Television Overview
Television is the big dog when it comes to media dollar spending. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most obvious is that more people spend more time in front of their televisions than any other media source. To reach the masses, there really is no better opportunity from a media standpoint than television. In short, television has a proven track record of reaching consumers and shaping their behavior.
The good of television
Some of the advantages I mentioned above, but there are a number of very good reasons why television advertising can be advantageous.
- Television gives you instant credibility. Consumers just seem to believe the things they see on TV.
- The ability to combine sight, sound, and motion adds dimension and realism to your advertising campaign.
- Through program selection, you can target your audience quite effectively.
- No medium offers more massive global impact. Depending on your budget, television has almost unlimited range, and a high percentage of people own more than one television.
- The creative opportunity is greater for television. If you have the money, you can take a camera anywhere and create an amazing presentation.
- Since it is generally a leisure activity, consumers spend a lot of time in front of a television and have the ability to immediately act on many buying impulses.
Television Disadvantage
However, TV advertising is not without its pitfalls, and anyone reading this could list some of the reasons as easily as I can.
- To really reach the masses, broadcast television is the best and commercials are very, very expensive. Cable offers more affordable options, but it also doesn’t reach the masses.
- Research shows that you need significant repetition (at least 5-7 views) for your message to stick. To get 5-7 views, you need to be on a lot more than that. Expensive.
- Even before buying commercial ads, you have to spend a lot of money to create a high-quality ad. You can do it for less, but usually not very well.
- Just like the radio, your commercial comes and goes and when it’s out of sight it’s forgotten. That is, unless you buy more places.
- As a general rule, people don’t want to see commercials. Turn on the television to watch the program. With more and more channels available, it’s easy to miss the commercials.
The main things you need to know about television advertising
Television is the main target of media dollars for a reason, and it is attractive for many reasons. My issues with TV are that it’s very expensive (when done correctly) and somewhat inefficient no matter how well you do it. My advice is that if you have the brand and the budget to get it right, TV can be money well spent. You need to have a high-quality ad, a lot of repeats, and the right commercial timing. If you’re not sure you have the budget, then you don’t have the budget. It is much better not to do it than to do it badly.
