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Can your company afford to advertise on television?
It's been said that there's no business like show business. If you're among the many small to medium size business or service owners who agree, you might want to avoid the very expensive major networks during prime time and concentrate your efforts on the more reasonably priced local, regional, or national cable schedules. In this way, you'll have the opportunity to take full advantage of all the benefits of a real TV campaign without sacrificing any of the "show business" appeal.
expensive. After all, one might reason, if you can afford to air an expensive TV spot, then your company must really be doing OK. Actually, producing a quality, 30-second TV spot of some substance is relatively inexpensive (under $4,000) and so too are the cable charges. Cable charges are hard to estimate since they fluctuate with programming availability, popularity, and day parts, but the costs often rival that of newspaper advertising, giving you the added flexibility of creating multiple impressions over several days and in your choice of specific day parts for a similar overall expenditure.
Extras like a catchy jingle of your own and hiring a known spokesperson can add to the costs, but if you don’t get caught up in these sometimes unnecessary frills it can be quite a reasonable expenditure and capable of delivering surprisingly rewarding results.
If you’re up to the task, have the money in your budget, and are convinced that television advertising will help your bottom line, go for it. You’ll find it could be one of the most fun and rewarding things you’ll ever do in and for your business, and quite capable under the right circumstances, of making it a household name in a relatively short amount of time. Check it out with your local cable rep. Barry
On cable, you can target your audience with your selection of quality programming during popular viewing hours, choose the geographic areas of viewership that you think will deliver the best return on your investment, and create the image you always wanted to create without having to mortgage the farm. It’s also possible to negotiate your own scheduling with the cable company rep, but an experienced buying intermediary who works on commission might negotiate a much better overall value for your budget dollars. The commission is paid to your agent by the cable company, not by you. But no matter how enticing it is to put your business on TV, you never want to do it to the exclusion of other media that should be part of your total advertising mix.
Why so much importance on a TV schedule?
TV continues to be this country’s most popular media pastime. In fact, the average person is reported to watch TV at least 7 hours a day, and that may be even higher now that telecommuting has become so popular. Most families I know have at least 2 sets in their home, and some even more. In addition, more than half of all American homes subscribe to a package deal on cable TV.
Where do you get started?
The perception amongst viewers is that not only is producing a TV commercial expensive, but airing it is as
Can register tape advertising
register profits for you?
Partnering with supermarkets and national advertisers can bring a steady payoff to local businesses who want to take advantage of displaying their message to their local customer base, even while those customers are shopping elsewhere. Gives them an affordable way to reach out and stay in touch.
Here's where you're going to get my reaction to register tape advertising without me ever having the occasion to utilize it. Case in point: There were two businesses that I tracked when I was living on Long Island; one was a well-known chain of Italian Ice stands and the other was a pizza establishment with several locations. My wife loved both products and each time we shopped at one particular chain of supermarkets, we got a savings coupon on checkout from each. My wife actually used the ices coupons on a regular basis and the ones from the pizza establishment were utilized when my kids insisted on pizza for a snack or dinner. And from it all I discovered a valuable lesson.
A smart strategy makes the advertising work better.
Don't just offer a discount on a popular item, give it away free with a more expensive item. In that way, you not only give them a reason to amass the coupons, but your customer will be spending more with you while sampling more of your wares. So don't discount that cup of ice, give it away free with the purchase of four cups. Don't discount that expensive slice of pie, give it away free with a take-out dinner or other large package item.
That's just an individual strategy when planning a single campaign. But the big picture is the major reason I see register tape advertising as the real deal. You're linking your business name and your business reputation with the popularity of the store where your customers are shopping. So while Mr. and Mrs. Jones are getting a register tape in a big name store nowhere near your establishment, they also get a coupon from your store to remind them of you. It's what I call profit by association.
If you want to discover what it would cost you and whether register tape advertising is for you, just "check out" Google "register tape advertising" to discover a link that will provide you with all the information you'll need. Barry
WAY BACK WHEN. Here are some spots I created back around (top to bottom) 2004, 2008, and 2004 for some automobile dealers in New York. My job at a Long Island agency that specialized in auto accounts had me writing and producing on average a TV spot and two radio spots per week. These were all aired on cable TV.
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