Choosing which media or type of advertising to use is sometimestricky for small firms with limited budgets and know-how.Large-market television and newspapers are often too expensive fora company that services only a small area (although localnewspapers can be used). Magazines, unless local, usually cover toomuch territory to be cost-efficient for a small firm, although somenational publications offer regional or city editions. Metropolitanradio stations present the same problems as TV and metronewspapers; however, in smaller markets, the local radio stationand newspaper may sufficiently cover a small firm’s audience.
That’s why it’s important to put together a media plan for youradvertising campaign. The three components of a media plan are asfollows:
1. Defining the marketing problem. Do you know where yourbusiness is coming from and where the potential for increasedbusiness lies? Do you know which markets offer the greatestopportunity? Do you need to reach everybody or only a select groupof consumers? How often is the product used? How much productloyalty exists?
2. Translating the marketing requirements into attainablemedia objectives. Do you want to reach lots of people in a widearea (to get the most out of your advertising dollar)? Then massmedia, like newspaper and radio, might work for you. If your targetmarket is a select group in a defined geographic area, then directmail could be your best bet.
3. Defining a media solution by formulating mediastrategies. Certain schedules work best with different media.For example, the rule of thumb is that a print ad must run threetimes before it gets noticed. Radio advertising is most effectivewhen run at certain times of the day or around certain programs,depending on what market you’re trying to reach.
Advertising media generally include:
- Television
- Radio
- Newspapers
- Magazines (consumer and trade)
- Outdoor billboards
- Public transportation
- Yellow Pages
- Direct mail
- Specialty advertising (on items such as matchbooks, pencils,calendars, telephone pads, shopping bags and so on)
- Other media (catalogs, samples, handouts, brochures,newsletters and so on)
When comparing the cost and effectiveness of various advertisingmedia, consider the following factors:
- Reach. Expressed as a percentage, reach isthe number of individuals (or homes) you want to expose yourproduct to through specific media scheduled over a given period oftime.
- Frequency. Using specific media, how manytimes, on average, should the individuals in your target audiencebe exposed to your advertising message? It takes an average ofthree or more exposures to an advertising message before consumerstake action.
- Cost per thousand. How much will it cost toreach a thousand of your prospective customers (a method used incomparing print media)? To determine a publication’s cost perthousand, also known as CPM, divide the cost of the advertising bythe publication’s circulation in thousands.
- Cost per point. How much will it cost tobuy one rating point for your target audience, a method used incomparing broadcast media. One rating point equals 1 percent ofyour target audience. Divide the cost of the schedule beingconsidered by the number of rating points it delivers.
- Impact. Does the medium in question offerfull opportunities for appealing to the appropriate senses, such assight and hearing, in its graphic design and productionquality?
- Selectivity. To what degree can the messagebe restricted to those people who are known to be the most logicalprospects?
Reach and frequency are important aspects of an advertising planand are used to analyze alternative advertising schedules todetermine which produce the best results relative to the mediaplan’s objectives.
Calculate reach and frequency and then compare the two on thebasis of how many people you’ll reach with each schedule and thenumber of times you’ll connect with the average person. Let’s sayyou aired one commercial in each of four television programs (A, B,C, D), and each program has a 20 rating, resulting in a total of 80gross rating points. It’s possible that some viewers will see morethan one announcement–some viewers of program A might also seeprogram B, C, or D, or any combination of them.
For example, in a population of 100 TV homes, a total of 40 areexposed to one or more TV programs. The reach of the four programscombined is therefore 40 percent (40 homes reached divided by the100 TV-home population).
Many researchers have charted the reach achieved with differentmedia schedules. These tabulations are put into formulas from whichyou can estimate the level of delivery (reach) for any givenschedule. A reach curve is the technical term describing how reachchanges with increasing use of a medium. The media salespeople youwork with or your advertising agency can supply you with thesereach curves and numbers.
Now let’s use the same schedule of one commercial in each offour TV programs (A, B, C, D) to determine reach versus frequency.In our example, 17 homes viewed only one program, 11 homes viewedtwo programs, seven viewed three programs, and five homes viewedall four programs. If we add the number of programs each homeviewed, the 40 homes in total viewed the equivalent of 80 programsand therefore were exposed to the equivalent of 80 commercials. Bydividing 80 by 40, we establish that any one home was exposed to anaverage of two commercials.
To increase reach, you’d include additional media in your planor expand the timing of your message. For example, if you’re onlybuying “drive time” on the radio, you might also include somedaytime and evening spots to increase your audience. To increasefrequency, you’d add spots or insertions to your existing schedule.For example, if you were running three insertions in a localmagazine, you’d increase that to six insertions so that youraudience would be exposed to your ad more often.
Gross rating points (GRPs) are used to estimate broadcast reachand frequency from tabulations and formulas. Once your scheduledelivery has been determined from your reach curves, you can obtainyour average frequency by dividing the GRPs by the reach. Forexample, 200 GRPs divided by an 80 percent reach equals a 2.5average frequency.
Frequency is important because it takes a while to build upawareness and break through the consumer’s selection process.People are always screening out messages they’re not interested in,picking up only on those things that are important to them.Repetition is the key word here. For frequency, it’s much better toadvertise regularly in small spaces than it is to have a one-timeexpensive advertising extravaganza.
