Advertising Made Easy - by Andrea Kuhn

Conan O’Brien returns to late night on TBS – Social Media Marketing Plays roll for TBS Advertising Costs Rise on Par with NBC and CBS

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:12:00 +0000

Conan O'Brien returns to Late Night - image MTV/TBS

Late night talk show host, Conan O’Brien returned last night to television, on the TBS network. O’Brien, had lost his NBC slot to Jay Leno, when the network decided Leno might work in the 10PM slot (a disaster), and broke contract with O’Brien. The announcement of his return was made to fans of O’Brien on Twitter, where he has 1.8 million fans.

The show, which debuted last night beat all late night shows in the ratings (Leno, Letterman, Stewart and Colbert), with 4.2 Million viewers (Deadline Hollywood)

Over at TBS, they are “boasting” that the network “ is getting the same amount of money for a 30-second spot -- $30,000 to $40,000 -- that NBC and CBS command.”

This is a perfect example of the power of Social Marketing through platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, when used in conjunction with an alternate media (TBS ran promo spots on air prior to Conan’s return.)

Twitter Expands Advertising through Google Search and Ads to Users - Maximizing Social Media Marketing Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:24:00 +0000

Advertising through Twitter has exploded in the past month. The website, which previously had limited advertising available, is now offering two new programs to advertisers. Twitter and Google have teamed up to offer Twitter advertisers “promoted tweets” on Google, with the companies splitting ad revenue, according to Tom Krazit of CNET News. The ads (Promoted Tweets) show up in Google “real-time search” and according to E-Week, companies are budgeting up to $100,000 for the program.

Promoted Tweets on Google Search - image cnet.com

In addition, Twitter began offering “Promoted Tweet” advertisers the opportunity to appear on Twitter User Feeds. Although currently in a trail run through Twitter users only using Hootsuite , should it test well , it will become a norm. Twitter routinely tests advertising, leery of loosing users who value their previous ad free Twitter use, in small samples.

Promoted Tweets, which began as a test, have expanded to include Promoted Hastags:
The Washington Post Newspaper became the first print news media to advertise using this method. The Post purchased the Promoted “Hashtag”, #Election just prior to the 2010 election. This allowed the Posts “Tweets” to appear first when Twitter users searched for Election News by clicking on the #Election hashtag, and driving users to the Posts website.

To advertisers using Social Media marketing, the option of adding Twitter Feed and Promoted Tweet advertising is enticing. This will allow marketers to run targeted Social Media campaigns with a blend of two industry giants thereby increasing reach. As always, should any reader have additional questions on a topic or media, please don’t hesitate to contact me

Improve your Business with Direct Response Marketing.

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:13:00 +0000

Want your phone to ring? Then your advertising must get people’s attention and awaken their emotions… here’s how:

• Get Attention!
• Create interest and emotion.
• Tell an interesting story in a believable way.
• Offer an incentive to take action...NOW.
• Ask for action, and make it easy for people to do it.
•
Stop 10 people on the street and guarantee all have heard of a “Snuggie”, the “ShamWow” or anything the late Billy Mays was pitching. How many times have you watched that poor lady that has fallen and can’t get up and thought, I sure could use that product for my grandmother or parents. The direct response ad works if done correctly.
But with everything in life, practice makes perfect so you must test your campaign in order to find out if it will bring you desired results. Test to see results, nothing more, nothing less… just results. By testing your direct response campaign you can see where you need to tweak it and see how you can be more successful. Testing with emotional direct response marketing increases your success rate more than any other form of advertising!
Another thing to remember when doing any marketing or advertising, there's one question that your prospects are going to ask, subconsciously, when they see your ads or whatever: "What's In It for Me?" If the headlines and copy and reports and client newsletters you use answer this question, they will be moneymakers for you! If they talk about things that don't answer this question, they will not create responses!
And finally the element that leads to responses? Curiosity! If someone is curious, the person will be compelled to take some action in an attempt to satisfy their lust for nosiness!

Pride in the Brand!

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:35:00 +0000

Imagine if you could go undercover and really see what your company employees are up to. Well the Big Brothers at CBS are doing just that with their new series Undercover Boss. The concept is a CEO of a major company changes up their looks a bit and goes into the field (with a camera crew under the guise that they are filming a documentary). The CEO will then take on all tasks of entry level positions in their company. For example the CEO of a Waste Management company spent the day cleaning sani-cans. What a great way to really see what’s going on in your company, to see if the guidelines and mandates that you set up really work in the real world. At one of the Waste Management plants, the CEO noticed that one woman was doing the job of 3 people. Not uncommon in today’s budget conscious market, but once he saw the strain it put on her and her family he ordered the plant’s manager to hire more staff to ease the burden and make everyone more proficient and in turn the company more profitable.

The show is also a wonderful marketing opportunity for the companies that participate. The CEO of Hooters was the latest guinea pig out in the field to see how his staff really handled his brand. For the most part the managers did their jobs well, the Hooter girls represented the restaurant positively, although there were still perceived by some as exploited and not family friendly. So the CEO took note and decided he needed to come up with a new marketing plan. What he did not decide in the 60 minutes of the show was to fire the one manager who inappropriately treated his staff. Now, anyone who has watched reality TV knows that the producers and editors can always make a good drama out of nothing, but the way this manager treated his staff was disturbing and should have been fired on the spot. Instead he was slapped on the wrist and told to apologize. The skimpy costumes at Hooters do not make me think that the girls are exploited; it is there choice to work there. It is managers that treat their staff poorly that exploit them.

It is one thing to know your brand, be proud of it and really want to sell it, but if your pride does not trickle down to even the smallest of employees on the totem pole than that will reflect poorly on you. No matter how fancy the advertising campaign is, if the people in your field do not share the same winning attitude as you… you will likely fail.

Staying in Touch With Your Clients through Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:09:00 +0000

More companies are using social media to respond immediately to problems and interact closely with customers. Take the story of honeymooners on their way to Russia.

When Bethany Thomas and Dmitri Zagidulin were marooned in Frankfurt en route to St. Petersburg Russia, their journey had all the makings of a disaster: a lukewarm response from their travel agency, Expedia, a closed consulate and luggage that had gone on to Russia without them.

They thought they'd done their research; online travel agency Expedia assured the couple that they didn't need visas to travel to St. Petersburg. It turned out, though, they did. After sharing their experience and anger in real time via Twitter and a blog post from Thomas (a fantasy writer in Peaks Island, Maine), the author's supporters launched an attack of calls and online declarations to Expedia. And less than 24 hours after the duo's drama began, they were headed to Russia with a promised refund of their $2,000 trip, reimbursement for last-minute visas and other expenses in Frankfurt, plus a $3,000 credit for future travel — thanks to the power of Twitter and Facebook.

Their happy ending is "a huge triumph for social networking," says Thomas, who met her Ukraine-born computer programmer husband online in 2003. "Without it, we'd still be stranded in Frankfurt."
For their part, Expedia spokesman Adam Anderson says the agency should have directed the couple to the U.S. State Department's site instead of reassuring them that they didn't need visas. Expedia customer service senior director Thomas Seibert, adds "Social media played an important role in alerting us to our error."

Advertising at Your Fingertips

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:43:00 +0000

We are clearly a nation that is moving fast and forward and with a new decade comes new ideas and change. In a bold move for 2010, Pepsi is making a change in what looks to be the future of advertising. Pepsi is pulling their multi-decade, multi-million dollar Superbowl opening ad position and trading it in for a $20 million social media campaign. This will be the first time in 23 years that the Super Bowl will not have an ad promoting Pepsi. Last year, Pepsi spent $33 million advertising its brands during the game.

Considering Pepsi spends almost all it’s money on TV ads – it’s an incredible gamble, especially when they only have 250,000 (actively engaged) facebook fans compared to Coke’s 4 million plus! 250k is a big number, but in comparison, it means they haven’t really been able to compete with coke online.
Pepsi will inject $20 million into its cause-related Refresh Project that helps people improve their communities through a variety of projects funded by the marketer. PepsiCo will officially launch a Web site, RefreshEverything.com, on January 13. On it, consumers can list projects that can improve communities, such as feeding the hungry or teaching people to read. Consumers can vote on the site beginning February 1 on projects they think should receive a share of the money. They will be asked to contribute their e-mail addresses for e-mail alerts on the project.
Pepsi’s primary goal is to create a two-way dialogue with loyal and prospective customers, rather than build an e-mail database for marketing. Loyalty equals return customers and that is the “real thing”.

The Hulu Nation is Growing and Giving YouTube a Run for its Money.

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Hulu is a website that offers commercial-supported streaming video of TV shows and movies currently offered only to users in the United States. Fueled by the fall TV season and the addition of ABC shows to its library, traffic to the video site backed by NBC, ABC and Fox spiked nearly 47% in October from the prior month, the biggest single-month percentage gain of the past year.

Hulu may not size up well against YouTube – in May 2008, Hulu served about 88 million videos compared to YouTube’s 4.2 billion videos – but it has the luxury of monetizing the vast majority of its videos instead of the three percent that YouTube can sell ads against. Three percent of 4.2 billion is 126 million videos a month that can carry ads—not much more than Hulu.

If YouTube has shown us anything, it proves that there is a huge market for user-generated content. But from a business standpoint, professional content is the place where advertisers want to spend money and how video sites will solidify their financial position. Realizing that Hulu might have the better business model, YouTube is attempting to bolt on premium content, with one major issue…the TV shows and other professional clips added to the site are outdated and undesirable.

Unlike YouTube, Hulu isn’t plagued by copyright concerns and doesn’t need to worry about questionable user-generated content. More importantly, all of its content appeals to advertisers. Although Hulu will probably never grow to the size of YouTube and Google can use that size to its advantage, Hulu’s own advantage is its ability to draw advertisers to the content that more effectively attracts their target audience... CEO Jason Kilar says that Hulu is nearing sell-out in the fourth quarter, even with the huge October viewing increase. Hulu viewing is seen as replacement for network or catch-up viewing for missed shows.

Hulu’s biggest problem? It’s still only in the U.S. This isn’t some minor or unimportant detail: Hulu is excluding somewhere around 95% of the world’s population from its videos. But even if it opens its international gates, can Hulu make a real push for YouTube’s market share? And can it monetize internationally? Time will tell.

Direct Response Clients – Now Is The Time To Take Advantage of Remnant and Radio Network Buys

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:58:00 +0000

Direct Reponse Radio Advertising

Direct Response advertisers have long known that a radio component is crucial to a successful campaign. In most instances, smaller companies (or entrepreneurs) may shy away from the addition of a radio segment to their multi-media campaign due to the assumption that airtime costs are prohibitive. There are several affordable solutions available to small, mid-size and even large corporations when it comes to direct response radio buys.

Remnant radio advertising allows clients to buy airtime based on a lower cost per spot basis - savings of up to 70% are not uncommon. Advertisements are run when airtime is “available”, which may be at any time during the day or evening. When purchasing remnant radio, volume is most important, as the client has no choice of when a particular spot might air. Therefore, more is less. The advantages are obviously the costs savings, the disadvantage; a client has no choice of Dayparts. Depending upon the particular client, the benefits may far outweigh the lack of choice vis a vis Dayparts. Finally, some remnant firms that run national advertising cannot guarantee all ads will run in any given DMA.

Your DR Ad to Your Call Center - imgage: virginialord.wordpress

The newest and most effective form of radio advertising is Radio Networks. Radio Networks are most often national buys, and a single cost per spot will cover multiple stations in multiple states. Advertisers who know their format can choose to place their direct response commercials in 100 DMA’s for pricing that is extremely reasonable. For example, one network that is geared towards women, offers commercial spots in over 80 stations nationwide at $400 per spot. That breaks down to only $5.00 per commercial spot. Finally, I strongly suggest that prior to beginning any remnant and direct response radio campaign, small to medium businesses have a thorough marketing analysis to determine their specific target demographic; with many firms, having multiple products, it may become costly, depending upon your agency fee structure, but the end result will be a more successful direct response campaign.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions and or comments.

How Important Is Social Network Marketing to The Overall Success of Your Current Marketing Plan? One Word: Essential

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:32:00 +0000

Social Network's Impact on Marketing - Image:dailymarauder

Social Network Marketing (A Company Presence) on websites such as Face Book, Twitter, MySpace, blogs and YouTube) has grown exponentially within the last year and it appears that this trend will continue. An article in this week’s, USA Today speaks to the importance of using Social Network sites to increase brand awareness and drive sales. The article cites Ford Motor Company’s as an example:

“Ford Motor has high hopes for Fiesta, a popular model abroad launching in the U.S. next year.
So how does it introduce the subcompact car to Americans? A massive ad blitz on TV? In-house promotions at dealers nationwide?
Nope.
In April, Ford tapped 100 top bloggers and gave them a Fiesta for six months. The catch: Once a month, they're required to upload a video on YouTube about the car, and they're encouraged to talk — no holds barred — about the Fiesta on their blogs, Facebook and Twitter.
"It's extremely important to this company's history," says Scott Monty, whose job as head of social media at Ford was created about a year ago to take advantage of the growing social-networking wave. "It's about culture change and adapting to this ongoing way of communicating. The bloggers are fully free to say what they want." "

Forester Research concluded through a recent survey that 9% of business decision makers worldwide are using social network marketing - with millions of American’s logging into these websites, it is an essential tool to reach several age demographics allowing them to shop and view brands. Further, sites such as MySpace can finely target demographics by gender, age, lifestyle, geography and more, allowing direct response clients to finely tune a Social Networking Campaign. Therefore, for companies large and small, adding a Social Network Marketing component to an existing plan is advised. The good news is that the costs are a small percentage of the overall media budget, which is an added bonus (depending on the extent of network marketing and services one chooses).

As always, should anyone have any questions, or want additional information regarding this form of media and marketing, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

DR Campaigns - Take Advantage of the Targeted Demographics on Video, Social Network and Gaming Websites.

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:09:00 +0000

You Tube Offers Broad Demographics

A recent Neilson online report shows the 35-49 age market as the fastest growing demographic for long-form video’s, increasing 29% in a 6 month span. Other social networking websites, such as FaceBook and MySpace are also seeing an increase in an older demographic – once viewed as a “youth market”, social networking and other websites such as YouTube and gaming sites, offer a wide range of targetable age demographics. In addition, these websites offer the advertiser the option to further define a given demographic by age, gender, geography and in some instances lifestyle – adding a highly targeted component to any multi-media campaign, at costs that are competitive, even for small businesses.

For example, MySpace is now offering “pay per click” banner advertising, at a lower cost than the CPM model – which is perfect for those advertisers who have cut back on their advertising budget in this economy, yet understand that businesses who do advertise in this type of economy are better situated to maintain business and over the long run, even pick up new clients, as competitors drop their advertising.

MySpace -
Reach 2.9 Million Sports Fans
9.4 Million College Students
4.2 Million Fitness Buffs
13.5 Million Movie Lovers
3.5 Million Book Readers
90 Thousand Expecting Moms

With a multitude of options available to advertisers, it may appear difficult to make the right choice – what to take into consideration: how much of your media budget can be devoted to online content, and how well a web component can be integrated with your current media placements. Direct Response Advertising on the Web, when targeted to your specific demographics, will drive potential clients to your website, but more importantly, to your storefront or call center as well.

As always, should you have any questions regarding this specific article, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

It’s Election Season! The Importance of Early Planning for Media Buys

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:37:00 +0000

Image: Political Campaigns.org

Although it may be hard to believe, political advertising is now in the planning and placement stages for both 2009 and 2010 races. Although the amount of advertising placed is not expected to reach the level of a general Presidential election, advertisers, both businesses as well as campaigns, must take into account the fact that during election cycles, advertising space can become limited. With that in mind, advertisers who routinely run in specific DMA’s and States, should be aware of upcoming elections that may reduce the amount of available advertising space.

Political Candidates purchase advertising at a special rate, this rate is generally the lowest available rate a particular type of media will offer any client. The candidates also have a “window” in which to purchase media at these “special rates” – the “window” is generally 60 days prior to an election. Prior to that time, campaigns are able to negotiate for lower rates with a variety of media types, and those planning on running ads outside of the prescribed “window”, may be able to lock in very competitive rates. As state and local campaigns across the country place their media purchases in advance, the inventory (or available ad space in any given media) is reduced. Depending upon the type of media, the fewer available ad units can and does affect the rates; with fewer units and more demand, the rates actually increase. Therefore, as the political season approaches, savvy advertisers and campaigns should start planning their media buys earlier than off-years - this is especially true now, with the state of the economy affecting so many businesses.

Political campaigns now have a variety of options available to them, even the State and local DMA candidates. These options include Internet advertising, website SEO (critical to any campaign), and alternative advertising – there are many reasonably priced options available to campaigns (and this applies to business as well) which can deliver a punch to an advertisers reach.

As always, should anyone have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me directly.

Sound Advertising Economics – Effective Use of Direct Response Media

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Direct Response Drives Traffic to Call Centers

Many advertisers during the current economic downturn are using Sales Driven Direct Response Advertising in a cost-effective manner. Direct Response or advertising that elicits a “call to action” from a consumer (target demographic), offers lower rates than advertising that is geared towards branding. The Direct Response advertisement also allows advertisers to better tract their ROI – using dedicated call source lines to tract responses, and/or if the object is to drive traffic to a website, using a dedicated landing page to measure effectiveness.

Most national cable companies direct response rates are so affordable that an effective campaign can placed nationally for under $5,000. Most cable networks also offer the option to purchase “local rates”, at extremely low costs. What are local cable rates? Each hour the national cable network offers a specific time (2 minutes) for local and regional cable providers to run commercial spots. The local or regional provider is given national commercial spots to run at their discretion – the national network cannot tell the client which markets will carry their commercial, but they will guarantee up to 60% coverage. I normally use local rates in Direct Response Cable Network campaigns as a supplement to national spots; increasing a clients reach with only at a nominal charge.

Direct Response radio commercials work in the same manner, and depending upon a clients target demographic, reach and frequency can be achieved, again, at extremely reasonable rates. For example: A one week campaign offering 150 plus, .60 spots, covering major metro areas in Florida, reaching males 25-54, can be implemented for under $3,500.

The key to increasing sales, maintaining current customers as well as reaching out to new customers, is continued advertising, especially when the economy is not robust. Businesses that advertise during a recession actually find that their market share increases. according to Andrew Razeghi, of the Kellogg School of Management.

Therefore, in order to stay ahead of the competition and even increase sales and revenue, advertising, specifically direct response, is the right prescription.

As always, should you have any questions – or comments, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line!

The Community Weekly Newspaper – Value and Reach

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Community Weekly Newspaper in Mailbox - image: metaprinter.com

With larger Daily Newspapers cutting back on publishing, and or moving print editions to digital formats, readers in larger areas like Seattle, Washington, turn to their weekly newspapers. Seattle offers up a wide variety of weekly publications: community newspapers such as the West Seattle Herald and North Seattle Outlook, the Seattle Weekly (alternative press), a daily business newspaper, a Japanese American Paper and other niche publications. Most weekly newspapers also offer a digital edition. Over in nearby Tacoma, The Tacoma Weekly is thriving:

In the past few years we have gradually increased the size of our staff and boosted our circulation. We have even started two suburban papers, Fife Free Press and Milton Edgewood Signal, which have been well received by readers, advertisers and elected officials in those three cities.

This trend is occurring across the country, and advertisers are looking for both supplements and alternatives to Daily Newspapers. Weekly Community Newspapers offer readers localized coverage and diversity in niche publications – these alternative newspapers are useful for advertisers targeting a specific demographic. The majority of the publications are audited, guaranteeing circulation. What’s more, as a stand-alone or even coupled with an existing daily, advertisers can achieve Total Market Coverage, broadening reach. Also, weekly newspaper R.O.P and classified rates are generally lower – an added bonus.

In addition to buying by DMA, there are a wide variety of weekly community newspaper networks available for classified and small display advertisers. Classified Weekly Networks range is size from 33,000,000 in circulation to several thousand depending upon the advertisers needs, and the CPM is generally at or below .08 on the larger networks. Also, “call tracking” can be added to gather additional data and measure R.O.I.

In an era where many companies, especially small businesses, are seeking ways to reduce advertising expenditures, while continuing to reach out to consumers in order to showcase a product or service, the community newspaper continues to be a cost-effective method of advertising.

Newspapers Advertising Upswing and Online Local Search Sites - The Value Added to Multi-Media Campaigns

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:53:00 +0000

Newspaper Recruitment Video - Newsandtech.com

In what is being touted as a surprise report by Borrel Research, Local Newspaper Websites featuring on-line video are garnering approximately 50% more in advertising revenue than their local Television counterparts. One would think that local Television would attract more viewers, specifically for on-line video; however, newspapers have been perfecting on-line news delivery, adding a video component only enhanced an already viable product. Additionally, local newspapers have the advantage of offering advertisers packages that include both the printed and web version of the paper – reaching the majority of readers in any given DMA. As far as advertisers getting a bigger “bang for their buck”, the print/web combo goes far, especially at a time when many businesses need to advertise but are seeking lower-cost methods which still deliver.

Yellow Book - image: localsoguide.com

The traditional Yellow Book that is a staple in every household and office in the country, has started to feel the pinch with on-line local search growing 58% in the past year. The overall search on the five top sites (yellowpages.com and superpages.com included), grew at a lowed pace of 21%. The point of the survey:

The study aims to prove that IYP remains a viable product with solid return on investments (ROI) for advertisers, according to Larry Smith, director of research at the YPA. "We wanted to make sure we could back up our qualitative information with quantitative information," he said.

That said, IYP did not anticipate that local search would far outgrow overall search – additionally, the keywords, used in 75% of all cases were not brand specific.:

"That's important because both the Internet and paper Yellow Pages are used mostly by people who search on a variety of generic words, as opposed to one specific name like Home Depot," he said.

Although more consumers, across multiple age demographics, are turning to the web for news and information, giving advertisers the impression that they should devote a larger percentage of their budget into online programs, this practice, will ultimately reduce reach. The best advice is to either add a web component or increase the current Internet budget, without abandoning the corresponding print and/or other media. The best approach continues to be a mutli-media campaign.

Reaching Rural America – Radio Makes the Grade

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Image: Rural America: PRX.org

A recent study conducted by Edison Teacart and CRB (Country Radio Broadcasters) offer some interesting statistics for those advertisers interested in reaching the American Heartland
The Study of 13,000 listeners was conducted this past February. The results : The entire study is available here at Edison Research.

* Over three-quarters of respondents indicated they were listening 'more' to Country music on the radio than they were one year ago
* Sixty-two percent of respondents maintain a profile on at least one social networking website, with 42% having profiles on Facebook
* One in five respondents noted that someone in their household had lost a job in the last six months
* Eighty-four percent agreed with the statement, "Country makes a positive contribution to American life"
* Over 20% of the respondents were interested in listening to Country radio on mobile devices

The increase in reach, coupled with an economic crunch that gives media buyers and their clients an added edge when purchasing airtime, makes radio a cost effective option for all clients, but those in the Financial and Higher Education sectors (including on-line Universities) in particular. Enhancing the campaign by adding a social networking web component would be advised. MySpace in particular, has a music focus, and allows the advertiser to target by DMA (as well as lifestyle and interest). Additionally, rural areas of the country have been hard hit by plant closings – an interactive map showing rural areas with high unemployment rates is available here: New York Times Those who may have lost jobs due to plant closing would benefit from retraining through higher education or training, as well as debt counseling or other financial services at this time.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

Why Advertise In Free Weekly Newspapers? – The Best Kept Print Secret

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Free Weekly Papers - image hgbc.com

“Newspapers Aren’t Dinosaurs” , an article from the Suffolk News Herald, hits the nail on the head. In a recent survey by the National Newspaper Association, Weekly newspapers continued to outperform in the industry. Further, Free Weekly Publications lead the pack - from the Association for Free Community Newspapers:

• Free Paper Circulation is growing, rather than falling like paid newspapers.
• Free Papers are a robust $4 billion industry.
• Free Papers have total circulation in excess of 100 million copies weekly, more than twice that of all paid papers combined.
• Free Papers employ thousands of people.
• Free papers include a diverse mix of publications, from traditional shopping guides distributed by carrier and mail to alternative newsweeklies and community newspapers.
• Increasingly, readers are looking to their local free paper for information.

Further demographic reports from CVC (Circulation Verification Counsel) show that 61% of those that read free weekly community newspapers do not subscribe to a daily paper, they are highly educated, and have a readership age range between 25 and 54 years.
Advertisers have the option of choosing free weekly papers by DMA, or through newspaper networks, which feature publications such as favorite shoppers: Thrifty Nickel’s and local PennySavers to a variety of community newspaper publishers from coast to coast. Depending upon a client's needs, newspaper network advertising can be a real bargain, offering the client the greatest reach for the least amount of capital, allowing for more frequency, which ultimately delivers a higher r.o.i.

For questions on weekly newspaper advertising, or which type of publications may work best for a particular brand, send me an email. I’d be happy to answer your questions or provide you with additional information.

Social Networking Advertising – MySpace to Twitter Tweets!

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Social Network Sites -image mobilerevolutions.org

The emergence of social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace, allowed advertisers of all types to effectively target products and services through a variety of platforms within each site. MySpace is extremely popular for advertisers as it offers specific targeted advertising, by gender, lifestyle, age, and demographic. For example an advertiser can target women in Philadelphia who have an interest in cooking, and are between the ages of 25-54.

Twitter the fastest growing social networking, will be offering advertising, that will advertisments appearing at the end of “Tweets”, or posts by individual users. These advertisements will appear at the end of posts by individual “Tweeters” who will opt into the advertising program.

How important is social network advertising? Neilson’s weekly top Internet brands, includes FaceBook in the top 10. Additionally, in 2008, ad spending on social networking sites, was estimated at $1.6 billion in the U.S. alone.

Map of Social Network Sites - wandamere.com

Social Network advertising may also be affordable for the entrepreneur, with monthly advertising plans starting at approximately $4500. As always, if you have any questions regarding advertising on MySpace, FaceBook, or other social networking websites, please feel free to contact me.

Mobile (SMS) Advertising - Consumer Ad Recall On the Rise

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:13:00 +0000

(Image: venturebeat.com)

The introduction of the Iphone has changed the nature of the SMS industry - Media Post’s recent article on mobile users ad recall notes that “One in three mobile consumers recall seeing mobile advertising, with that figure rising to 41% for iPhone users..”. Further, the inclusion of a toll-free number in the in the SMS ad, had 16% of consumers respond, with one in seven buying a product as a result of an SMS ad. The use of SMS by African-American and Hispanic consumers is at an all-time high – these uses are three times as likely to respond to an SMS ad – overall, women are more likely than men to respond. What is most significant is the increases in mobile users in the last quarter of 08 – 271 million – a jump of 8% from 2007.

The biggest incentive for adding an SMS component to a client's multi-media plan is the ease in tracking R.O.I. For example: A national fast food chain, running advertising on both television and radio, would use a specific keyword per media – (Radio ads: Text to “Soft drink” and Television ads: “Text to: French-fry) in order to better track results. SMS advertising works for advertisers on all levels, local, regional and national, and is a cost effective edition to a multi-media campaign, whether the client is seeking to drive consumers to a website for a purchase, or used in recruitment campaigns.

The SMS firm that is preferred would be able to connect to all US carriers (and Canada). As always, should you have any questions on SMS marketing and media please send me an email.

SuperBowl Ads in a Slump? Why is NBC Choosey About Advertisers?

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:46:00 +0000

It goes without saying that companies are taking the economy into consideration when making choices as to how they spend their media budget. Advertising placed during the SuperBowl generally receives as many reviews as the game itself, and is considered the one of the biggest audience draws at 100 million viewers, followed only by the Academy Awards which, according to Forbes , draws about one-third of the viewership by comparison. All this justifies the exorbitant price per 30 second commercial, $2,700,000 per 30 second spot; a price that prudent planners are re-considering, finding a more conservative approach will garner the same audience with commercials spread over several networks for a longer period of time. That’s Forbes Perspective, however, NBC is telling a different story.

NBC is suggesting that this years ad sales will break records. Additionally, they have refused to run advertisements by controversial groups such as PETA. PETA produced a spot that was considered to “risqué” for the network - obviously concerns over the Janet Jackson episode still haunt the network.

At this stage of the game, I believe that companies cannot – not afford to advertise, and as television is one of the best mediums for direct response or branding, I would suggest anyone considering spending 2.7 million on one advertisement to maximize their results through a highly targeted, mullet-channel campaign for far less.

That said, being from New England, Sports are considered somewhat sacred, watching the Superbowl and the associated commercials is a grand tradition. To get the latest information on the Super Bowl and advertising Spots, visit Super Bowl Ads.com, and previews of some ads are available at YouTube.com

Just for fun, I’ve included the ad by PETA, which was rejected by NBC

PETA

Los Angeles To Limit Signage and Ban Digital Billboards – The Alternative – Vehicle Wraps and Mobile Billboards

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:17:00 +0000

Image from ADsOnWheels

The City of Los Angeles is proposing new rules governing Outdoor Advertising that may eliminate Digital Billboards entirely and cut down on the size of new signage by 75% of what is currently permitted. Apparently, the proliferation of billboard advertising is cluttering the highways and neighborhoods – a sentiment that has been expressed across the country. As advertisers and media planners look to alternatives, one of the most cost effective and relevant forms of outdoor advertising is Vehicle Wraps.

Arbitron conducted a study examining the media habits of pedestrians and commuters, finding Outdoor media was crucial in reaching consumers who were not exposed to traditional media, additionally; outdoor media has a great impact on new consumer groups. The full study is available for download here here.

Why would one recommend vehicle wraps as an alternative to traditional outdoor advertising? The key factors are cost and reach. Assuming a cost of $3500 per vehicle (which is conservative), the wraps are durable, and will last the life of a 4 year lease – combine that with an average number of impressions per month in a major metro market at 700,000, and a cost per impression of less than 1 cent is impressive.

Vehicle Wraps, like all forms of out-door media, is a form of 24/7 advertising, it can’t be turned off – however, the added mobility allows companies to target certain areas, especially those with high priced advertising rates, by simply driving through.

Like any other form of media, the choices are many – what to look for? A company that offers multiple locations nationally and includes graphics and on-site installation. If you have additional questions regarding Vehicle Wraps, or other forms of mobile and outdoor advertising, simply email me and I’d be happy to answer any questions.

Effective Marketing and Advertising for Professionals

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Professionals such as lawyers, physicians, dentists and veterinarians most often rely heavily on referrals from an existing client base, sometimes ignoring the need to effectively advertise for new clients, or advertise in mediums that are too broad-based.

The question always arises, should one invest in advertising and marketing? The answer, there are effective and affordable means of advertising available – in the competitive field of professional services, keeping in front of the competition is imperative for growth.

With that in mind, professionals such as Lawyers and Physicians should make sure that they (or their agency) are well-versed in the regulations and restrictions of laws governing advertising for their respective professions. The key element is to effectively target market to the professional’s specific demographic. Utilizing a variety of multi-media options coupled with well-optimized and informative website, is the key to enhansing traffic while gaining new clients your specific firm/office

There are a variety of services available to help professionals meet these goals, I would, however, suggest visiting : Ads Able which offers target specific services for professionals at affordable rates.

Making Cost-Effective Media Multi-Media Choices in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:35:00 +0000

The New Year is a great time to advertise and look for options that would place less of a risk on your marketing budget. One of the biggest problems clients face is successfully coordinating their traditional media with an eye towards driving traffic to a website. Although radio and print may drive traffic to a web site, oftentimes potential customers will use a search engine to find a company or product that they have either seen or heard of through traditional means. The most successful clients use Website Optimization to ensure that they are easy to find in the search process. Although there are many optimization specialists available, some clients find that after they have spent thousands on optimization the results are less than expected, or that they are only within the first two pages of a Google Search for a short period of time before disappearing.

My preferred Optimization Service ensures that my clients are able to see progress - it is a completely transparent process, with a low annual cost. Additionally, clients' are not abandoned after the initial optimization takes place, rather they are covered for the year, and their optimization is “tweaked” as needed.

Once a website optimization is underway, I advise my clients to place remnant print and per inquiry radio advertising and television advertising to effectively round out a multi-media campaign. In this New Year, it is essential to deliver advertising that offers both quality as well as effective per inquiry call ratios to cost.

If you are interested in learning more about any of these services, or have specific questions, I please feel free to contact me.

Marketing during an Economic Downturn – Does It Pay to Advertise?

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:52:00 +0000

Should business advertise or increase their advertising during an economic downturn? The answer is: absolutely. Historical data suggests that companies who advertise aggressively during a recession not only increase sales but profits as well. In a study conducted by McGraw Hill Research on advertising during the recession of 1980 to 1985 (600 companies included in the study), it was found that those who increased their advertising during the 1981 to 1982 period, realized an increase in sales and profits, (sales by 256% after that 5 year period). Those that did not advertise or cut back on advertising did not fare as well.

In an article by Robert Wilson during the period of 2001 he offers arguments based on false assumptions that generate a downturn in advertising.
“Perhaps the best reason to keep advertising during a recession is that it may actually provide an opportunity for companies to dominate their market. Many businesses make the mistake of assuming that because money is tight everywhere, customers will be spending less and therefore money spent on advertising will be wasted.
Another false assumption is that it’s safe to reduce the advertising budget if the competition is reducing theirs. However, research has revealed that companies maintaining or increasing advertising during periods of economic slow-down will boost market share. Some companies will even see an increase in sales over their competitors who decrease advertising.
Suffice it to say, that during the present economic downturn, those companies that continue or increase their advertising will, as history proves, not only survive their competition but increase profits and sales in the long run.

Newspaper Advertising – Networks Make Common Cents

noreply@blogger.com (Advertising Made Easy) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:41:00 +0000

When looking for a way to increase reach, while keeping costs low, advertising in a state, regional or national newspaper network can work well for a variety of client types.

Networks allow the small business owner to test a campaign for a reasonable price, larger companies benefit when they add a network as part of a multi-media campaign, giving their message more reach.

What exactly is a newspaper network? A newspaper network is often formed through an association, the newspaper that participate agree to publish advertising at a low cost in return for benefits that include educational seminars for their employees and advertising and editorial tips. These networks are comprised of daily, paid weekly and free weekly newspapers either in total or in combination.

Why Newspapers – they work:

2008 Newspaper Highlights

The compelling facts below underscore the strength of newspapers:

48 percent of adults read a newspaper on an average weekday.

54 percent of adults read a newspaper on an average Sunday.

67 percent of adults read a daily newspaper in the past five days.

69 percent of adults read a Sunday newspaper in the past month.

Customers for many products and services are also the heaviest newspaper readers.

Newspaper sections provide advertisers with unique targeting opportunities.

The newspaper is the most used advertising source for coupons.

The newspaper is read by the majority of consumers planning their next vehicle purchase.

Newspaper Web site users are prime prospects for advertisers.

Taken from: From the National Association of Newspapers

Download Entire Study Here