By Janene Roberts
It seems every time the subject of marketing comes up lately, the word social media is thrown in. For those of us who have been in the marketing field for a while, we have seen this evolution of media options unfold. It started when the whisperings of cable spread talk about digital networks and the broadcast TV stations shuttered as they saw their ratings for prime time TV, once the mass reach of large ratings, dwindle. Cable shows took away share from the broadcast networks, then cable started offering digital and mobile ad options. Facebook, Twitter and You Tube came out and the traditional media outlets shuttered again and then scrambled to figure out how to get in on the next wave of new media. As a result, TV stations and most media outlets now have websites, advertisers and the media have created mobile apps, newspapers and magazines are online but are struggling for subscribers.
Are all these new mediums worth going into? Not necessarily. I think the biggest thing we as marketers need to remember is that despite the “new” mediums, the same rules apply to developing a media campaign. You don’t just throw money at a new medium and hope it works. You plan and strategize.
So what are the things you need to consider when you’re developing a media campaign?
The first major consideration is, what is your target audience? If most of your sales are to 55 year-old men that rarely visit Facebook, why would you spend your budget on a Facebook campaign? Put a plan and strategy together that makes sense. If you don’t know much about your customer, take the time and money to put in the research to find out.
Second, what are your campaign goals? Do you want to sell tickets to an event, or do you want to brand your product?
If you do decide to advertise on Facebook, at the minimum you will have to set your campaign goals like deciding on your target audience and your overall objective of the campaign.
For example, if you’re a winery in the San Diego area that wants to advertise to wine lovers, you can choose as your target audience adults who are 21 to 64 (the oldest age Facebook lists) who live in San Diego. There are about 2180 people you can reach on Facebook that are between those ages and who have specified they have a preference for wine tasting. At the time of this writing, Facebook suggested a bid of .38¢ per thousand.
You decide the budget you want to spend per day and create an ad with a minimum number of words and a photo. Because there is limited word space for the ads on Facebook, I’d suggest if your product is not well known, that you develop an awareness campaign to educate the customer about your product. Then, if you create an event, like an open house or a one-day sale, you can test out an ad on Facebook for a limited length of time for that promotion.
So remember, the same rules of advertising planning apply no matter the medium of choice. Good luck and if you need help with the planning, let me know.
