Steps to Effective Cable Advertising
By Dominick Gladstone
As a small business on a limited budget, you may think that you don't have the money to venture into television advertising. But with the advent of dozens of cable stations television has become affordable advertising for local businesses.
With television, you have the opportunity to create a mood or a feeling, and a way to reach a mass audience, no other medium today has the unique creative abilities of television. Visual media has a big advantage over radio or print, in that it speaks to sight and hearing, our most immediate senses. The combination of pictures and music, motion and sound create the best opportunity to demonstrate your product or service and to get an immediate, visceral response from your viewer.
The television medium also has the most punch with viewers, as nearly half of the viewing audience believes that television is the most authoritative advertising source. Today, with more than 55 national cable networks in the U.S., along with a handful of superstations, your ability to target specific viewer groups is improved.
Viewership is also another plus. Cable households watch more television than non-cable TV households. The heaviest viewers are middle-income, high school educated individuals and their families. The average home has TV / Cable / VCR on for 8.5 hours every day; children and teenagers view an average of 17.5 to 17.8 hours per week, around the world, older women watch TV the most (36 hours per week).
The same rules apply for buying air time as with radio-let your advertising reps present their best offer, take your time to understand your options, and play with ad schedules to suite your budget and when your customers might be watching.
TV is good for delivery of certain messages to large, well-defined audiences, and it has no match for developing image and brand reinforcement messages. TV reaches many stakeholders - not just customers - to build awareness about your business.
The procedures for buying national media can be so complex that most large advertisers seek the assistance of ad agencies or media-buying services. But local advertisers are well served by station reps to determine the best buys for the money. And local production services are available at reasonable fees, perhaps even discounted by the cable company. You can even purchase stock commercials and add your imprint and contact information for as little as $500.
Here are the steps to purchasing a cable TV ad schedule:
Research available time slots: your ad rep will tell you what programs are available and how they match your needs for price range and ratings.
Choose targeted programs: decide on the most efficient programs in relation to the target audience using the cost per rating point (CPP) and cost per thousand (CPM) for each program.
Negotiate prices: the cable company will have a rate card describing the prices for different television stations, but these are always negotiable. Lower rates may be had with a longer-term commitment, or more flexibility in scheduling. A preemption rate, for instance, means you agree to be rescheduled of another advertiser pays the higher rate.
Sign a contract: This legal document states the program, dates and times of airing, length and rate for spots, total value, and other various obligations and terms. After your flight is complete, you should receive an affidavit of performance proving when your spots were aired.
To learn more about marketing, advertising, and public relations for the small to medium-sized business; click here: http://www.gladstoneandassociates.com
Dominick Gladstone has over 25 years of experience helping businesses grow.
Gladstone & Associates Inc. provides results-driven marketing, advertising, and public relations consulting for small to medium-sized companies.
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