Rookie Marketing Move: ‘We Can’t Afford TV Advertising’

If you hear TV advertising and immediately think, “No way—it’s too expensive,” you might be costing yourself business. The truth is that TV remains a dominant platform for advertisers, offering unmatched reach, credibility, and ways to influence consumers throughout their paths to purchase. Here’s why you should give TV another look, plus some typical rookie marketing moves to avoid with your TV advertising.

4 Reasons to Think TV

A 2017 “Purchase Funnel” study revealed that television’s influence on consumer decisions is greater than all other media combined. The study, conducted by market research leader, GfK in partnership with trade association TVB, highlights four key reasons to consider TV as an advertising platform for your business:

• Powerful Reach. Television reaches a larger audience daily than any other media platform (traditional or digital), followed by email, radio, smartphones, and social media.

• Most Time Spent. On average, adults 18+ spend almost five hours with television daily, more than any other media platform or device.

• Most Trusted (Local Broadcast). Local broadcast is the number one and most trusted source for news, higher than network broadcast TV news and cable news. Additionally, broadcast news websites and apps are the top digital source for news.

• Most Influential. Television remains the most important influencer in all stages of the purchase funnel across age demographics. More than a third of consumers credit TV ads as the most influential medium in making a purchase decision—almost three times higher than newspapers (the next closest medium at 14%) and five times higher than email (7%).

Add to those four reasons the fact that, with the broadest reach of any advertising platform, TV also provides a low cost per 1,000 people reached. And when you develop quality TV spots, you have video content to use on your own marketing channels, like your website and social media platforms. Ultimately, it’s a cost-effective platform that delivers on many levels for advertisers.

3 Common Mistakes to Avoid with Your TV Advertising

1. Irrelevant or Ineffective Creative. If your TV ad campaign falls flat, the problem might not be the platform. You need to ensure you have a powerful script, clear and to the point but also engaging. Know that you don’t have to fit everything into one 30-second spot (nor should you try!), so make cuts where necessary. The best TV ads come across as authentic and relatable, with talent, tone, and creative details aligning with your target audience. It’s also very important for your creative to include a strong call to action so that once you’ve captured their attention, they know what to do next.

2. The Wrong Schedule. You need to know which stations your customers are watching, which programs they’re watching, plus when and how long they’re tuned in. Also, keep in mind the importance of frequency. If they see your ad only once, there’s a good chance they will forget it, while seeing it at every other commercial break is likely to do more harm than good. Finding the right balance and schedule takes research and expertise, representing an area where professional media experts can assist.

3. Thinking There’s No Room in the Budget. As we noted at the outset, the notion that you can’t afford to advertise on TV is a misconception that can cost you in many ways, from brand awareness to sales. Your media partner should offer reasonable production costs that work with your budget. They should also be able to help you allocate enough of your budget so that your ad can run with the right frequency to make an impact and understand how to help you repurpose video content for channels beyond TV to extend your investment further.

Learn more about the effectiveness of TV advertising and how you can make it work for your business. Let’s get in touch.