A good advertising plan is critical for you to shine in and get the message out among tough competition fast and cost-effectively. Whether you’re a small business owner or the head of a large brand, advertising is one of the best ways to promote your product or service.
Here, I break down the examples of advertising strategies that have worked within the past and show the sorts of strategies out there that you can use to help your business see a win.
What Is an Advertising Strategy?
An advertisement strategy is a clear plan to promote a product or service to a chosen market through the proper outlets with the proper message; essentially, it is how one will advertise for a particular product or service. It also helps business to integrate their marketing efforts with the overall objectives for example; increase sales, awareness or leads.
A good strategy takes into account who your audience is, which media to use and communicates the tone of your advertising, while considering a number of other factors including a budget and long-term brand message, all in order to ensure a consistent and hard-hitting campaign.
Types of Advertising Strategies
Experts categorize advertising strategies into three main types:
1. Content Advertising
This approach broadcasts its message clean and punchy across blog posts, viral videos and product content. It may seek to inform (as in informative advertising), persuade (as in persuasive advertising), or remind (as in reminder advertising).
2. Pull Advertising
Pull strategies draw in customers who already are familiar with that brand. The objective is to strengthen brand loyalty and establish the brand on top of mind through techniques such as search, content marketing, influencers.
3. Push Advertising
Push ads are banner ads that appear on the screen while users are actively engaging with the app. They can appear when a user performs a specific task, such as setting up a new account. These campaigns are usually made with paid traffic, promotions or launch deals that allow some visibility and start getting sales.
12 Powerful Ad Strategy Examples
Below are 12 proven strategies businesses use to achieve measurable success:
1. Content Marketing
Blogging, video and infographic development that informs or solves problems builds brand authority. This approach is effective for sustained engagement and for SEO.
2. Social Media Marketing
On both Instagram and LinkedIn, brands can launch organic and paid campaigns to reach specific demographics.
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Organic traffic is the best traffic we should all aim at Google optimizing your website to be ranked on the first page will help your business grow for the better.
4. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
Businesses can pay to show up in the search results or in social platforms and they will be visible right away. PPC is particularly good for lead generation and product launches.
5. Email Marketing
Considering it has an ROI of $36–$40 on average per $1 spent, it’s still one of the most profitable marketing tools. It is ideal for lead nurturing, loyalty campaigns and personalized contact.
6. Influencer Marketing
Teaming up with influencers - especially micro-influencers - allows brands to access and leverage these tight-knit communities by bringing in built-in authenticity.
7. Native Advertising
These advertisements appear seamlessly within the platform (e.g., news feeds and recommended articles) and are more subtle yet proven to be very successful in terms of readership.
8. Video Marketing
Short-form or explainer videos Videos can boost engagement and conversions, particularly on the platforms of YouTube, Instagram or TikTok.
9. Social Media Campaigns
Hosting time-bound campaigns (like giveaways or hashtag challenges) can help you increase followers, engagement, and sales.
10. Push vs. Pull Tactics
Push tactics (such as display ads or launch discounting) create demand; pull tactics (like content SEO or loyalty programs) maintain it.
11. Inbound Marketing
Through providing valuable content and making sure it’s optimised for search and social, this approach generates long term interest and conversions.
12. Direct Mail Marketing
Though traditional, direct mail (brochures, catalogs) continues to have high local throughput, especially in conjunction with online channels.
Real-World Ad Campaign Examples
The following are six examples of clever ad strategy from top brands which have been able to make use of these tactics to their advantage:
1. Starbucks – Instant Coffee Series
Starbucks took high-production-video viewers through how they can make café-style drinks at home with their instant coffee. It was visually appealing and everything could be bought on the spot.
2. Dunkin’ – #DunkinAtHome
This campaign employed a Rapunzel fairytale angle to tout brewing Dunkin’ coffee at home. The tongue-in-cheek ads were story based and helped to humanize the brand and connect emotionally with consumers.
3. Target – Hearth and Hand
By running search ads with ad extensions (such as sitelinks and locations) Target helped make it easier for customers to find and purchase their products, which grew both the traffic and turned those searches into conversions.
4. Chewy – Pet Prescriptions
Chewy adopted funny video ads starring dogs to advertise its easy prescription delivery service — informational and fun, which resulted in more engagement..
5. Hydro Flask – Product Benefits
An in-depth PPC campaign emphasized shipping benefits, product specifications, and color types—addressing customer interest at the search point.
6. HelloFresh – Free Meals Offer
One Gmail ad promoting 16 free meals caught attention with a strong CTA & value proposition and resulted in higher signup rates and more first-time purchases.
Where Can You Run Ad Campaigns?
With AdPlugg, you can run campaigns on:
Search engines (Google, Bing – pay per click, SEO)
NEW! Social (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn)
YouTube (pre-roll and mid-roll video adverts)
Emails (Gmail features ads or newsletters)
Display (on third-party websites)
Legacy media (television, radio, print)
A strong ad strategy often combines multiple channels for better reach and impact.
Key Elements of Successful Ad Strategies
Audience-Centric – Know what keeps them up at night and what they crave
Content Hierarchy – Keep the message, design and CTA in order’s with each other.
Visual – Get a compelling, appropriate image or graphic onComplete the form Editorial Use Only Copyright:73+Stones/ Adobe Stock Share using Step 3.
No More Errors – Define yourself with writing that’s error-free
GOAL-ORIENTED - Set clear objectives and measure effectiveness
Final Thoughts
As you can see from these ad strategy examples, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. It depends on your objectives, your audience and resources. Getting the recipe between modern digital tools and creative messaging right, whether your goal is to launch a new product or build long-term brand loyalty, is critical.
So be inspired, customize the strategies to work for your brand and see your ad campaigns deliver results that matter.