TV advertising is a great way to get the message to the masses. Almost everyone owns a television, and even if they don’t have cable, your television ad will still be seen on an internet channel. The reality of TV advertising is that it can still be affordable—even when you’re a small business. Often a business may bypass TV advertising for print, radio, or internet. Those are still effective means of getting your message out, but TV advertising can be better. All it takes is some knowledge and expertise to demystify the process.
TV is not necessarily expensive, nor do you have to be a large national brand to advertise your spot. While TV may have been expensive a decade ago, with all the channel and cable TV competition, plus the internet, there are tons of spots waiting for your ad.
Is your business a local firm? If so, then you’re not going to need to advertise nationally. Cable TV is likely your best bet. Cable TV is done through your local TV station, rather than through broadcast TV, which is often done through a big advertising agency.
Now you know that TV advertising is a good avenue for your business, you’ll need to know how to target your ads, and how to buy them on a budget.
If you’re a local business, you’ll want to stick to local cable companies or local broadcast stations. Who are your core customers? These are the people who buy your product or services. A beauty salon may have more female customers, while a motorcycle shop may have more males. A pizza business may have college-age students as their best customers. However, you may not wish to necessarily make assumptions, as everyone does eat pizza, and men and women are both interested in a great hair styling or shiny motorcycles.
You may wish to examine seasonality. Does your store sell most of its product in the winter months? Or is it more of a summer business? Don’t be afraid of change either. If you think mums might be interested in picture framing, you could target Mother’s Day for your ads, to bring more interest in your types of services.
What’s the best way of getting a TV ad bargain? Paying up front, rather than using credit is often the best way. If you can commit to a multiple week schedule, your costs may decrease for each individual spot. The savings could be substantially half price or more. You may also be able to purchase remnant advertising. This is what’s left over after all the other businesses have chosen their spot. Rather than provide a freebie by rerunning one of those ads, the station would be happy to give you an ad for an extremely low cost, to fill up a space at the last minute. It may also be possible to buy a media mix of TV ad and website advertising.
Please contact Direct West Media Group to help you demystify the process of advertising on television.
