Part 2 of Best Practices For Running Broadcast TV Ads
*If you missed part 1, you might want to go back & read/watch that post so this section makes sense.
Like anything you do, you need to set the goals for the campaign. This was covered in Part 1.
Once you’ve set your goals, the next step is to determine your audience. Who is it you’re trying to reach? And please don’t say anyone & everyone. Only the mass marketers like WalMart, Target & Amazon can say that. You need to truly know who your customers are and what motivates them. Once you know who your most prized customers are, then you can go to work researching the stations and programs that reach them.
Which leads me to the next step – do your research. Your local TV rep will be more than happy to provide you with the latest viewer stats. Resist the urge to just buy ads on a program because you like to watch it. You need to make sure that your customers are watching that program. Only then should you run that ad.
This next step might be the most important of all – Tell a compelling story and be authentic. All leading brands start with a clear vision and a core idea of why they exist. From there, they create a story that captures the essence of who they are and what their mission is. If your message is real, authentic, meaningful and beneficial, it will generate a positive response. And this is true regardless of the advertising medium you’re using.
Now comes the fun part – Create Your Ad.
Once you have chosen the format of your ad, it’s time to get it produced. You have lots of choices for this: If you have the skill (and the gear), you can create it in-house. You can always hire a freelancer, a video production company or an ad agency like me. What’s critically important here is that you create an ad that communicates your message. You need to tell your story so its meaningful, memorable and relevant to your targeted customer.
And the final step – track Your Results.
Just like any paid ad campaign, it is important to track the results of your campaign. Keep an eye on metrics such as store traffic, website traffic, leads, phone calls and of course, sales. You’ll never know if the campaign is successful or not unless you track & determine the effectiveness of your ads. This will allow you to make better decisions about future ad campaigns.
So lets recap how to build your broadcast TV campaign:
1): Focus your dollars on the top programming choices: Live, local news; national news; news magazines and sports.
2): Next, go to work building the campaign.
3): Determine your marketing goal.
4): Determine who your target audience is
5): Do your research. Thoroughly analyze the stations & programs to make sure your targeted audience is watch those programs
6): Make sure you message is compelling, authentic and loaded with consumer focused benefits
7): Get your ad produced & on the air
8): And track your results.
Following these tips can help your broadcast TV campaign reach its greatest potential.