7 ways to make your next marketing campaign memorable

Savvy entrepreneurs know that a great advertising or marketing campaign is a memorable one. With the right planning and concept, you can create a campaign that will stay with your target audience for years to come.

Yet, while making a campaign memorable in a good way is one of the best things a business can do, it is often more difficult than it may seem. To help, seven industry experts from Ad Age Agency Collective share the best ways they've found to make a marketing campaign truly memorable.

1. Have the audience do a little work.

Memorable campaigns are often those that give the audience an "aha" moment. An audience feels satisfied once they "got it" because it took them a little mental work. There is a delicate balance to strike so you're neither opaque nor condescending. But if you study your audience, you can find things that resonate because it is uniquely familiar and they feel it "on the inside." - Reid Carr, Red Door Interactive

2. Tell a story.

Humans have been telling stories for thousands of years. Our brains are even shown to perk up when someone says, "I have a story for you," instead of, "I have a pitch or presentation for you." Brands that can tell a story with story elements — such as a beginning, middle and end, and characters and conflict — are far more likely to be remembered by consumers. - Rebecca Bamberger, BAM Communications

3. Include these three elements.

A successful or memorable initiative has three elements. 1. Solutions: Address and solve a specific problem or issue instead of promoting a product or offering. 2. Emotions/humor: Leverage humor and emotions as a reliable way to create a more rewarding brand experience for consumers. 3. Memorable conversations: Foster this by connecting with audiences and promoting conversations between a brand and its audience. - Tim Ringel, Reprise

4. Communicate value.

The most memorable marketing campaigns demonstrate in a unique way the company or brand's value. There are plenty of great marketing commercials and ads that are memorable but do nothing to establish the value of the brand. Being able to entertain and also communicate value is the best way for marketing and advertising campaigns to be the most effective. - Erik Huberman, Hawke Media

5. Go back to the basics.

Fundamentally, if an advertising or marketing campaign makes you think, laugh or cry, it's going to leave some type of lasting impression. As basic as that may sound, in today's world, those fundamentals still very much ring true in standing out and cutting through the clutter. - Kelly Ehlers, evoke brands

6. Be relatable, and pass the logo test.

Our most effective campaigns were driven with a message that was relatable to our target focusing on real-world experiences and connected to them on an emotional level, e.g. happiness, sadness, humor. This is irrelevant if your campaign doesn't pass the logo test — that is, if you were to remove your logo and put a competitor's in, would it still work? If so, you have some work to do! - Chris Carter, Videofort

7. Focus on consistency and longevity.

Companies are always looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Longevity and consistency build trust as well as make it memorable. Think about the brands and commercials you remember that have been doing it consistently for a long time. For example, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" started in 1971. State Farm is also the biggest retail insurance company. - Aaron Vandergalien, Deksia