We like TV advertising as much as the next guy. But geez…
The average 30-second TV ad rose 9% to $354,000, reports Response Magazine. That’s before media costs. And before knowing if the ad will work – and, if so, how well. Can you imagine paying that much money for a TV ad…before you even know that it’ll work – that it’ll grow your business profitably?
Neither can we. Yet it happens all the time. That’s the world of “brand advertising.” Our hats are off to the brand advertising agencies that somehow are able to sell their clients on spending tons of money to create ads without being accountable for any sort of measurable results. Clearly the best sales pitch is happening in the room when that decision happens. Of course, that’s not necessarily true of the ads that get created afterwards.
To put this in context, consider the following. Production costs for a radio ad are rarely more than $1,000. Further, we can test multiple ads (messages) across multiple audiences and yield the optimal message/targeting combination…for less than $30,000. That includes all ad development costs and media dollars.
And we put our money where our mouth is: if, after testing, we haven’t created a profitable advertising campaign for our clients, we’ve lost money alongside them. That’s a risk that most (if not all) TV agencies are simply not willing to take.
What this means is that for less than $30k, you’ve got a nationwide radio advertising campaign that is ready to start delivering a large number of profitable new customers to your door (or website) – in a demonstrably measurable way, week-in and week-out, for years to come. And it’ll build your brand in the most powerful and lasting way – by directly driving customer engagement with the brand.
But if you prefer, we can create one heck of an out-of-the-box radio ad and charge you, say, $100,000 for it. We’ll come to your offices and pitch you on how awesome it’ll be and how much we think your customers will love it. Then we’ll all go out and party together and have a great time. And when we air the campaign we won’t measure results, so your boss and/or shareholders won’t be able to prove that your decision was a poor one!
Or, you could give accountable radio advertising a try. You could have an expert team create the right message and target the right customers for your business. Then you could see just how well radio works for you, and save that $354,000 for a down payment on a corporate jet.