Advertising isn't optional for the growing video business--it's a must. Here's how to plan an effective ad strategy.
Advertising is vital to the success of your video business, be it large or small. The success of your advertising, on the other hand, depends a great deal on where you advertise. You'll spend most of your advertising money on space or time in the media you select--that's why the creation of an ad plan is so important.
In forming an ad plan, you'll often find that the competition for your ad dollar is not within a specific medium. For example, the decision may not be which newspaper to use or which radio station to program; the choice will more likely have you deciding between newspaper or radio. So before you even start envisioning your ad appearing in the morning paper, ask yourself three questions.
When mulling over your choices for ad placement, keep in mind that each medium has its own specific characteristics. Newspapers are good for reaching a limited geographical area, people of both sexes and all ages, of different income and educational levels with varied interests. Radio and local cable television call upon a more segmented audience, with different stations appealing to different markets.
The print media offer the advertiser more leeway with the length of the message, yet limit exposure to the frequency of the publication. For example, a daily newspaper is only printed that often, daily. You cannot increase the frequency of your ad to more than once a day. In radio and television, commercials have practical length limits, but can appear at almost any frequency. You can hypothetically buy airtime once every 15 minutes, if your budget allows it.
While in general, certain media seem to be the logical channel of communication for certain types of business, it's important for the advertiser to keep his thinking open-minded and flexible. New generations of buyers develop new reading, watching and listening habits--usually different from those of the preceding generation. This means your selection of media may have to change as well. What may have worked in the past may not work today. Explore all of the options today's modern communication systems make available.
Some Caveats
You might be under the assumption that you already know enough about the media available to you.
If you are a local advertiser, you probably read the local paper and listen and watch local stations. But there
is always the danger that your personal preferences will influence your advertising decisions. What you
like best may not be the best choice in reaching those to whom you need to sell. Big band music may drive
you crazy, but if you want to sell reunion and golden anniversary video packages to seniors, you cannot let
your dislikes enter into your decision about what programs to use in your radio advertising. The same goes
with television and print. Just because you are not a fan of specific programming, doesn't mean your target
audience hates it as well.
Also, don't rely too much on whatever information media representatives offer. Question them in detail about their publication or station. Ask definite questions about the audience's size, sex, age, income levels, interests and home ownership. Be sure to get, in writing, all costs for airtime, space and production. So-called "hidden" costs such as the station or newspapers' charge for creating the ad for you is just as important as what it will take to get the ad to the public. Large buyers regularly ask for such data, but even with a small ad budget you can expect just as much information.
Finding Information
If you are considering advertising in newspapers, local or regional magazines or some other print
medium, ask reps for circulation statements. This will show you the total number of people who receive
copies of the publication and where they live. Business oriented publications and trade journals will usually
furnish readership breakdowns by industries and job titles as well. Circulation statements may or may not
be audited by an outside organization. While most media outlets are generally honest, audited statements
eliminate the chance of exaggeration or false information.
Auditing organizations measure broadcast audiences differently than those for the print media. Private research companies use a variety of information collection methods to gather audience statistics for radio and television stations and programs. While there is no one standard, each technique uses a sampling method of the households or individuals within the broadcast outlets' reach. They then derive final numbers and data on the audience as a whole based on the small sample. Most TV and radio stations can provide audience size, percentage that is listening or watching at any one time, as well as sex, age and other demographic characteristics.
Using the Information
When checking out print, radio and TV audience information, the reports may appear very confusing.
But the media representatives will help you interpret the data. The important point is to know the data is
available and to use it in making any advertising decisions.
A good plan is to initially limit yourself to one or two media. You don't want to run the risk of spreading yourself too thin, which can happy easily with a small ad budget. Advertising through one or two outlets with a high frequency is a much more efficient plan than "shotgunning" yourself with every print, radio and TV avenue available.
While the media choice may govern the frequency of your advertising (monthly magazine, daily newspaper), the continuity is always under your control. By regularly publicizing your business in a publication or on the radio, potential customers will receive continuous exposure to your message. Businesses may concentrate their ads on certain days of the week in a daily newspaper because of noted consumer buying habits. This maintains continuity because the advertisements appear regularly every week.
Create a Budget
Selecting the media is only the first step in planning your advertising program. Next, create a year's
schedule. If business conditions change, you can always make revisions. But it is good to have a guide to
start with. Your schedule should show each medium you have decided to use, the dates on which you
intend advertising to appear and the cost for the planned schedule.
Seeing the cost of an ad schedule usually leads most business owners to the question, "Can I afford to spend that much on advertising?" You can usually figure out how much to spend on advertising by picking one of the following five approaches.
Generally, this technique uses the previous year's sales as a base upon which to calculate the ad budget. But this makes the assumption that advertising is a result of sales rather than the other way around. Also, this approach does no "forward-looking." Using last year's numbers doesn't take into account the possibility of increasing business. You may try forecast figures to overcome this problem, but then you run into the danger of basing advertising on overly optimistic expectations.
With the above methods, you are looking at the cost first and them dividing it up by how and when it will be spent. With the objective and task method, you first decide what your ad needs are and then determine the various costs involved.
When working with this technique, be specific in your desires. Don't just decide you need to increase sales. Instead, decide to increase sales by 10 percent. Don't just aim to bring in more customers-- aim to attract more industrial clients, for example.
Use of this method should also point to changes in your current ad plans. If your ad appears in the daily newspaper and you're seeking a new market, you may decide to direct your ad business toward different avenues promising such an audience. Maybe you place an ad in the daily paper looking for general video business--the "have camera, will shoot" jobs. If it then dawns on you that attracting wedding customers may be more profitable, your ads may appear in the weekly newsletters of all churches in your business area.
The only drawback to the objective and task method is the possibility of a business owner becoming too ambitious. When you finish your plan and total the figures, you may find the total cost prohibitive. A solution is to revise your objectives, aligning them to more realistic limits.
Finally, be sure to put any advertising plan and budget, however simple or detailed, on paper. Break it down, month-by-month, medium-by-medium, noting all the tiny details and dates that are all too easy to forget.
Other Media
Print, radio and television are not the only ways to advertise your business. There are many other
reliable and effective outlets in which to place your advertising dollars.
Finally, don't forget about advertising specialties such as imprinted book matches, pens, pencils and other items. These make great return reminder impressions on current and future customers.
The medium in which you decide to advertise only promises to deliver your message to a specified audience. It sells you so much space on paper or time on the air. What you do with that space and time is up to you. The final result will depend on how well you have chosen the medium, what you offer and how you present it.