Comparative advertising and its impact on business
In this article, we have provided training on the use of comparative advertising, which is one of the best strategies and methods for branding
Comparative advertising for small businesses can be considered as a declaration of superiority and has a favorable effect on branding.
With this attractive marketing method, by comparing two brands in products and services, in addition to being entertaining, it makes people make different purchasing decisions.
Running such campaigns is quite popular in the world, and after doing this type of advertising, with the help of KeyUpSeo Website Traffic System and increasing visits, increase your popularity and credibility with Google, so that you will eventually face the growth of the website.
In the rest of this article from the KeyUpSeo blog, we will explain more about comparative advertising, which is considered attractive for marketing business owners.
What is comparative advertising?
Comparative advertising is an attractive marketing technique used by brands to assert their parity with competitors. This advertisement can be implemented in different ways.
For example, two brands in the fashion industry go hand-in-hand with this type of advertising using the power of media networks. Also, the controversial comparisons made by Pepsi and Coca-Cola brands are also related to this marketing method.
If you are honest and give the right information to your users with comparative ads, you will certainly see a good effect.
If you confuse and deceive customers by comparing without reason or with false information, your brand will be ruined in their minds and they will no longer come to you.
Is comparative advertising legal?
In general, customers and other brands complain about businesses for various reasons. So before you start your activity to beat the competition, you should have the answer to the question, is comparative advertising legal?
The answer to this question depends on your type of activity. Comparative advertising is legal if you can prove your claim. It must also be proven that your marketing is not misleading or deceptive.
First, you need to determine your goal and measure what you say about your competitor, whether it will cause them to complain or not.
Types of comparative advertising
Comparative advertising is divided into two different types:
- Claim of superiority: This method explicitly claims that the advertised product is much better than other products on the market or that it is better than the product sold by a competitor.
- Equality Claim: Compares the product or service with similar items in the market and claims that it is as good as them.
If you make any comparison claims with another brand, your activity involves legislation at various levels, and advertising must be honest and not misleading.
Why should we use comparative advertising?
Why can comparative advertising be useful? You can keep pace with your competitors with this type of marketing. But should you do it? Comparative advertising is risky for many brands.
Using this marketing method is like starting a war with your competitors; Even if it is a virtual war. You directly point to a brand and publicly talk about it that we are better than you!
If you can prove your claim and you are really better than the mentioned brand, a huge flood of contacts will be directed towards your business, but there is one thing to consider. If you're ready to use comparative advertising, you'll most likely have to wait for the counter.
Besides, using this kind of strategy makes you look like a bully. In general, negative brand advertisements are seen less than other methods. This strategy is mostly used in politics.
When a candidate claims superiority over an opponent, people think he is only trying to destroy that candidate. In other words, when a brand attacks its competitor for no reason, it gives people the feeling that it might not be true.
There are two valuable uses of comparative advertising related to the claims of superiority and equality we described earlier.
1- When the customer does not know the difference between you and your competitor
There are some products and brands that people are not sentimental about. Consumers may prefer Apple to Samsung, but do they care as much about body shampoo, financial apps, Internet service providers?
A large number of consumers believe that such products are the same, and a comparative advertising campaign separates them. Therefore, this advertising method is a suitable solution to inform customers of the difference and uniqueness of your product or service compared to other businesses.
2- There is a misconception about your brand that is related to the competitor
For consumers, understanding of the brand is a reality. So if they believe your brand is weaker than the competition, they'll think about it, even if that's not true.
For example, we look at Apple and Samsung. Many people believe that Apple products are better than their competitors; But the best is completely different from me, you and other people. For example, battery life is important for one person and camera for another.
Samsung could create a comparative advertising campaign and show off the flexible and foldable phone. It can also point out in another campaign that it made the first phone that supports 5G SIM cards.
But the competitor of this company does not sit idle and displays its CPU and operating system features, for example.
If you are in these 2 situations, running a comparative advertising campaign can help you identify your differences and advantages over your competitors. We say again that you must be able to prove your superiority; And otherwise you have broken the rules.
In the following, we will have some recommendations for implementing this type of strategy.
Always be ready to compensate and confront competitors
You have to deal with running a comparative advertising campaign in different situations. To put it simply, always be ready to confront. Not because you are worried about your brand being sued, but because you are worried about your competitor's implementation of this strategy.
Digital Marketing and advertising are highly visible to consumers and have a great impact on brand growth. Now imagine that your competitor has created a comparison campaign targeting your brand's product or service.
Our purpose in pointing out this section is to be prepared for compensation and confrontation. If your opponent can't back up their claims, or if you can't back up yours, your campaign may sound like empty rhetoric.
Don't target small brands
As I said at the beginning of the article, more comparative advertising can help small businesses.
For example, if Apple wants to have comparative ads with medium-sized and newly established companies, no credibility and value will be added to it; It may even be worth less.
As comparative advertising can be useful and attract attention, it can also question your image in the market.
When you own a smaller company, you can more easily find a way to destroy and challenge your competition. If you are a bigger brand, at least make sure your competitor has an equal share of the market.
Otherwise, you will be like a bully attacking a helpless person. Plus, by doing this, you're advertising for your competitor for free.
Make your campaign interesting and honest
Just as few people support bullies, the same number like over-serious people. This is doubly so for a brand.
No one wants to watch comparison ads without the charm and creativity of you and your competitor to see which is better and more valuable. This is a boring competition.
People want information from a comparison campaign and they like to be entertained. So if you want to run an interesting competitive campaign, do it cheerfully.
Comparative advertising must be realistic
Being interesting can have a big impact, but you can't design an interesting theme in every advertising campaign. Some ads are not designed to be interesting.
With these conditions, you need to at least run your campaign realistically. I have explained what I mean at the beginning of the article, be fair and realistic. For example, if your product or service is really better than the competition, be sure to introduce it to others.
If not, this type of marketing can have a negative impact on your business. So if you can't design an attractive video or photo, introduce realistic ads to people.
In the article Introducing the best advertising methods, we have introduced 8 of the best and newest strategies, but now we can say that comparative advertising is also one of these marketing strategies and it is better to use it in your business as a matter of principle.
Compare what customers care about
In comparative advertising it is very important to target something that customers care about. For example, few people dislike French fries. Therefore, this attractive meal has been targeted by the world's great restaurants.
Burger King released a picture of a large potato dish and in that ad strongly attacked McDonald's. In this comparative ad, Burger King has mentioned its quality fries.
According to your business and brand, try to share the best and most popular services or products.
For example, if you are a service company, compare the best possible option and the most popular service between you and your competitor. Less frequently used services are also suitable for this marketing method, but they do not have as high a conversion rate as the more important options.
The advantage of using comparative advertising
This marketing method can be more useful for smaller companies. Therefore, it is better to use comparative ads when you have a limited budget.
If you have used other advertising methods and did not get a favorable result, comparative advertising can be your last resort. Be creative in running campaigns. It is not always necessary to use the competitor's brand in your banners. If you can prove your claim, seize the opportunity and introduce your brand to everyone.
