Buying TV Ad Space
In making the decision to advertise on television, it’s important to understand how to get the best possible rates. TV ad space, like most media, is a negotiable entity…if you know who to ask, what to ask for, and how to get it. If you aren’t familiar with buying TV ad space, get some help from an advertising or marketing professional, who is familiar with buying TV ad space. Don’t try to do it alone without the knowledge and expertise you need, or you could be disappointed in the results (or lack of results).
Buying cable ad space can be less expensive than buying network TV stations. If your geographic area has 50-150 cable channels available, spots can be very affordable. A minimum of 10-12 spots per week is generally the least amount of ads to buy on TV, but they must also be placed on the right channels or programs to reach the desired audience for your product or service.
TV account executives (ad sales reps) also sell Run of Station ads (ROSs), but while these spots may work on a radio ad buy, it’s not a good idea to buy them on TV, no matter how inexpensively they’re offered. If the buyer of your products is men, but the ads are run coinciding with programs with a high female viewership, it doesn’t matter if they’re priced low because you’re not reaching the right audience.
Ask the TV account executives if the prices in the package are negotiable. You might be pleasantly surprised to find that they are, and you can realize some savings. First-time buyers should test the waters first before plunging into the deep end of a long-term commitment. The true test of an advertising campaign of any type comes with the minimum of a quarter of the year commitment. Before buying a year’s worth of TV ads, make sure you’ve got the problems worked out in a short-term (13-week) ad campaign. You can have your ad budget tied up for an entire year with the wrong media buy, and still have to find buyers for your products or services with an ineffective campaign. Too many inexperienced buyers make this mistake, and realize too late it can be very costly. (Usually, this is mistake made only once – albeit, painfully).
Use co-op advertising funds, if possible. If you resell products, the manufacturer may be willing to help fund your advertising campaign to promote their products. This is called co-op advertising, and it usually works like this: you sell X amount of products, and the manufacturer sets aside a small percentage in a co-op advertising fund. After the year ends, and your sales tallied, the manufacturer lets you know you have X amount of funds they’ll put towards advertising their products, generally in some kind of matching fund (you pay part of the cost, and they pay part of the cost, after the fact, either by reimbursing you with money or by taking the cost off your product orders to them).
If you want to buy TV ad space, it can work very effectively – if you know how to get the best results and biggest return on your investment. Make sure your TV ad space buy is reaching the right audience, with the right product, for the best price, and you’ll be fine.
