TV Advertising for Small Businesses: 5 Tips to Get Started

Will TV Work for Your Small Business?

AdWeek recently recorded spikes in marketer confidence (or intention to increase spending) across broadcast and cable TV, as well as radio for that matter, indicating marketers’ optimism for legacy media. That’s because TV delivers the reach brands of all sizes need to sustain customers and sales—and it doesn’t have to come with budget-breaking production costs.

The Benefits of TV Advertising for Small Businesses

TV advertising can offer numerous advantages for small businesses looking to reach the right people. These include the following:

• Visual: TV is, by nature, a visual medium, making it easy for consumers to picture the product.
• Reach: Most Americans have a television set, and 55% watch one to four hours daily. 
• Local: For local businesses, partnering with local stations can increase reach without wasting ad dollars.

5 Tips to Improve TV Advertising Effectiveness

1. Don’t Just Produce an Ad … Tell a Story

Unlike more passive media like print ads or billboards, TV presents opportunities to tap into emotions and tell compelling stories that resonate with your target audience. Combining audio and visual elements, TV advertising is naturally suited for visually appealing interactive products or services. Still, it can be effective for any business with a story to tell. Both the audio and the video should be able to stand on their own but also fit together seamlessly.

Be clear and explain the advantages of your service or product, and don’t be afraid to be creative. Bold ideas can get your business noticed so long as they align with your target audience and are relevant to their needs, goals, or pain points. Avoid the temptation to follow the same approach as your competition or develop your creativity without a solid understanding of who you’re trying to reach.

2. Keep Production Costs in Check

If you’re new to advertising on TV, the thought of a production shoot can bring expensive equipment, demanding actors, and big dollar signs to mind. But in reality, it doesn’t require a considerable budget or a giant production crew to produce an effective television commercial. You can use company employees or actual customers as your talent, which can help make your message feel genuine and relatable.

TV is priced based on rating points among specific target audiences. Your media partner can help you determine your target audience and the programming to reach them best while staying within your budget. Work with them to choose a station and develop a schedule to maximize your ROI. You may discuss buying around certain times of the month or times of year that are in high demand for some advertisers to help stretch your dollars further.

3. Be Clear with Your CTA and Track Results

With your TV ads, be sure to include how people can find you. Many businesses promote their website, social media channels or both through their TV ads, and it’s wise to include a CTA that sends viewers to you directly, whether that is through a phone call or a storefront visit, or a website visit.

Once your CTAs are determined, set up tracking mechanisms such as unique phone numbers for each version of your TV ads within your advertising campaign so that you can monitor results. Determine appropriate KPIs to measure around your TV advertising, like store traffic, social media lift, sales lift, etc.

4. Use TV and Digital Together

Make the most of your budget and increase your reach further by using TV advertising as part of an integrated approach with digital. More and more viewers are using a second screen while watching TV, creating opportunities to boost response by using digital marketing with your TV ads.

Digital marketing can drive customers further down the path to purchase after your TV ads create awareness and interest. For instance, if customers go to look up the products they saw in your ad, you want to make sure you show up in search results. By purchasing search ads around the terms, you used in the TV ad or that consumers would likely use to search for that product.

Don’t miss out on the opportunities available in TV advertising. Construct your media plan around your target audience and produce relevant and creative ads. You can reap the benefits of a tried and true outlet that continues to reach highly engaged potential customers efficiently.

5. Highlight Your Brand

Established brands such as Starbucks and FedEx can evoke images of their brand through their colors or logo. However, small businesses don’t have as much brand equity, making it essential to feature the brand and company throughout a television ad. In fact, Hulu notes that 63% of the top-performing ads have branding throughout. Creative should also tie directly into a company’s message and mission.

Focusing on the brand should not limit the team’s creativity. By the Yard, who partnered with TEGNA’s KARE 11, showcases their furniture competing in Olympic events. These ads were able to highlight the durability of their product while reinforcing the brand message.

Finding the Right Partner for Your TV Advertising Campaigns

Don’t miss out on the opportunities available in TV advertising. Make media decisions around your target audience and produce relevant and creative ads. You can reap the benefits of a tried and true outlet that continues to reach highly engaged potential customers efficiently.

Sound Good? Partner with TEGNA Today

With a commitment to keeping our clients in good company in the upcoming year, we’ll deliver audiences as diverse as the communities we serve, whether through TV, streaming, or digital. If you’re on Main Street or a Mom and Pop shop, TEGNA has an ideal audience for you. Let’s get in touch.