Despite the general shift towards digital advertising that many brands have been pursuing over the last decade or so, television continues to be a preferred medium for commercial promotion in the United States. According to market research studies conducted by Statista Consumer Insights from 2022 to 2023, 47% of adults in the North American advertising market can recall television commercials they had seen in the four weeks leading up to the survey. This percentage is higher than the 44% and 37% respectively reported by social media and digital video ads.
With the above in mind, there is no question that business owners and brand managers can benefit from airing television commercials to get the attention of American consumers. If you wish to showcase a business, a TV commercial is a smart way to do it, particularly when it features the following aspects of production, promotion, and campaign management:
Always Begin With Strategic Media Buying
Getting your commercials aired is nothing like buying YouTube video ads. First, you have to consider how the American TV markets are currently organized; you have cable service providers controlling entire cities and even metropolitan regions in some cases, and the providers break up their coverage maps into subzones. Most of the time, targeting one subzone at a time works great for most brands, but you can also go national with commercial airtime on popular channels such as ESPN, Fox News, CNN, HGTV, and many others. This proven subzone strategy is not only effective but also more affordable than what most business owners think.
Think About Memorable Visuals and Sound Design
TV commercials come in various lengths, but most typically range from 15 to 60 seconds. This is a limited timeframe that requires advertisers to develop clear and concise messages. If you don’t have the right imagery, editing, and sound design, the short time you have for commercials will get lost in a sea of spots that are not memorable enough to be recalled by viewers. To determine what will be memorable, you have to get audience insights from the subzones you wish to target. Evoking emotions and including clever calls to action can go a long way in this regard.
Measure Success With Metrics and Analytics
Similar to the digital ad market, the impact and assimilation of TV commercials can be measured with various analytics tools available to track and analyze spot performance beyond Nielsen ratings. You want to take advantage of platform-specific metrics to get a better understanding of viewership. At the minimum, you should get data on audience demographics and viewing times to paint a more elucidating picture of your next marketing move, which could range from adjusting the media buying strategy to A/B testing.
Integrate With Other Marketing Efforts
You don’t have to keep TV commercials in a vacuum. If you already have a digital, print, radio, or signage campaign, finding a way to integrate your TV ad campaign can multiply overall marketing effectiveness. You can start by making sure that your established branding is represented on TV commercials; for example, if your website layout follows the colors of your logo, this should be visible on the commercial and the profile pictures of your social media pages. The next step would be to ensure the commercial mentions your website and social media handles.
