Tune in to KPEL 96.5 at 5:10pm for Brand Buzz every Monday. Today we are discussing how your ads can avoid being lost in the avalanche of political advertising that is increasing as the election draws near.
If you’ve turned on a tv or radio or even driven down a street you’ve noticed the increase in political advertising. The worst is yet to come. The closer we get to the election the more that political campaigns will be spending to capture your vote.
But how does all of this affect your advertising?
The political campaigns are buying the most watched programs – early news, prime, late news – which is putting each of those shows into sold out situations preventing local advertisers from even being able to buy an ad.
Media is a business of supply and demand. There is a limited amount of inventory that each media outlet has to sell so with little to no unsold inventory, price is going to be affected.
The negative tone of most political ads is a turn off to viewers and causes more channel flipping than usual. Once the audience leaves a program, there is no guarantee that they will return.
With politicians and PACs buying up all unsold inventory and turning off viewers, how can your ads break through the increased clutter?
The most important thing you can do is stay on brand message. Don’t try to compete with the political ads and remember that you have to maintain your relationship with your consumers long after the election is over. Be true to the brand through all marketing messages.
Focus on a new audience that isn’t on the most most popular stations. Most campaigns will only have the budget to buy the 1st through 5th most popular stations. You can use your budget to buy a media outlet that you haven’t bought before. It won’t be as cluttered with political ads and the rates should be lower which will provide the opportunity to increase your frequency to really make an impression.
Connect directly with your audience through social media or experiential marketing. You can use content to share your knowledge and give your consumers tools that will help them. Use the political window to listen to consumers and find out what their perceptions are about your company, competition and category. Or take your marketing efforts to the streets and do some guerrilla marketing until the election is over.
Use the political season as an opportunity to change the way you advertise and see if you can reach a new audience in the meantime.
Be sure to listen to Brand Buzz on KPEL 96.5 at 5:10pm today and every Monday to learn more about how to build your brand.
Related articles
{ 0 comments… add one now }