crafted with colors and designs chosen to appeal to those customers. A specific target audience may use an outlet—a social media platform, email, newspapers, magazines—more than others. Understanding potential customers allows companies to stand out, pinpoint chances to reach out, and gather new leads as a result.
So with marketing, your company uses different methods—email, social media, print and digital advertising—that are backed by research and strategy to communicate. Add a creative jolt, and you’re on your way to igniting interest in customers.
Your Local Advertising Agency
Whereas a marketing agency focuses on developing a multifaceted plan based on industry and consumer research, your local advertising agency deciphers the best opportunities for exposure in the marketplace. That position in front of customers allows companies to spark curiosity about their product or service.
Using your marketing plan, you now know your target audience and the best methods for reaching them. Advertising allows companies to inform customers their product or service exists.
The media outlets selected within the marketing plan, along with persuasive messaging, allow companies to influence purchase behavior—the ultimate goal of advertising. Whereas marketing provides opportunities for brand awareness and interest, attracting leads as potential customers, advertising converts those leads into sales.
Advertising promotes a product or service by informing customers of product benefits. Then, advertising leverages emotion so customers feel that they relate to the brand. This motivates customers to finally make a purchase.
As a powerful piece of the marketing puzzle, advertising directs customers through the buying process, ultimately converting leads into sales.
A Creative Combination
A local advertising agency or local marketing agency helps grow your company by communicating with customers and promoting your business. Since advertising is a piece of marketing, choosing to search for a local marketing agency gives companies additional methods of reaching out.
As your local advertising agency and your local marketing agency, Doohickey is able to provide everything you need for a successful campaign. That includes developing a strong brand to use for your website, promotional items, print and digital ads. Using our proven marketing strategies, we then advertise your product or service to customers. That way, you can start converting leads into sales of your own.
That’s what we Doo!