Advertising management is the process of overseeing campaigns that seek to inform and attract consumers regarding a particular good or service. This process begins with the first stages of the market research that helps to create the advertising strategy, moves on to the development of the general outline for the campaign, the creation of a specific plan of action and the launching of the completed project. Without effective advertising management, ad campaigns and public relations efforts tend to founder and produce little or no results.
Effective advertising always begins by engaging in competent advertising research. The research helps to identify the sectors of the consumer market that are most likely to positively respond to a given product. In order to identify these niche markets within the larger group of consumers, researchers will not only seek to understand what appeals to these buyers but why those goods and services have that inherent appeal. The data collected from the research can then be used to enhance the marketability of products, addressing everything from function to packaging.
The next phase of the advertising management process has to do with deciding exactly how to apply the data collected during the research stage. Here the basis for deciding on what forms of advertising are most appropriate begins to take shape. Depending on the specifics of the products and the nature of the niche markets that the campaign will seek to connect with, advertising services such as print media, and radio, television, or the Internet may be deemed the most appropriate options.
Once the niche markets are identified and the determination of which types of advertising media are most appropriate for the campaign, advertising management focuses on the creation of the specifics of the overall campaign. This may involve such elements as the development of print ads for use in magazines and newspapers, audio campaigns for radio advertising, or commercials appropriate for television broadcast or streaming across the Internet. Because any given campaign may use several advertising options in one campaign, the process of advertising management also involves making sure all strategies complement one another and present a unified public image to consumers.
To function in advertising management, it is necessary to possess the proper training. Advertising training is often a combination of formal education and experience derived from working under the direction of more seasoned professionals who have learned over time how to identify and interact with consumers in order to secure the data needed to structure a campaign. While creativity and inspiration are always vital elements in any advertising campaign, the ability to organize and view the greater picture are essential to managing the process and launching a campaign that will successfully reach the right consumers and generate the desired amount of revenue over the lifetime of the campaign.
