Advertising Monitoring: The Key to Successful Marketing Strategies

What is Advertising Monitoring?  

Advertising monitoring refers to the systematic tracking and analysis of advertising creatives that have flighted on mediums the likes of television, radio, print and online. This service can be used by brands and creative agencies to track adspend and shape advertising strategies. It is a time-consuming and often impossible task for a brand to monitor its own advertisements across all radio stations, tv channels even out-of-home (OOH) ads, which is why there are advertising monitoring organisations that have dedicated people and technologies for tracking advertisement placements of various brands or specific categories continuously. Some advertising monitoring services also offer alerts and notifications when a new advertisement airs.  

Using Advertising Monitoring in Your Ad Strategy   

Decoding Industry’s Tone of Voice through advertising monitoring

Reviewing a brand’s aired advertisements as well as that of its competitors helps marketers get a better understanding of the industry’s tone of voice and develop strategies that align with the industry’s tone of voice and resonate with the target audience. The tone of voice is the personality that a brand projects through its advertisements, and it is a crucial component of a brand’s identity.  

When reviewing advertisements, you can get a good understanding of the industry’s tone of voice by paying attention to various elements, such as:  

1. Language: The words and phrases used in the advertisements can provide insights into the tone of voice that the industry is trying to convey. For example, if the advertisements use humour, it could indicate a lighthearted and approachable tone, while serious language might indicate a more professional and trustworthy tone. 

    

2. Imagery: The visual elements in the advertisements, such as the graphics, images, and colours, provide clues into the industry’s tone of voice. For instance, bold and vibrant visuals could indicate an energetic and youthful tone, while more muted and sophisticated visuals might indicate a more established and serious tone.

    

3. Message: The messages conveyed in the advertisements can also reveal the tone of voice. For example, if the advertisements focus on the benefits and solutions that the products or services provided, it could indicate a practical and solution-oriented tone. On the other hand, if the advertisements focus on the emotions that the products or services evoke, it could indicate a more emotional and personal tone.  

Unveil Brand Positioning with Advertising Monitoring

Advertising monitoring can help marketing practitioners understand how a brand positions itself in the market. By analyzing the advertisements, you can gain a good understanding of the brand’s unique value proposition, target audience, and overall image that the brand is trying to convey. This information is useful in developing marketing strategies that align with the brand’s positioning and resonate with its target audience, more dexterously, it is useful in identifying new opportunities.  

Here’s how you can use this information to determine a brand’s positioning in the market:  

1. Unique Value Proposition: The advertisements can provide insights into what makes the brand unique and different from its competitors. This can help you understand the brand’s unique value proposition and how it is positioning itself in the market. 
    
2. Target Audience: By analysing the language, imagery, and messaging in the advertisements as well as the media they advertise in, you can gain a good understanding of the target audience that the brand is trying to reach. This information can help you determine the brand’s target market and how it is positioning itself in relation to its competitors. 
    
3. Image: The overall image that the brand is trying to convey through its advertisements can provide insights into its positioning in the market. For example, if the advertisements focus on luxury and premium features, it could indicate that the brand is positioning itself as a premium and high-end option in the market. On the other hand, if the advertisements focus on affordability and value, it could indicate that the brand is positioning itself as a budget-friendly option. 
   

Advertising Monitoring Can Help You Determine a Brand’s Share of Voice

Monitoring ads helps determine a brand’s share of voice in the market. Share of voice refers to the proportion of advertising airtime or spend that a brand has in comparison to its competitors in the same market. Advertising monitoring companies can provide you with information on the frequency at which an ad has been aired, the duration of the ad, the media in the ad appeared and the spots the ad was shown. Brand managers can then take this data and compare the brand’s airtime with that of its competitors in the same market to determine the share of voice. This information can be useful in developing advertising strategies that will help the brand increase its share of voice and bypass its competitors.   

Advertising monitoring also allows brands to identify emerging media and determine if they are a good fit for the brand’s target audience. This allows them to expand the brand’s media presence and reach new audiences.  

Advertising Monitoring as a Tool for Competitor Research   

Reviewing aired advertisements can be a valuable tool for competitor research, providing brands with insights into their competitors’ advertising strategies, strengths and weaknesses, and helping them stay ahead of the competition. Here’s how:  

1. Understanding Competitor Advertising Strategy: By reviewing aired advertisements from competitors, brands can gain insights into their advertising strategy, including the media platforms they are using, the messaging and tone of their advertisements, and their target audience. 
    
2. Identifying Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses: Advertising monitoring allows brands to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors and how they compare to the brand’s own offerings. This information can be used to develop a more effective advertising strategy that differentiates the brand from its competitors.

    

3. Monitoring Competitor Activity: Regularly reviewing competitor advertisements can help brands keep track of their competitors’ advertising activities and any changes in their advertising strategy. By doing so they can stay ahead of the competition and adjust the brand’s own advertising strategy accordingly.

    

4. Benchmarking Against Competitors: By comparing the brand’s advertisements to those of its competitors, brands can benchmark their advertising efforts against the competition and determine how they can improve their ads to be more effective.   

It is safe to say that advertising monitoring is an essential tool for any marketing team. With the ability to analyse a brand’s advertising creatives and those of its competitors, advertising monitoring can help brands understand the industry’s tone of voice and develop marketing strategies that align with their unique value proposition and target audience. By partnering with an advertising monitoring organisation, brands can stay informed on breaking new advertisements and always be aware of their competitors’ creative presence. Advertising monitoring can lay a strong foundation for a successful marketing strategy, so get in touch and let us show you how.