By Josh Sommers
Posted: October 23, 2009
I hear it all the time when meeting with potential clients: An advertising campaign was launched and it didn’t work. Instead of it being a weakness in their strategy or an issue with their product, advertisers often blame the medium they selected. Blanket conclusions are drawn from these experiences, such as: radio doesn’t work, everyone throws out direct mail or nobody is watching cable.
Wrong. Almost all advertising media can be effective. It just comes down to making the right media selections and spending enough to make an impact.
Choosing the right media mix is vital. To reach broader audiences, broadcast media such as television and radio and large-circulation newspapers are usually outstanding options for getting your brand delivered to the masses. Generating awareness to the general market is a perfect fit for broadcast and appropriate print vehicles.
When marketers want to hone in on more specific demographics, there’s nothing like targeting with direct mail. Just want to promote your engineering firm to construction companies? For a small fee, there are many outlets that can provide you with a list of construction companies, contact names and addresses. Or if you want to market to households with women between the ages of 25 and 54, you can buy that list, too. The types of mail lists and broad criteria options that you can purchase are endless.
The key in media selection is determining which media will most efficiently reach the target audience for your product or service. If you need to talk to more general populations, broadcast and print are usually good fits. Direct mail and other forms of targeted media, such as pay-per-click advertising, will lead the way for you when looking to reach narrower groups.
After plotting a course, the last thing you want to do is not make enough of a commitment. Companies a lot of times pick the right media, but don’t back the media buys with enough resources. Don’t run ads for a week and make a judgment based on your success during that period. Advertising takes time to work. Consumers are not typically engaged, as they are touched by thousands of messages a day. So stay committed and evaluate your marketing over the course of a well-planned program.
In addition, don’t spread your budget too thin. Buy advertising with fewer media outlets in favor of more frequency and presence in the media that are more of a priority. Being successful with a media outlet means communicating with that audience frequently enough to gain their attention.
Plan your advertising budget by prioritizing which media will be the most efficient in reaching your targets. When you do choose your advertising, make sure to back it up with the resources to make your selections count.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at www.advertisingandpr.com. His column appears Fridays.
