"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” - John Wanamaker (1838 - 1922)
Media advertising is an arrow with a message. It needs a target.
The target is a company's market of current and potential customers and can be large (national) or small (regional or local), but it must be defined.
It is useless to think of potential customers as "everyone, everywhere," because it is impossible to directly reach everyone with one meaningful message. Imagine trying to persuade teens with the same message used for their grandparents. Aim at everyone and you will hit nobody.
All companies should know their specific customer targets. Defined by a number of general parameters, such as gender, age, geographical location, income and education level, these demographics are used to segment the population so that there are single targets for advertising messages.
Advertising arrows - publications - carefully define their readers' demographics. Match your target market to a publication that they frequent, and you have the ability to reach them through advertising. The same applies to businesses that wish to speak directly to other businesses. Publications, such as the one you are reading, reach business owners and managers. Know your market and speak to them directly.
Buying ad space is called a media placement. In any medium, this is the space and time bought. Space is defined by size (columns by lines in newspapers; 10-, 30- or 60-second spots in TV and radio; number of billboards in a given location) and frequency (daily or weekly for print; how many per day and at what time for TV and radio) and duration (days, weeks, months). For example: Choosing to place a half-page ad in a daily newspaper every Friday for 52 weeks or running six daily 30-second commercials on a radio station every second week for four months, is a media placement buy.
Gross rate card prices are usually paid by businesses that book ad space directly with a publication, although they are often negotiable. Net rates, which are 15 per cent less than gross rates, are paid by accredited agencies that deal with the publication on behalf of a client. The agency, which bills the client at the gross rate, pockets the 15-per-cent difference for its time, expertise and risk.
There is often a cost benefit and other less tangible bonuses for clients that use agencies for their media placement, since an agency with a prior relationship and other clients also using the publication can often negotiate non-rate card deals. Agencies also get offers of last-minute selloff deals, which they can quickly respond to because they have camera-ready artwork ready to go.
Several factors are important when making decisions about media placement:
* The size of the budget for media placement and creative work. Choose the biggest ad size that you can afford and run several times in the same publication. Be frequent and consistent and remember that it often takes several publications to reach a market. And don't forget to allow a portion of the budget for creative services. Brilliant designer/production people to translate your goal and message into an effective ad or campaign are absolutely necessary.
* The publication(s) that will provide the most effective target market reach. Also known as getting the biggest bang for your buck. Knowing who your customers and potential customers are means you can choose publications that they read, watch, listen to or surf. A publication's media kit details exactly who their readers are, and is a necessary decision-making tool. Download them from websites or contact publications directly.
A few words about online emerging media - websites, blogs, podcasts. A friend directed me to a website that broadcasts live from a webcam in a bald eagle's nest. This site, www.infotecbusinesssystems .com/wildlife/ was drawing millions of viewers daily when I last checked.
An ad on this site would garner a lot of impressions - but be fooled not. Impressions do not translate into sales because viewers are not necessarily customers or even potential customers. Since you are billed according to how many impressions a site generates, it can cost a lot without any resulting benefit. So choose carefully. A site, blog or podcast is only effective if through it you can reach your target market with a dynamic message at a fair price.
Most businesses, however, do benefit from a strong online presence. A website is a useful reference for clients and potential clients and since many more people are shopping online, product-purchase options are an oft-preferred, timesaving convenience. A client told me recently that when sourcing suppliers, he looks at websites first. Often he chooses based on what he sees online.
* Goal. Advertising has a goal. It may be to make potential customers aware of your business, it may be to draw them to your location, it may be to promote a particular item or sale or it may be to make them pick up the phone and call or go to a website. It can't be ALL of these things at once. Choose one and focus on it. And don't expect an instant response; advertising has a cumulative effect.
* The message. This is the hard part. To be effective, it should be clear, concise and compelling. Whether it is a magazine ad, radio campaign or online banner, if the message isn't persuasive, then your money and time have been wasted. Employ professionals.
A little clear thinking is all it takes to advertise effectively. Know your target, choose publications that go directly to your targets' hearts and send a sharp, penetrating message. With a little savvy, every business owner can be a champion advertising archer.
(Brenda McMillan has more than 10 years of experience in advertising. She can be reached at mcmillan@businessedge.ca)
