Media Advertising

Do Media Advertising Your Way

Employing advertising agencies is not always feasible because of the high costs agencies charge, and the lack of ready funds in many small business war chests. You can do the work yourself by either writing and composing ads, or by subcontracting these services out to freelance professionals: copywriters, graphic artists, video production companies and media buyers. Independent professionals will charge less for their services than an agency, and are frequently subcontracted by agencies who claim to be “full service.“

This will require a lot of time and involvement on your part, to make sure that all ad copy for your media advertising campaign is proofed, graphic images meet your approval, videos are canned and media buys meet your budget and penetration requirements.

Hire An Agency

Advertising agencies offer a turnkey operation where they will do all the work for you and possibly better since they are more objective about what they see about your business, product line or services. It’s best to get referrals from other business owners to locate an agency you can work with. You can always peruse publications or view broadcast commercials, both network and cable, for ads that appeal to you, then contact the advertiser and ask what agency they use. Follow up with a phone call to the agency and talk about charges and what you can reasonably expect for your advertising dollar. One of the primary advantages of working with an agency is that it frees up time that you can better spend doing something else, like the daily operations of your business.

Media Advertising Types

Yellow Pages

Relatively low cost of ads geared toward consumers and service suppliers, placed by retailers and both white and blue collar working professionals. You can design the ad yourself working with your yellow pages sales rep, but remember that bigger isn’t always better, which is what the rep will push for. The bigger the ad, the higher the costs that you will have to pay monthly on a contract basis over the course of a year. Best to start with a medium-size ad to see how well it will draw.

Newspapers

Expensive media geared toward geographic locations or zones. While the shelf life is extremely short, businesses can make ad placement and location/zone purchases work to an advantage, conditioning readers to become more familiar with a product or service. Depending on the target demographic, newspapers might also work well to promote big sales or utilize manufacturer's coop dollars to advertise a specific product.

Weekly Shoppers

Longer shelf life and far less expensive than dailies, good for working professionals, services and retailers. Market penetration tends to be better since consumers tend to page through the weeklies in search of bargains.

Trade Magazines

Medium expense business to business advertising with costs depending upon the trade magazine’s monthly circulation. Targeted toward one aspect of industry you’re working in. Shelf life longer than newspapers but still relatively short. Penetration many be better because trade magazines are generally passed from department to department.

Local Business Magazines

Frequently an expensive medium to advertise within, with a relatively short shelf life and varying circulation. Ad costs can be surprisingly high, and requirements for color separations, copy and design specific. Business magazines may not offer the authority that a trade magazine ad would provide.

Radio

Medium that targets a specific demographic group in a specific area. Provides good response depending upon time of day the ad is run. "Spots," as the ads are called, generally are 10, 30 or 60 seconds long and can be prepared by the radio station’s staff. Because this form of advertising deals with words, voice and music, one disadvantage to development is that it requires you to take some hands-on supervision to ensure that the ad doesn’t sound like everyone else’s. Prime time rates best for business are generally morning or afternoon drive times. Consequently, they are more pricy, but other less-expensive options within those dayparts may be available, such as sponsorship of traffic or weather reports. Requires creativity and extensive repetition to instill message into the minds of listeners.

Television

Most expensive medium requiring extensive repetition to achieve target penetration and awareness. Spots can be produced by the station you advertise with, or by an agency who will also assist you with media buys. Costs can be quite high. Cable ads may offer better penetration into specific targets, since cable channels are segmented into strict demographics.