It’s happened to all of us…
It’s 3 AM and you can’t sleep. You’re channel surfing, but all you find are infomercials. Well, these 30-minute long ads for Pro-Activ, P90X, and ShamWow are a growing and very profitable marketing segment called direct response ads. For most traditional TV ads, for example Coke or Pepsi, the goal is generally not to get you to purchase immediately. Marketers advertise mostly to brand their product, inform you that it exists and is available, so when you finally do get thirsty you think of a Coke or Pepsi. Direct response operates a little differently. They are set up to sell items during the time frame when the commercial is on. The ads typically offer an incentive, a second product or accessories, to encourage viewers to buy now.
It’s no Magic Bullet
But the ROI for direct response TV campaigns are among the best in the business. Thirty minute ads can be purchased for a tenth of what 30-second primetime ads cost. If you are working with a small ad budget and/or are introducing a new product it’s a cost effective addition to your marketing plan or media buying formula. Consider this:
- DAYPART: These ads usually air during very late nights or early mornings or Saturday afternoons, general off-peak hours when few people are watching. Since there tends not to be much of an audience watching, supplement this with another ad format for maximum reach.
- PRICE: Networks and stations charge less for these non-premium slots. Sometimes hundreds of thousands less. So compared with traditional ads, infomercials are a considerably less expensive way to promote your product. Add a few in to lower your total ad spend.
- QUICK ANALYTICS: Want to know if your ad made an impact? Direct response makes that easy. Measuring orders during ad air times or associating different phone numbers or landing pages with different ads can help determine which are most and least effective.
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