About Dan ZifkinAs an independent producer in the insurance or financial services industry, one of your most important non-fixed business costs is advertising. But given the sheer number of competitors with whom you must deal in the marketplace for consumer and business customers, advertising is an expense you’re almost forced to make. But particularly in these tough economic times, the temptation to do what many other companies do — cut the ad budget — is difficult to resist. And even though it’s ill advised, for many, suspending advertising is the path of least resistance (“I can always start advertising again when times are better”).
The good news is that you can advertise smartly yet economically on a consistent basis — both in good times as well as in not-so-great times — and do so with the most effective media: television and radio. The answer: a direct response (DR) marketing campaign (DRTV or DR radio). Direct response television and radio messages have proven highly effective in many product and service categories, and are characterized by a specific call-to-action: a phone number and/or Internet address (preferably both) designed to trigger an immediate viewer/listener response. You reach prospects when they are most interested in obtaining more information about financial services and other products you offer.
Allow me to answer some basic questions you might have, and offer you some suggestions about how to use DR media effectively.
Q. How does this direct response marketplace work?
A. TV and radio time in your market typically is sold by stations on either a fixed-position basis or on a preemptible basis; the difference is important in understanding how to make broadcast media work for you. Most of the advertising you see and hear on TV and radio is placed by advertisers who pay prices that guarantee their commercials will run exactly as purchased (fixed position), but this is often fairly costly. Direct response ad buys, on the other hand, are sold by stations on a preemptible basis; that is, they can be preempted by those full-rate-paying advertisers who elect to pay for the guaranteed airing of their commercials. Almost every ad you see on TV or hear on radio for so-called conventional advertisers (automobiles, fast food, pharmaceuticals, etc.) are bought at higher, non-preemptible prices, but DR rates are heavily discounted in exchange for the TV or radio station/network reserving the right to sell that time to a full-rate paying advertiser. Oftentimes, those DR buys are made at the last minute, enabling the station to fill unsold time — a perishable commodity that is worth nothing if not sold to someone at some price. If you have the tolerance for last-minute advertising scheduling and are willing to be a bit opportunistic in where you air commercially, then DR TV and radio can work for you.
Since you want to make sure that your ads are being seen, you should know that DR is entirely measurable. That means that today’s reporting technologies allow your media agency to track the returns on your ad campaign on a daily basis, giving you virtually immediate reports on your response and performance. Armed with this critical information, your future buys can be fine-tuned and optimized to hone in on the best-performing stations, time periods, days of the week, etc. This allows you to evaluate the ROI (return on investment) on your important advertising dollars.
Q. Where do you find this kind of DR media buying expertise?
A. While you might be tempted to do this yourself, you do have an insurance or financial services business to run, and that’s already a full-time job. Direct response media specialists are out there in every city and state, and they understand how to place DR media buys in order to get you great prices and minimize your preemptions. A little Internet searching or a few calls to media contacts in your market should produce some experts to talk to.
Q. Where do you find economical sources of making TV or radio commercials?
A. A quality direct response commercial can be produced for less than you might think. There are plenty of resources and experts who can create and develop a commercial message for you that communicates with viewers in a compelling, actionable manner. Again, a little searching and/or phone calling can get you in touch with a few, if not more, companies eager to get your business.
Contacting a veteran direct response media company that can assist you in determining what your needs might be is an excellent first step. That company should be willing to provide you with an assessment of your situation and steer you in the right direction, be it to local resources or others that might make sense.
While the advertising economy is showing some signs of improvement, there is still plenty of opportunity to get your advertising message in front of your prospects. Embarking on a direct response effort now can not only give you low-cost lead generation today, but it can also give you valuable insights as to where best to advertise when prices do increase as the economy improves. That in itself is an invaluable benefit of embracing direct response TV or radio right now.
As you well know, insurance, financial services and wealth management are big issues with today’s worried investors. You need to seize that opportunity to grow your business. Doing so with a direct response TV or radio campaign is a step in the right direction, and can be done at surprisingly modest costs.
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