Reach
Reach refers to the total number of unique individuals or target audience members exposed to a marketing message or campaign. It measures the size of the audience reached. The larger the reach, the more people are exposed to the campaign, increasing the potential for awareness, engagement, and conversions.

Importance of Reach:

Brand Awareness
Reach helps in building brand awareness by ensuring that a significant number of people become familiar with a brand, product, or service. It lays the foundation for brand recognition and recall.

Audience Expansion
By expanding reach, marketers can tap into new markets, target new customer segments, or reach potential customers who were previously unaware of the brand or its offerings.

Market Penetration
Reach is crucial for penetrating the market and gaining a competitive edge. By reaching a wide audience, marketers can increase market share and capture the attention of potential customers who may be considering alternatives.

Frequency
Frequency refers to the total number of times that your message has been delivered to your target audience within a timeframe.  This is especially important when adopting an omni-channel marketing approach since the messaging and audience must remain consistent across platforms to guarantee an effective campaign.  In short, frequency measures the repetition or frequency of exposure.

Importance of Frequency:

Message Reinforcement
Frequency helps reinforce the marketing message in the minds of the target audience. It ensures that the message is not easily forgotten and increases the chances of message retention and recall.

Perception Building
With increased frequency, marketers can shape the perception of the brand or product in the minds of consumers. Repeated exposure helps establish trust, credibility, and a sense of familiarity, making the brand more memorable and likely to be considered when making purchasing decisions.

Conversion and Action
Higher frequency can lead to improved conversion rates. It increases the likelihood of consumers taking the desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a service, or engaging with the brand.

Both reach and frequency work together to maximize the impact of marketing campaigns. A high reach ensures that the campaign message reaches a broad audience, while frequency ensures that the message is reinforced and remembered over time. Striking the right balance between reach and frequency is essential to optimize campaign performance and achieve marketing objectives.

Wrapping Up…
It’s worth noting that the importance of reach and frequency may vary depending on the campaign goals, target audience, industry, and marketing channels used. A thorough understanding of the target audience and careful campaign planning can help determine the appropriate reach and frequency levels for optimal results. If you’re unhappy with your current marketing results, or you’re about to embark on a new omni-channel campaign, drop us a line for a quick call.

People who cancel their cable packages obviously do not see any traditional TV spots. Worse, many cable companies allow customers to fast-forward any aspects of their programs they do not wish to watch (like commercials) to keep them as customers. As the number of pay-TV households continues to dwindle, advertisers are looking for new ways to reach their audience.

Luckily, many of those streaming options TV viewers are turning to also offer dynamic options for marketers. Please continue reading to find out more about Connected TV advertising.

What is Connected TV?

Connected TV may be defined as any form of watching television that does not involve a traditional set-top box or satellite dish. Alternatively, this technology can be called “over-the-top (OTT).” Consumers can watch CTV content on a variety of devices, including smartphones, tablets, computers, gaming consoles, streaming players, and Smart TVs, so why not meet them where they are?

Experts predict that Connected TV (or CTV) advertising will become more popular in the future, making right now a great time to get in on the ground floor. While traditional ads can be skipped at an alarmingly high rate, CTV ads generally cannot be. Better yet, CTV ad breaks are usually too short for viewers to really leave their seats without missing part of their show, giving advertisers a captive audience that traditional TV ads no longer can. OTT advertising also avoids the high upfront costs associated with traditional TV ads, as there are generally no monthly minimums to meet.

Why should CTV advertising be a part of my marketing strategy?

Cable advocates will tell you that ads on Hulu and similar streaming services don’t reach the same audience that cable ads do, inadvertently revealing one of the biggest problems with the cable TV model. With traditional ads, you pick a program that your target audience is likely to watch and pay a rate based on total viewership, with no way of knowing if it’s the right audience. Cable wants you to think in terms of total viewership because it allows them to charge more per ad placement, but it doesn’t help you communicate your message to your target audience.

It’s true that OTT ads reach a smaller audience by sheer volume, but they can be targeted specifically to the customers you want. You’re getting at least as many people who might be interested in your product, and you’re not paying for any disengaged viewers. Doesn’t that sound perfect for your marketing needs?

How does that work?

Cable ads are sold by a specific DMA, or Designated Metropolitan Area. If you’re looking for a smaller or larger reach, there’s no flexibility to adjust the scope of your campaign. In contrast, digital ads can be served to a specific ZIP code, city, DMA, or entire state, ensuring that everybody who sees your ad is a potential customer.

Furthermore, online ads can be delivered to people who have already expressed interest in what you are selling. For example, it’s unlikely that any commercial could convince somebody who doesn’t want a new car to purchase one. If you sell vehicles, your ad will get the best response if it is served exclusively to consumers who have been researching automotive prices, comparing models, or otherwise indicating an interest in a new car.

Digital advertising agencies can also offer re-targeting capabilities, meaning that consumers who see one ad to completion receive follow-up advertisements online and in their favorite apps to remind them of the value you can provide. This helps to ensure that you remain at the forefront of a lead’s mind, helping to improve your campaign’s conversion rate.

Is it easy to measure the success of an OTT advertising campaign?

TV networks can tell you approximately how many people were watching their channel when your ad aired, but they can’t differentiate between engaged and disinterested viewers or help you figure out how many of those viewers were converted into customers. CTV ads offer much more transparent reporting, providing real-time data on what device leads are seeing your ad on, how many total people saw it, and what you could improve to boost conversions.

For instance, you might want to optimize your ad for mobile if your audience is typically seeing it on smartphones. If your data reveals that customers are visiting your website but not purchasing anything, you know you need to work on your sales funnel. Traditional TV cannot provide a comparable level of guidance.

Wrapping Up…

It can be tough to engage with your product or service’s target audience today, but it’s not impossible. Streaming advertising can offer superior conversion rates and improved data collection at a more affordable price point relative to cable, so why not give it a shot today?

TVision software, which is a combination of Xbox Kinect and its own #technology, reports more specific numbers to its clients so they can better target #advertising and create content that keeps viewers more attentive.

This is another example of what we discussed earlier this year when I brought you the “Television Retargeting“, but it is the first time that we are seeing the technology piggy back on 3rd party hardware such as Microsoft’s Xbox. Going forward expect to see the number of articles regarding the retargeting of consumers from digital to television and from television to #online advertising continue to increase, especially with the recent announcement of mobile advertising’s growth by 2018.

If you’d like to read the entire article regarding TVision Insights, you can see it here.

These figures place mobile at nearly 90% of all NEW advertising money in the global market. This accelerated growth places mobile advertising as the second largest advertising media format behind television, which is expected to generate $206 billion in revenue in 2015. This meteoric rise in digital advertising spend is also helped by a diminishing global growth for TV in developed markets. In fact, according to Vincent Letang from Magna Global, television growth in some developed markets is actually stagnate.

The prospect that digital advertising would capture more dollars than television has become an inevitably in recent years as the number of mobile devices currently used by consumers continues to increase at a mind blowing rate and advertisers slowly shifted their dollars from their print budgets to their digital ad purchases. The prediction by ZenithOptimedia is reinforced by recent data collected from Counselor’s State of the Industry study which found that over 54% of all businesses currently have a “mobile friendly” version of their site indicating that the the global economy as a whole has already created a significant platform for the proliferation of these new online ads. An important fact to consider with this trend is that the bulk of the format for these new digital ads are skewed toward online video, such as pre-rolls and social media platforms rather than conventional search and display ads. Savvy marketers will have their work cut out for them as they decide where and how this massive increase in digital ad budgets should be spent.

Odds are your home is one of the 90 million homes that has at least one DVR or set top box in a living room or bedroom recording your favorite shows, which is incredibly convenient.  What you may not have realized is that some of these same boxes also allow the cable and satellite providers to record what shows air on the TVs in your home as well.  Marketers can then combine that information with other publicly available demographic data and segment their target audiences with laser like precision.  Companies like Simulmedia aggregate the set top box data from millions of Americans to help companies target consumers watching “long tail” cable inventory, or shows that are generally cheaper than prime time hits but have an almost cult like following.  For example, a 30 second spot on a “The Today Show” or “Good Morning America” might go for around $43,000, compare that to a “long tail” like “Big Cat Diaries” which also runs mornings for around $650.  The difference is not just the price point, it’s the information about the viewer.  The “Good Morning America” buy offers mass reach, but the “Big Cat Diaries” buy has precision.  In short,  you end up paying less and you know the right person is watching.  It’s king of like choosing between a shotgun or a rifle.

Up until now, the television industry has been in the stone age when it comes to ad-targeting compared to online services.  We can place online ads and segment customers not just based on age, and gender.  We can identify age, gender, geographic location, shopping habits, websites visited, social media habits, and the list goes on.  That kind of precision is one of the reasons that digital ad spends are expected to reach $82 billion by 21018 according to eMarketer.

Companies like Simulmedia began springing up a few years ago as set top box makers began licensing out their data and the result so far has taken place in the background where an advertiser has swapped out the Cheez-It  commercial for Special K.  However, now that Pandora’s box has been opened on your television sets, the next generation of set top boxes may very well begin allowing advertisers to show specific commercials by individual box in the house.  Combine that with the recent announcement of Verizon’s “supercookie” tracking program in January of this past year and it’s not hard to imagine that Zappos display ad following you from your computer to your phone to your tv.

Next a group of at least 500 consumers review all of the ads and ranks them using the same criteria.  The results are then used to generate a scale of 1 to 950 which represents the overall score based on likeability, relevance, watchability, attention, persuasion, and even desire.

Mercedes has generated content for viewers across the spectrum from their light hearted Superbowl ad where the tortoise beats the hare as a result of the AMG GT S which is as stark a contrast as possible to their “crashworthy” campaign which shows what seems like an endless barrage of  Mercedes-Benz going through crash tests.  In a crowded space Mercedes-Benz has connected with consumers on multiple levels and built on common ground with consumers.  The result is over 300,00 Mercedes-Benz sold within the first 10 months of 2015.

Here’s a look back at the tortoise commercial affectionately called “Fable”

https://youtu.be/LQvdIGeUUvo

… and here’s the montage of Mercedes-Benz crash tests also known as “Crashworthy”

https://youtu.be/llKlz6gHVl8

Instead, we would likely target all households with an income between $100,000 and $250,000 within 30 miles of the store with an emphasis on registered owners driving our brand.  An even better solution would be to analyse our previous sales to pinpoint the top producing zip codes and determine how far out from the store we needed to travel to reach 80% of our previous sales.  Next, we could suppress our existing customers from the list to ensure conquest sales and tailor a message to that audience.  Meanwhile, a parallel campaign could be run to identify opportunities from within the store’s customer database who had purchased more than 24 months ago and may be re-entering the market.  Although the general campaign to both segments would be some form of “Buy Now”, the delivery of this message should be drastically different given the context of each relationship.

Next week we’ll discuss Reach vs Frequency – The inverse curves

One of the many benefits, the service allows parents, for the first time, to protect their child by having offensive or certain TV ads replaced with more appropriate material. This means underage children would no longer be exposed to TV ads for adult products such as beer, wine, lingerie and condoms.

Filtrie is also a vital source of advertising and marketing data, as it is able to pinpoint in real time exactly who—adults or children—is watching TV, when and for how long. This is a quantum leap beyond addressable advertising because it offers precise information, without relying on guesswork, unproven algorithms, or human error.

The Filtrie product is currently in beta testing, with first consumer implementation anticipated by the end of the year.  This will definitely be one to watch as it is the first solution offered that provides benefits for BOTH advertisers and consumers.

Considering that people are awake an average of 16 to 18 hours per day, the total consumption of 12 hours of media may seem virtually impossible, but to be fair, you have to consider that a lot of that time is spent while doing other things. In fact, if it weren’t for multitasking we probably wouldn’t get anything done at all. The reality, however, is that in a “media day” we are not limited to the traditional 24 linear hours we use to measure time. For example, everyone reading this has at one point or another picked up their phone, tablet, or laptop during a commercial on television. This creates a phenomenon known as “multiple stream media traffic”. As the number of simultaneous media streams increases, and our multi-tasking increases, a lot of content falls into the background; and as we continue to increase our multi-tasking, the total hours will grow despite the fact that the total number of physical hours remain constant. This increasing level of multi-tasking creates competition between media streams which reinforces the necessity for us to adhere to the golden rule of advertising:

“Reach x Frequency + Compelling Message = Success”

In a multi-tasking, multiple media stream world the question of where and how to put your advertising dollars can become a daunting task with multiple vendors parading pages of statistics regarding consumer behavior and the reach of their platform. Today, we are going to boil this down to the absolute simplest formula possible. Ready?

There are only 4 ways to sell a product:

• Print
• Digital
• Radio
• Television

Everything falls into one of those four simple categories. There are of course subsets within each, and I would never try to convince anyone that a newspaper ad is the same as a direct mail piece, or that video pre-roll is the same as an SEM campaign, but those are print and digital campaigns

How to allocate your advertising spend

This is where the rubber meets the road, and budget is going to determine everything! In the automotive world, we know from previous studies by NADA that the average shopper visits between 1 and 2 dealerships before purchasing. JD Power also recently released a report indicating that 96% of Americans began their vehicle purchase path online. So throw most of your budget at your digital spend, right? NO! Digital MUST be a component of every advertising plan, but digital marketing is not intrusive media. In fact, most digital marketing is more like a taxi. The customer will go nowhere until he or she decides on a destination, and this is where the advertising mediums that exist farther up the marketing funnel come in to play. To see a complete picture of the marketing funnel and where different media campaigns apply, click here.

The proper use of intrusive media to help strengthen your brand is critical. This gives you the advantage of having an in-market shopper tell the taxi go directly to your store to start their search. Choosing the right blend of intrusive media is influenced mostly by budget. Basically, if you can’t afford to be there with both a high reach and frequency, then stay away from it altogether. If you can only afford to do 3 weeks on a medium versus 4 to reach your goal, then do so, but I would never recommend compromising beyond that. For example, if your budget forces you to choose between 2 weeks of cable, or 4 weeks of radio at a higher frequency, then choose radio every time.

Plan by Quarter or pay more

Too many times, I see clients budgeting month by month rather than setting up a marketing plan for an entire quarter at a time. It requires exactly the same amount of work to layout an entire quarter at once rather than in monthly increments and in most cases, it also gives you additional buying power when dealing with radio or cable representatives. Your monthly incentives may change, but your themes and best-selling models will not. Don’t sell yourself short and consume more of your time than necessary with the trappings of launching monthly marketing campaigns.

Audit Yourself

As we approach the second quarter, force yourself to go through the exercise of auditing your expenses across all your marketing efforts. That means listing out EVERY spend you have in your budget. Include your direct mail, television, radio, website provider, SEM, SEO, newspaper, and don’t forget to list your 3rd party lead providers such as Autotrader.com, Cars.com. If you’d like a worksheet to help you lay everything out, give me a call at 813-334-5291 or let me know on Linkedin and I’ll get something over to you.