Most often we hear about trends that are producing great results that we’re told we need to incorporate into our marketing or advertising strategy right now. This article looks at things a big in reverse. Unfortunately, not all trends are made to be followed. In fact, if we blindly followed every trend out there, we would spend most of our time running in circles and hardly making any real progress.

Let us help make your job a little easier by listing out a few of the “worst” advertising trends that can cause you more harm than good. And better yet, no action is needed! Simply avoid these trends and instead focus on the many others than are far more likely to produce desirable results. Here we go!

DIY Solutions

All too often we see businesses fall victim to DIY solutions. They will devote substantial time and money into piecing together their own digital advertising, SEO, social media advertising, etc. only to have the results fail to meet expectations again and again. It’s devastating! As a business owner, the best thing you can learn is there are some things that simply aren’t worth your time. When you outsource to a professional ad buying agency, you regain time to do what you do best – run your business. And you’ll gain the peace of mind knowing your advertising is being handled by people who are highly experienced in this field – and most often save you money, too!

“Shock value” content

We can’t go much further than picking up a paper or turning on the TV before we’re greeted with shocking content of some type. From the news to popular TV shows, shock value content is believed to drive ratings. We strongly caution businesses from buying into this trend when it comes to their advertising. Sure, the initial shock may get people to pay attention, but will they remember your brand for the right reasons? Pushing the limits a little is okay from time to time, but let’s stay classy when it comes to our advertising messages and steer clear of content that could strike people as inappropriate or offensive. Trust us, you won’t attract the right customers anyway!

Not giving your audience some breathing room

Everyone needs some space to breathe, and this is exceptionally true of your customers. If you feel like your advertising budget is burning a hole in your pocket, let’s work together to get creative about how you spend it! Businesses who dump a whole pot of money into one type of ad that runs way to frequently on the same outlet stands a far better chance of annoying, not engaging, their target audience. Diversify your advertising strategy and be sure to tweak messages from time to time so your customers don’t get the feeling you’re trying to brainwash them.

Forgetting traditional advertising

Traditional advertising is far from dead. One of the worst advertising “trends” being spread is to greatly reduce, even eliminate traditional advertising from your strategy altogether. There is still a great purpose for traditional advertising, even if you’re trying to hit a younger demographic. Sure, a large proportion of your advertising will likely be spent on digital and mobile, but there’s value in print, radio, outdoor and TV advertising as well. This gives you the ability to reach your audience in a variety of different ways in a single day without overwhelming them on any one outlet.

Inconsistent messages

We’ve talked a lot about diversifying your advertising strategies in these last few points, but the counter that we must stress that it’s equally as important to maintain a consistent message overall. Change is good. It refreshes your brand and wakes your audience up in case they’ve since tuned out a message they’ve seen again and again. But in the same breath, the underlying foundation of your message must remain consistent. Use your tagline, logo and colors consistently. Better yet, devise an ongoing advertising campaign that builds upon itself. This way you’re not reinventing the wheel every time you place a new ad, and customers can build familiarity with your brand.

Reinventing your brand again…and again

Rebranding is hard. One of the biggest mistakes businesses make it attempting to reinvent their brand with each new advertisement. While it can be fun to play around with new colors, tagline and logo, it’s exhausting and confusing. No matter how you feel about your current brand, pause before you think rebranding is the next best step. This alone requires a great deal of time and money to accomplish. Before you go back to the drawing board, think about how a small tweak here or there could improve your brand while keep the core consistent. Every time you change your brand, you lose some of the brand value you’ve worked to build. Carefully weigh your options and rebrand only when it is absolutely necessary.

Do you have another “worst” advertising trend to add to our list? Join in the conversation by leaving a comment below!