How to Create Advertising Objectives that Produce Measurable Results

A general who leads troops into battle without a mission and a clear plan is headed for defeat. A hiker setting out into the wilderness alone without a map and a final destination is headed for disaster. A business that launches an advertising campaign without a clearly defined advertising objective is also destined for failure.

Advertising is the most powerful tool any business has. A single advertising campaign can create awareness, enhance brand image, announce important news, open a new store, launch a new product, expand a geographic market knock out a competitor, build retail traffic or increase sales.

Advertising is powerful - but it isn't almighty. You can't expect one ad or one campaign to take care of all your business needs all at once.

A well-planned and thought out ad campaign can accomplish almost anything - but you must first clearly define what exactly you want your advertising to do. This means setting a single primary objective.

It sounds pretty simple, but you'd be amazed at the number of advertising campaigns that fail because they either lack an objective entirely or their objective is too broad and not clearly defined.

That's because setting a clear and realistic advertising objective is more complicated than many business people think. In fact, a number of successful entrepreneurs and experienced business people don't really know what an advertising objective is and how to establish one.

Setting an advertising objective is the first step any advertising agency or business does before creating any campaign. A clear, carefully defined objective provides the solid foundation needed to develop every element of the campaign from start to finish.\

A solid objective is the basis for setting the advertising strategy. The strategy determines "how" the ad will get the desired results and the tactics that will work best. The objective and strategy are the foundation of any successful ad campaign.

The specific objective and strategy determine the creative approach used. It's the basis for the style and content of the copy, as well as the visual elements of the campaign.