This document discusses various media options for advertising and their strengths and weaknesses. It notes that businesses often fail not because they reach the wrong people, but because they say the wrong thing. Each media "works" and the most important question is how to best use the advertising budget. Traditional media like billboards, radio, TV, newspapers and magazines are discussed as well as newer options like social media, yellow pages, and direct mail. The document stresses the importance of repetition, noting it takes at least three exposures to an ad within a week to safely assume a person has been reached.

1. Mike Slover
www.whatsthemeat.com
mikeslover@wizardofads.com
618-889-0674

2. Which Media Is Right For You?

3. “I've learned over the years that if you take
data and torture it long enough, you can
get it to confess to anything you want.”
- John Thompson, Best Buy

5. I‟ve never seen a business
fail because they were
„reaching the wrong people.‟

6. But I‟ve seen thousands
fail because they were
saying the wrong thing.
Roy H. Williams
I‟ve never seen a business
fail because they were
„reaching the wrong people.‟

7. Don’t worry overmuch about
“reaching the right people.”

8. Every media „works.‟
The important
question is this:

9. Every media „works.‟
The important
question is this:
“What‟s
the highest and
best use of
the budget?”

10. Expensive signage is often the
cheapest advertising your
money can buy
Have you maximized your signage?

11. Buying Media

12. “Half the money I spend on advertising
is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know
which half.”
- John Wanamaker

13. “There is no direct correlation
between dollars invested and
results gained.”
- a Wharton School of Business seven-year survey
about the effectiveness of advertising

14. MASTER
“The missing variable that
prohibits such a calculation is
the power of the
message. (Impact Quotient - IQ)

15. What percentage of your traffic
is currently advertising-driven?
What percentage is location-driven?
What percentage are repeat customers?
What percentage are referrals?

16. Your media buy will affect only your
advertising-driven traffic.
Other factors remaining
equal, ad-driven traffic should
increase by the percentage
that you increase your effective
reach.

17. Media Vehicle Comparison:
Strengths and Weaknesses

18. Outdoor Advertising/Billboards
• Reach more people for a dollar
than any other media
• Limited to a picture and no more
than eight words.
• Easily ignored.

19. Look for billboards with intrusive visibility
- as close to the road as possible
- as close to windshield height as possible
- no left-hand readers

20. Use extensions for 3rd dimension

21. This board has too
many images, too
many words.

22. And so does this one.

23. These people are
just plain idiots.

24. • Reaches the second
most people for a
dollar.
• Cannot be tightly
targeted geographically
and can only be
loosely targeted by
demo.
•Echoic intrusiveness.
•PPM has shown more
listeners but they are
listening to more
Radio

25. • Likely your best bet
if people will drive
significant distances
to buy your product
or if you sell a
“we come to you”
service.
•Has competition
from Satellite radio,
Pandora..etc.
Radio

26. Cable TV
Offers the visual language of moving
images as well as spoken words

27. Cable TV
Can often be tightly geographically
targeted (Just The area you service)

28. Cable TV
Advertise on the same networks at the same times of
day on the same days of the week. Don‟t buy “rotators”

29. Cable TV
PROBLEM: Your ads will likely look homemade.
Too many channels.

30. Broadcast TV
Big Reach;
Big Prestige;
Big Bucks
Able to target
psychographic
profiles
Viewership
(and rates)
vary seasonally

31. Broadcast TV
Buy specific
shows, not
rotators
Generally, try to
buy M-Th
7p-11p

32. Newspapers
• Reaches those who are in the market
to buy today.
• Your ad isn’t likely to be noticed by
people not yet in the market for your
product or service.
• Delivers the same results consistently.
Results do not increase over time.
• High impact newspaper ads are traffic
builders. Response, if it happens, will
be immediate.
• Expensive and dying.
• Older demo is still reading.

33. Magazines
• Expensive, but
high-impact
• Tight targeting
• Little waste
• Weakness is
infrequency
of repetition
• Buy based on
availability.

34. If your plan calls for long-term use
of newspapers or
magazines, consider a standby
schedule.
Full page ads in Magazines
1/4 to full page in Newspapers

35. Direct Mail
• Highly targeted, all the way down
to the level of the individual.
• Shockingly expensive,
could cost as much as
$5 per person.

36. Yellow Pages
• A service directory
for the undecided
customer
• Not a good use of
budget for a retail
business… (use the
internet instead.)

37. Social Media
• Use as a relationship
deepener.
• Listen to customers.
• Spy on competitors.
• Stay away from
offering deals, people
aren’t there to be
sold.

38. Trying to reach more people
than what the ad budget will
allow is one of the most
common mistakes in advertising.

39. Assuming average impact, the
identical person must be exposed to
the identical ad at least three times
within seven night’s sleep before
you can safely assume that you have
“reached” that person.

40. Question &
Break Time

41. Mike Slover
www.whatsthemeat.com
mikeslover@wizardofads.com
618-889-0674