3 Pros of TV Advertising That May Surprise Digital Marketers

You don’t need market research or published studies to know that people watch a lot of TV in this country. But if you do want some stats, here are just a few.

• There are 304.5 million TV viewers in the United States (up 0.9% from 2017).
• The average American watches 5 hours of TV per day.
• Watching TV accounts for more than half of all the time Americans spend on leisure and sports.

Given these facts, it’s no surprise that TV advertising takes a big piece of the marketing pie for large, well-established companies. Successful businesses from almost every industry use some form of TV advertising to attract new customers. What’s surprising is the fact that many companies and digital marketers don’t see the value in TV advertising. Here are 3 reasons why they should.

People Remember TV Commercials

Although more people may be exposed to online advertising, people actually remember TV ads. There are a few reasons for this. For starters, on any given webpage, viewers are likely to see multiple ads. TV ads have no competition while they air, so viewers tend to focus more on each ad. And people are still drawn to TV commercials for the level of creativity that cannot be found in online ads – you don’t hear folks talking about their favorite web banner the day after the Super Bowl. Finally, TV ads tend to provoke more of an emotional response than a two-dimensional ad.

Television Advertising and the Internet Pair Well

Okay, maybe they don’t pair like a nice Pinot Noir and a hunk of Gruyere, but 60% of people are more likely to buy something after seeing a TV ad compared to 40% for an online or social ad. This is why successful businesses create their TV ads to work with their online presence. Plus, 70% of people use another device while they watch TV. So it makes sense to use TV ads as an opportunity to prompt viewers to visit the company’s website or social media pages.

This approach encourages brand awareness, creates new leads, and gives potential customers a chance to get more info on the product or service advertised in the commercial. This can be especially beneficial for young companies trying to gain traction. In fact, studies show that start-up brands using a TV campaign in their marketing strategies see an increase in website traffic by 95% or more!

Television Ads Can be Tracked for ROI

Because of its insanely vast variety in programming, television appeals to a wide range of demographics. That’s why it’s important for businesses to establish a target audience; then, they can choose the best times to air TV ads according the programming schedule. You’ll hear detractors argue that despite TV’s wide reach, it’s impossible to track the ROI of TV advertising. That’s simply not true.

There are many ways to track the ROI of a TV commercial, such as adding a specific call tracking phone number to the ads in that campaign. By using multiple call tracking numbers for different marketing channels, businesses can track which campaigns (TV, print, radio, Google ads) received the most calls, and which of those calls led to the most sales. This not only tracks ROI, but it can also help improve overall marketing and advertising strategies.

It’s clear that America’s love for TV is not waning any time soon. This is not to say companies should invest all their advertising eggs in that basket. Rather, it’s a reminder that with some creative marketing strategies that incorporate TV ads, digital campaigns, and an accountability system, television advertising is only as successful as you make it.