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How Do I Develop Effective TV Advertising?

By Daphne Mallory
Updated May 17, 2024
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Some of the most effective TV advertising incorporates common elements. By looking at these commonalities, business owners can develop their own marketing strategies that they want to incorporate into their ads. Many of the most successful commercials incorporate a catchy music jingle or a slogan that’s easy to remember. They often have repetitive elements and may appeal directly to the viewer’s emotions in some way. Other effective TV advertising methods involve using humor or irony in order to catch the viewer’s attention and help him to remember the commercial.

Some of the most effective TV advertising is simple for the viewer to understand. Many research studies indicate that television viewers don’t pay direct attention to commercials and therefore won’t follow an ad that contains complex information. The images and sound are often kept very simple in order to capture the consumer’s attention. Effective TV ads also center on one concept or idea. They often have a clearly defined objective of the product or service being sold, the benefit to the consumer, and the company that is selling it.

Repetitive elements are involved in the most effective TV advertising campaigns. For example, most Americans above a certain age can still recite the “Two all-beef patties” jingle from McDonald’s, even though the TV commercials with the slogan haven’t aired in heavy rotation in decades as of 2011. The song was featured in ads on almost every station in the country in heavy rotation, and because it was simple and repetitive, viewers can still remember it to this day. The repetition in a commercial doesn’t have to be a slogan or a jingle. It often involves a sales price or another important piece of information that the business wants to convey to the viewer. The goal of the repetition is to make the commercial more memorable.

Irony and emotion are important pieces in many effective TV advertising strategies. Showing viewers an unexpected outcome can surprise them and make the ad stay with them for a long time to come. Likewise, appealing to emotions such as joy or sadness can often be very effective with television watchers. Studies have shown that viewers can develop an emotional attachment to a product or brand if the company’s commercials invoke certain feelings in them. This is often difficult to achieve, but the results can be very lucrative if the correct strategies are used. Humor can often pay dividends in TV advertising as well. If the viewers are made to laugh, they’ll often share the experience with friends and family, and then word-of-mouth advertising can draw even more attention to a company.

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