It's planning season! The next few months at the agency will be spent planning for our clients' 2010 marketing initiatives. A key component of the marketing plan is the media in which their advertisements will appear.
In choosing media for your promotional efforts, a very important consideration is how well a particular advertising vehicle will reach your target audience at a level that will allow the investment pay off with increased sales.
Generally, you will be considering the following vehicles:
Do more than simply "count noses" in the medium's audience. Start with a general demographic profile of your customer base, then evaluate all the advertising media in your market to see how well represented those targeted individuals are among the medium's viewers, listeners or readership. (The media sales reps can provide demographic and psychographic information about their audiences.) Calculate how many impressions you're likely to get for your advertising dollar and determine how the various advertising vehicles stack up against one another. For example: vs. Targeted Direct Mail: Mail to 10,000 homes These dollar figures are only part of any equation. Consider where your current clients originated and review what your successful competitors or strategic partners are doing as well. And naturally, if you’re working with an advertising agency, weigh what they have to say on the subject. Next, and as your budget allows, plan to have spikes in your advertising during the weeks just before consumer activity is likely to increase, or when you feel the time will be right for promotional activity. You can add placements on your primary advertising vehicle, or complement that messaging through another fairly effective medium (based on your preliminary analysis). Remember to maintain adequate frequency for the secondary advertising vehicle as well. Tracking the results of your advertising is critical for future media buys. Though an initial assessment may suggest a lot of bang for the buck for a particular advertising medium, reality may show something very different. Constantly refine your advertising campaigns and experiment with the various media. Given some time and thoughtful analysis you will see your advertising investments pay off with big dividends.
Newspaper: Readership 100,000
Readers who are likely potential customers: 10 percent
Full page ad: $10,000.
Cost per potential impression: $1.
Recipients who are likely potential customers: 95 percent*
Total cost (postage, design, printing, etc.): $8,000
Cost per potential impression: $0.84
Once you have your winners, try to come up with an effective plan for those vehicles. Frequency is key. Typically an average of four or more exposures to an advertising message is necessary before consumers take action. Make this your minimum baseline media plan. Don't ignore your gut instincts either.
*This completely depends on how good your mailing list is.
Additional links for this subject:
Media Planning
Local Media Buying and Planning
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