Best Practices for Broadcast TV Ads for Car & Tire Dealers
Are ads on broadcast TV still worth it?
No one will argue that distribution channels for television are evolving. Historically, consumers had 2 choices for TV – over the air or with a cable provider. But with so many consumers “cutting the cord” and watching programs on Hulu, Roku, Netflix or Prime, is it still worth the money to run ads on your local broadcast TV station? I believe yes. Even with the change in consumer viewing habits, there are still some great programming options on your local TV station that can help build your brand and drive traffic to your store.
Specifically – I believe there are 4 types of programming that you should consider using: Live, local news; national news; news magazines and sports.
These programming options are still watched live, as it happens. Very few people will stream or watch on demand local news after the fact. The same goes for national news & news magazines like 60 minutes, 20-20; dateline & entertainment tonight. Consumers are still watching these shows in the timeslots and on the networks they air. And the big one – sports. I’ll admit that we all know a few people who watched some game after it happened due to work or a family event. But the vast majority of people who are watching sports – are watching it as it happens. And if your targeted customer base fits the profile of the people watching any of these shows, then I believe you should consider running ads to reach them.
To help you craft a successful broadcast TV campaign, here are several steps you should follow. And the first is this – Determine your marketing goal. This step is as old as time itself and is true for any ad campaign that you might be considering. You must always start with your goal. Ask yourself, “ what are you aiming for and why?” And to help you set strong goals, I believe you should use the SMART method. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Specific – Each goal should lay out exactly what you hope to accomplish in exact terms.
Measurable – you must be able to measure & know if the goal was met or not.
Achievable – Goal should be realistic, something that you can actually achieve.
Relevant – The goal needs to be related to an important function of your business – like sales
And Time-Bound – Set a specific time by which the goal should be achieved.
*Special note – this is part 1 of 1 2 part series.