Need Exposure? How to Do TV Commercial Ads on a Budget

If you’re considering advertising your business on TV, there’s a lot to think about. For starters, TV advertising tends to be the most expensive form of advertising there is.

Take the Super Bowl Ads, for example. It costs about $175,000 per second to advertise during the big game. Not that many businesses have that kind of budget on hand.

Even though TV commercial ads can cost a pretty penny, there are ways that you can get around that. There are a lot of ways that you can lower your cost of advertising without compromising video quality.

Want to know if TV ads are a good fit and how you can do them on a modest budget? Read on to find out.

How to Know if TV Commercial Ads Are a Good Fit

Like any form of advertising, TV ads come with pros and cons. You need to evaluate the pros and cons as they pertain to your business to make sure you’re spending your marketing budget wisely.

TV ads are great because they have a broad reach. That’s great for products and services that have a broad reach too. Even if your product or service has a very defined niche, there may be opportunities to advertise on cable channels that share your audience.

TV commercial ads also bring the highest ROI when compared to other advertising channels. This is because when TV is done well, it will be remembered.

On the downside, the production costs can be prohibitive. You want to get it right the first time. You have to pay for a set, talent, crew, and writers to create your ad. If you don’t get your ad right the first time, it will cost you more money to reshoot and rewrite the ad.

People may also skip watching the commercials and not see your ad. There are ways around this, which will be noted later on.

In order for TV ads to work, repetition is the key. You can just run a TV ad once and expect people to see it and remember it. You need to build a full campaign around your ad.

TV Advertising Tips Without Breaking the Bank

After seeing some of the pros and cons of TV ads, you decided that TV advertising is right for your business. These are some of the ways you can build an ad without breaking the bank.

Types of TV Spots

The first step in advertising on a budget is to know what types of TV spots you should do.

Under 60 second spots

In most cases, you’ll have a 15 second, 30, or 60-second ad spot. That’s how TV stations tend to sell their spots. There’s also a 10-second promo spot, which is just enough time to say a quick sentence about your business.

In an ideal scenario, you can script and shoot a 60-second spot and then edit the spot into a mix of different ads. If you mix up your ads, the more likely your business will be remembered. Different types of spots creates a jarring effect, where using the same spot gives people an opportunity to tune out your ad.

Product Placements

Product placements took off in the last 20 years, thanks to movies figuring out creative ways to finance films. Look at a movie like Austin Powers where several brand featured prominently in the storyline.

Those are great examples of product placements.

In television, it works pretty similarly. You pay to have your product featured in a TV program. It may involve a character using your product or it may play a big part in the story.

It’s an effective way to capture the attention of viewers without hitting them over the head with an ad. It can also save you on your production costs to produce an ad of your own. Visit the site to find out more about product placements in tv.

Know Your Target Market

Have you ever watched HGTV and noticed that there’s nothing but home-related commercials? Or pharmaceutical commercials appear on TV programs that typically have an older audience.

That’s called target marketing. Marketers know the demographics and interests of people who watch certain channels. You should do the same, especially if you intend to broadcast your ads on cable channels. 

Test Your Message First

Before you invest in your ad production, you want to make sure that you have the right message reaching the right audience. If you don’t get this part right, you’re going to have a very expensive ad that falls flat with your audience.

Test your messaging by starting with less expensive online ads like social media or PPC ads. 

Media Buying 101

When you buy TV ads, there are a few ways to go about doing it. Some ways will cost more, but with any type of sales, you can always find a discount. Here are a few ways you can lower your costs on TV ads.

Know the Factors that Go Into TV Pricing

Have you ever wondered why TV shows always seem to have their best episodes in May and November? That’s because that the sweeps month when TV ads rates are set. They’re set according to the number of people who watch TV during that month.

The more people who watch that show, the higher ad rates stations can charge.

Other factors that go into TV pricing are the time when your ads take place. There’s a reason why infomercials are on at 3 am. That’s the cheapest ad time.

The station that you’re advertising on will have a set of rates, too. You’ll find that it’s much less expensive to advertise on cable channels than the Big 4 broadcast networks.

TV Commercial Ads Without Breaking the Bank

TV commercial ads are still a big deal in the advertising world. Even though TV watching habits have changed over the last several years, TV ads still have a huge impact.

While TV ads seem to be cost prohibitive, it’s still very possible to create an ad that doesn’t break the bank. You can buy ads on the right stations at the right times. You can also use product placements, too.

If you want more great advertising tips, check out our business blog for more great info.