Affordable, Creative Television Ads That Deliver Impact
and Results
How to take advantage of new opportunities to include TV
ads in your marketing plan
It is possible to control television production
and media costs and still deliver a professional-quality message
with strong results. TV may not be right for every healthcare
marketing plan, but it's no longer out of reach. New media
options, friendly broadcast rates, and tight budget control
make TV a sensible consideration for hospitals, healthcare
organizations and practices.
Television is a pervasive medium that rarely gets a second
thought in most healthcare marketing plans. If TV is considered
even briefly, the costs for media (buying the air time), and
the costs for production (creating the commercials) are assumed
to be prohibitive.
Actually, there are now some highly affordable ways to put
this powerful medium to work. We want to be the first to tell
you that television doesn't belong in everyone's external
marketing plan, and we're only likely to recommend TV as a
layer within a healthcare media campaign.
But where it's appropriate, TV might be an option within
your reach after all. Here's why...
Media costs are soft. As we've noted in
other articles, broadcast rates are more negotiable than ever
in challenging economic times. You can extend your buying
power with preemptable positions, strong repetition and leveraged
buying with a Media Buyer. You need to know where to look,
how to shop and where to buy, but attractive discounts are
available. (Note: you will save money with a good media buyer
- the money they save you will greatly outweigh their nominal
commissions.)
Media strategy counts big time. One of our
readers called last week to tell us that he is cleaning up
by targeting women watching daytime television. We can't disclose
too much due to confidentiality issues, but we can tell you
that he and his colleagues are successful because they followed
their buyer's advice and have the right mix of "reach"
and "frequency."
Digital broadcasting has expanded the number of media
options. Anyone with cable, satellite, broadband,
fiber optics or other such connections recognizes that there
are hundreds of programming choices. The question of "where
to advertise" is more complex and far-reaching in the
digital age, but it's a bigger field than ever. The main categories
are NETWORK, LOCAL/INDEPENDENT, and CABLE&mdash but there
are more and more options under each heading. In short, the
increased supply is competing with lower rates.
There are creative ways to communicate without breaking
the bank. A TV commercial that is produced on the
cheap, inevitably looks cheap and unprofessional. It's tough
to look good with a modest budget when your message runs next
to the work of a powerhouse national ad agency with an astronomical
budget.
An amateur effort will stand out as bad by comparison. But
with the right creative approach, script and storyboard...and
with all production costs firmly under control, your message
can (a) produce high ROI results, (b) look and feel completely
professional, and (c) be cost effective. Here's an example...
This is a Healthcare Success Strategies TV commercial that
is attention-getting, effective, and professional http://www.healthcaresuccess.com/articles/television-example.html
Working within a reasonable budget, this impactful TV commercial
seamlessly brought together the primary message formula of
PROBLEM + SOLUTION + WHY YOU? + OFFER + DEADLINE, ending with
a call to action and prominent phone number. (For other
creative examples in the HSS portfolio, call us.)
Depending on your script, further economies may be possible
in the editing process that delivers 1-minute, 30-second and
15-second spots from the same production effort.
If you are willing to invest a bit in production, 30-minute
informercials can work as well. While Stewart is spoiled -
early in his career his first spokesperson was Cher - you
don't have to spend millions of dollars to get on the air.
In fact, nowadays we have relationships where you can get
a 30-minute infomercial created for a fraction of what you'd
expect.
Television can be a powerful tool for marketing private practices,
group practices, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations.
It's not necessarily the place to get your feet wet, but in
the right circumstances, it may fit a larger media mix.
If you'd like to know more, give us a call today
at (800) 656-0907. And if your media plan has a lot
of moving parts, ask us how a Media Buyer can save you money,
manage the overall selection, placement, budget, and guide
the implementation of all the media flights to build synergy
for greatest effectiveness.
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