A reason perspective clients often give for not investing in a particular form of advertising is that they personally do not like said media. Phrases like, “I will not advertise on radio station X because I do not like the type of music they play” or “I do not advertise on the internet because those pop-up ads are so annoying” have been uttered more than once in the presence of a media sales person.
However, if you owned a bakery and all the statistics showed overwhelmingly that the most popular flavor of cake was chocolate, would you ignore those statistics and not carry chocolate just because you personally prefer vanilla? Somehow, I doubt it – but that is what happens when business owners make decisions about their marketing based upon personal preferences and not consumer statistics.
According to American Express Open forum, the first step in developing an advertising plan is to identify what problem your business solves for the consuming public and then what segment of the population most needs that particular solution. Additionally they recommend brainstorming with your employees and current customers to identify “adjacent” obstacles your products or services may resolve that you might not have thought of previously.
Once you have a focused picture of who you are targeting, you need to know what advertising medium is right for you by understanding who that medium’s particular audience is. For example, 106.9 The Eagle’s listening audience has an average annual household income of $71, 533 and almost 50% of those listening, fall between the ages of 25 years old to 54 years old with a nearly even split between men and women, according to The Nielsen Company.
Virtually all advertising mediums from print to digital have statistics on the audiences they reach and their respective sales representative should be able to provide you with a clear set of metrics so you can make educated choices.
Some media, such as digital display, interactive media, and social media are even more data driven than other forms of so-called traditional media because the results from these campaigns can be tracked.
The results of an interactive campaign can be predicted beforehand based on the monthly, weekly, daily and even hourly average number of visits to that media outlets website and digital display and social media advertising can provide detailed campaign results such the physical location and device used as well as how many click-throughs and conversions your campaign is generating and which pieces of art work are most successful.
Your sales rep. should be meeting with you regularly to share the stats your campaign is generating and to discuss possible adjustments to improve overall performance along the way.
Manning Media’s expert marketing consultants are constantly examining the market as well as our own products and services to assure we are providing business owners with educated, not arbitrary choices. Call Manning Media in Frederick, 301-620-7700 or in Hagerstown, 301-733-4500 or fill out our online request form by clicking HERE .
The Scientific Method: Reimagined for Advertisers
