Television has been around for many decades and has firmly established itself as an incredibly successful and impactful advertising medium throughout the world. The United States alone in 2020 had its TV ad spend to reach $60 billion. TV advertising remains one of, if not the most effective vehicle for driving ROI. There are several reasons why TV advertising is so powerful. Let's talk about a few reasons why you should consider incorporating TV into your overall marketing plan.
Increase Brand Awareness
One of the major reasons why TV advertising works so well is due to television's widespread reach. TV reaches 90% of Americans over age 18, and its impact gives TV an incredible ROI for your efforts. Of course, regional and local TV stations are highly effective at reaching specific demographics, whereas national networks have broad reach across the country.
Since TV has such wide popular exposure, it only makes sense that it would be an exceptional medium for increasing brand awareness. Since brand awareness mainly involves letting people who need your services know about you, increased awareness usually leads to increased revenue. In this regard, one of the best ways to measure your TV advertising campaign's effect on brand awareness is to measure the number of impressions it produces.
Attract New Customers
TV ads can also help you to expand your consumer base by reaching prospects in new areas — or even prospects in your own area that haven't yet been reached through other mediums. For example, if you advertise on daytime TV programs, you may reach a higher percentage of older, retired consumers. Alternatively, when you advertise during primetime in the evenings and on weekends, you may attract more customers who have day jobs.
Of course, you can always adapt your messaging depending on which demographics you are targeting. Viewers of the History Channel likely have different interests than those watching the Cooking Channel, so you'll likely need to adjust your messaging for each audience to enjoy the biggest impact. If you make those adjustments, then you'll almost certainly attract new customers to your brand.
Bring In More Sales
One of the most important goals any marketer can achieve is to generate "top of mind awareness" (TOMA) within their consumer base. What that means is that when customers think of a certain industry or sector, they think of your brand first.
TV advertising plays a big role in promoting TOMA. Since TV advertising puts your brand in front of many people, your consumers will be more likely to think of your brand when they need services within your industry. In turn, this "top of mind awareness" often results in sales. After all, why go through the effort of remembering another brand, and then researching them, when you already have one in mind?
The bottom line? TV advertising contributes to TOMA, which encourages both new and existing customers to look to your brand first when making a purchase decision.
Boost Traffic To Your Website
TV ads are exceptional at generating increased traffic to official websites. Sometimes this is because of a specific CTA within the ad itself. However, more often than not, interested consumers who see an ad will look up the company's website anyway.
Of course, you want to make sure that your website has the "bandwidth" to handle an influx of new traffic. You also want a site that's well-designed, user-friendly, and has a crisp, professional appearance that really enhances your brand image. In short, you want to integrate your digital and TV marketing tactics as seamlessly as possible — because one often feeds into the other.
Establish Brand Credibility
There is something about seeing a brand advertised on TV that lends an air of legitimacy to the company in question. This isn't always a conclusion that consumers reach through rational thought. However, the mere presence of a brand on television indicates to many consumers that a brand can be trusted. After seeing the money they spent on a TV ad, many people conclude they’re a legitimate organization.
If you want to establish your credibility to brand new customers, like those who have never heard of you before, then TV is a particularly effective medium to use. Think of it as "instant credibility" for at least a portion of your target audience.
Leverage TV Advertising for Your Business Today
As we've discussed, there are several reasons why you should consider incorporating TV advertising into your overall mix. For instance:
- It offers an effective way to increase brand awareness for your company
- It can attract new customers from new demographics
- It contributes to "top of mind awareness," which in turn leads to more sales
- It boosts traffic to websites
- It's a great way to establish brand credibility
TV has been a long-lasting advertising medium, and it remains a powerful, lucrative option for growing businesses who want to market their services. If you haven't done so already, think about advertising your brand on TV as soon as possible. You'll likely find that the ROI will be well worth the cost.
