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Designing Content and Ads: How They’re Different

In the world of digital marketing, content and ads are two essential tools in your toolkit. They both serve the same ultimate goal—to engage your audience and promote your brand—but they achieve this in different ways. Organic content focuses on providing value, while ads are all about grabbing attention and proposing a solution. Let's run through the design process for each and discover how you can create content and ads that truly resonate with your audience.


Designing Organic Content: The Value Proposition


Creating organic content is like preparing a nutritious and delicious meal. You select each ingredient to make something that not only satisfies the people’s hunger, but is good for them too. When designing organic content, your main focus should be on delivering value to your audience.



Consider what your audience needs and wants:

- What questions do they have?

- What challenges are they facing?

- How can you help them solve their problems?


Your content should address these points, offering helpful information, insights, or entertainment. Whether it's a blog post that simplifies a complex topic, a social media post that starts a conversation, or a video that tells a compelling story, your organic content should give your audience something unique and valuable.


Woman recording herself with her cell phone.

Designing Ads: The Attention Grab


If organic content is a nutritious meal, ads are the irresistible aroma that pulls you into the restaurant. Ad design is all about capturing attention and presenting a solution to a problem.


In a crowded digital landscape, your ads have to stand out. They need to be visually striking, with compelling headlines and copy that draw the eye and spark interest. But it's not just about being flashy. Your ads should also quickly express what you're offering and how it solves a problem for your target audience.


Imagine this scenario: Someone is scrolling through their Facebook feed, and they see your ad. In that split second, you need to:


1. Catch their eye with a strong visual or headline

2. Identify a problem they're likely facing

3. Propose your product or service as the solution

4. Encourage them to take action, whether it's clicking through to your website or making a purchase


It's not an easy thing to do, but it's achievable with the right approach (or the right team behind you).


Consistency is Key


Whether you're designing content or ads, consistency is crucial. Your brand's voice, tone, and visual style should be consistent across all your marketing materials. This helps build brand recognition and trust with your audience.


Consistency doesn't mean being boring or repetitive. It means having a clear brand identity and staying true to it. Your content and ads should feel like they're coming from the same place, even if they serve different purposes.


A designer works on a computer.

Testing and Optimization


No matter how well you design your content and ads, there's always room for improvement. That's where testing and optimization come in.


For your organic content, pay attention to engagement metrics like shares, comments, and time spent on page. These insights can help you understand what types of content resonate best with your audience.


For your ads, use A/B testing to experiment with different headlines, visuals, and calls to action. Most ad platforms have built-in tools for running these tests. Over time, you can refine your ad designs based on what performs best.


The Power of Storytelling


Finally, don't underestimate the power of storytelling in your content and ads. People connect with stories on an emotional level. They remember stories long after they've forgotten individual facts or figures.


Look for ways to weave storytelling into your marketing. Share customer success stories in your blog posts. Use ads to tell the story of how your product or service can transform someone's life. 


Storytelling doesn't have to be lengthy or complex. Even a simple, relatable anecdote can make your content or ad more engaging and memorable.


Bringing It All Together


Designing content and ads that engage your audience and promote your brand is both an art and a science. It requires understanding your audience, providing value, grabbing attention, and continually testing and refining your approach.


By focusing on consistency, optimization, and storytelling, you can create a digital marketing mix that truly resonates with your audience. And remember, if you ever need help crafting content and ads that make an impact, the team at Mixed Handed is here to assist you.

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