Some people think television advertising is reserved for Fortune 500 companies. This is not true. You can purchase a cable advertising commercial for as little as $10 to $15 per thirty-second commercial. Several hundred thousand people can be reached through your local cable company, just for the price of a cup of coffee a day for a month.
I recently saw my local painter on my area CNN channel. When you view a cable channel, you view it through your city’s local provider. This is perfect, because it gives your business the opportunity to test. If the ad pulls a good response, you can scale larger and become wealthy!
Most large corporations will spend millions of dollars advertising on national television. Local cable channels are far more affordable and a smart move for black belt marketers. Build one market at a time, test the effectiveness of the ad, and, when it works, scale up and make millions.
Besides cable TV, you may also want to explore marketing with your local network-affiliated TV station. Reporters and editors, like everyone else, love food. Get to know your local television editors and reporters by inviting them to lunch. Send a note, and position yourself as an expert they can call upon for a quote when a story develops that involves your expertise. An article with a quote written by you brings a lot more credibility than any paid advertisement. If you don’t know who covers your industry, observe what reporters write about or call the news desk.
“I saw you on TV.” TV advertising elevates your business higher than your competitors. There’s something magical about advertising on television that makes people take you more seriously (unless of course your commercial is poorly made or your message is unclear).
Getting your business on television requires a small upfront investment. The initial production of a simple ad can cost approximately $2,000 to $2,500. But once you have made the one-time fixed investment, other expenses are variable. You can also use the produced video elsewhere. It can be used on a satellite station or national TV station that has access to a much larger audience.
Cable TV is perfect for companies selling products directly to consumers. If you currently run yellow page ads and pay $2,500 per month, try cable and track the results. Don’t forget that to get a good response, you need both reach and frequency.
Advertising Effectiveness = Reach × Frequency × Quality of Message
Once you reach the right audience with the right message and the right frequency, your product or service sales will explode. The only way to figure it out is through testing. Television is no longer only for big companies. A local painter, accountant, pizza restaurant, or mortgage broker can get on TV. It can be effective and give you instantaneous access to several hundred thousand—or perhaps even a few million—people.