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How to Advertise

What does it take to create a successful advertising campaign? From identifying your advertising goals to monitoring the success of your campaign, we'll help you sort things out and make your advertising work for you. Here are the five basic steps that the most seasoned agencies and advertisers follow.

Learn the Steps

What do you want?

The first step in an advertising campaign is determining your campaign objectives. Are you trying to increase sales? Do you need to spread the word about your new business or service? Are you trying to generate leads by phone/website, or simply get more customers to walk through your door?

Learn more: Plan Your Campaign »

Who is your target?

Now that you have identified your needs, you must decide who you’re trying to reach. Who are the best potential customers for your product or service? Are you targeting men, women or both? How old are they? What is their income, education level and ethnicity? Nail down your target audience so you don’t waste money advertising to the wrong crowd.

Learn more: Meet your Competition »

Learn more

Once you've identified the people you're trying to reach in terms of demographics, it’s a good idea to determine how your product or service will fit into your target’s lifestyle. This will help you find them geographically, strategically place your advertising and tailor your message to fit their values and interests. All of Lamar's inventory is audited by Geopath, the outdoor advertising industry's standard for audience measurement. Geopath provides an impressions count and demographic information for each display, making it possible for us to select the perfect location(s) to reach your target audience.

How do you reach them?

Here’s the tough part. Which media or combination of media (media mix) is best? It depends on who you’re trying to reach and what percentage of that target you need to reach. Another critical factor is determining how much money you can invest in advertising. How many times do you need to reach your target audience to ensure they remember you, and how will you know if your ad works?

Learn more: Choose Your Media »

Click the media icons below to view slideshows.

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Source: Scarborough
Visit Nielsen.com for more information about TV Ratings and audience measurement.
Source: Scarborough
Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study
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Source: Radio Advertising Bureau
Visit Arbitron.com for more information about Radio audience measurement.
Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study
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Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study
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Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study
Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study
Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study
Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study
Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study, Arbitron Project Rushmore 2013 Report
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Sources: comScore, Trinity Digital Marketing, Internet Trends 2013, Mashable
Source: Flurry
Visit comScore.com and Nielsen.com for more information about mobile audience measurement.
Sources: Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
Sources: Mobify, Latitude
Source: 2013 Arbitron Out-of-Home Advertising Study

How do you get started?

Ouch...you probably have heartburn by now. We understand that if  you're reading this, it's a concern to you. Otherwise, your ad agency would be making these big decisions. For today's business owner, the reality is that it costs money to make money, and no one has any to burn. The key is to invest whatever budget you have in the most efficient media/combination of media (media mix) to hit your target.

Learn more: Speak the Language »

How do you know it worked?

Success looks different to different businesses, but when your campaign starts, so should careful monitoring of its effectiveness. Take a snapshot of what your sales look like before, during and after your advertising campaign. Monitor your sales, keep track of new accounts, website traffic, store traffic or phone inquiry activity.

Our experienced sales representatives can also help by identifying your campaign goals from the start and provide research and strategies to target and effectively reach more of your potential customers.

Get Started: Contact a Local Sales Rep »

Learn more: See How Successful Advertisers Do It »

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Further Tips & Insights

Planning

Nail down your campaign objectives before selecting creative and media.

Learn More »

Design Tips

Create effective outdoor advertising designs to wow your audience.

Learn More »

Geopath Ratings

Learn more about our industry’s audience measurement system.

Learn More »

Research

The latest media and industry research available at your fingertips.

Learn More »

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