It’s important to plan ahead when placing an advertisement on behalf of the University at Buffalo. Think through and fully address the areas below to ensure your ad meets the intended objective, adheres to the university’s brand guidelines and serves the right audience. These tips should be used to guide advertising on social (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), traditional (print, radio, etc.) and digital (email, display, search, etc.) media outlets.
What’s the project, program or initiative you want to promote? Will this be a stand-alone ad or part of a larger campaign for which greater coordination of campaign elements is needed?
What do you hope to achieve? Objective(s) should be realistic and measurable based on your unit’s business goals.
Who are you trying to reach? Remember, you can’t say everything to everyone. The more specific and targeted you can be, the more effective the ad usually is.
What is the ideal timeframe for your ad to launch?
Where do you propose to reach this audience?
How much money have you allocated for this effort?
Your ad should convey one main point. Consider overall tone and voice as dictated by your unit’s message map.
Do you have high-quality imagery/video available?
What are you asking the audience to do? This should always be present in your ad.
How will you measure the ad’s effectiveness?
Identify all individuals who will be responsible for creating and approving the ad and monitoring its performance. Be sure you know who will be ready to make adjustments and review comments if using social media.
Fill out the communication brief to hone your messaging and content. You’ll notice call to action, key message and audience are repeated on the brief.
Elena Conti-Blatto, Director of Marketing and Brand Management, elenacb@buffalo.edu, 645-4656
Devon Jerla, Marketing Manager, devonslo@buffalo.edu, 645-9196