As you and your team start thinking about your late fall and November media plans, we suggest you question the traditional path you’ve probably taken in the past and make more room for digital options.
Where are you spending your outside media money? Chances are the typical places – radio and even possibly newspaper. Usually the issue is the co-op dollars. The syndicators want radio and the only way they’ll do a co-op split is if you also do radio and maybe some print.
Using radio to promote a sweeps story, especially a sweeps story that is running in the late news, is inefficient. Who can remember something they heard an hour ago, much less five hours ago? To expect late news viewers to not only remember, but then make the effort to switch channels, isn’t practical. And newspapers? Well, let’s just say we assume you want to reach people younger than 45.
Maybe you need to make some of your outside media buys digitally focused. Take a look at the latest Comscore numbers measuring mobile app usage.
Are you buying Facebook? If not, why not? You can target by demo, geography, sex and a variety of other filters. We know users are on Facebook second screening during prime time. You have their eyes; now the sponsored and station posts in their newsfeeds need to just capture their hearts and minds.
For radio, have you looked at Pandora? It’s a perfect way to find the younger demo that may not be engaged in your product.
No, we don’t get a cut from these guys. But it’s just common sense. And another great thing about digital is that you can measure consumption and target your viewers.
We’re getting close to that digital tipping point. We know from research that the 25-34 demo is just about there – relying on their devices more than your broadcasts. The usage of Facebook by all demos is staggering. Here’s the link to download the full report.
Sure, you may have to make the syndicators happy and participate in the co-op for Judge Judy, Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, etc. But we suggest shifting a little money into the digital space and take the lead in attracting new eyeballs. Maybe you’ll teach the syndicators a thing or two.
