Advertising outlets charge a lot of money to allow you,
the advertiser, to reach your audience. I have no doubt that rates for each and
every media outlet are quite fair. After all, their prices are market-driven.
With enough money, advertisers can reach a lot of consumers. That is to say
that your ad will be seen or heard by large numbers of people. That's what they
mean by "reach." I want to draw a distinction between being seen and truly
reaching the consumer in a way that stirs emotions and inspires action.
I have never understood advertisers who will spend
six-figure amounts buying media space but settle for bland (let’s not mince
words – I mean amateur) advertising to fill the space. Advertising works. Great advertising works better. Recently, one of our tourism clients concentrated on a defined target market for a one-month blitz of advertising that included print, online, social media and out-of-home displays. The advertising featured professional design to capture the consumer’s attention, great photography to help them picture themselves in the scene, and clever writing to make them smile and remember the message. Traffic to the client’s website tripled during the month of the blitz.
Improving the response rate by even a small margin can mean the difference
between wasting money on big media buys and generating a real ROI. Don’t just “reach”
the consumer as media outlets define it, reach out and grab them.