There is a large landscape of media coverage to disseminate a marketing message and to promote a product or service.
From radio and TV to print, it's important to know which medium will get you the most coverage, and how to maximize it.
Prior to launching a campaign there are objectives that need to be completed.
- Identify your target market and its demographics.
- Determine which type of media would be best used to reach your audience. For example, young adults between the ages of 15 to 25 might best be reached through the Internet or TV.
- Develop a publicity plan tailored to reaching your target demographic through the media where they are most likely to be receptive to learning about your product.
There are some interesting polls on publicity.com dealing with where people are most likely to pay attention to the news, and by inference, where they are most likely to pay attention to someone talking about your product as news.
In the marketing world, there are new ways to capture an audience's attention and expose them to your message. Now more than ever, people are spending more time on the Internet than in front of their TVs. This gives marketers a relatively inexpensive outlet through which to publicize their products and services.
While the advent of the iPod has put a damper on radio advertising sales, marketers have found a unique way to publicize products through airwaves with podcasts. Unlike radio, a podcast can contain specific content such as product information, and can be distributed over the Internet allowing a listener to re-play the message, ensuring the marketing message is received.
Internet blogs and feedback forums have also allowed marketers to develop a user community that allows people to discuss a product or service and share how it has benefited them. Through the user community, marketers can establish a relationship with its users and build brand loyalty.
With the many opportunities that exist with traditional media to publicize a product, it's essential you communicate the product's features and benefits to arouse desire among consumers to want your product. The old adage of saying the right thing at the right time is true.
Executing your message through radio has many benefits.
- Radio encompasses a broad audience, and using this medium can reach a variety of audience segments resulting in an expansion of total market capability.
- With numerous radio programs offering specific formats, a business can effectively target defined segments of consumers. With the existence of AM and FM morning talk shows and advertising space, there are many promotion and publicity opportunities that exist with radio.
- Executing your message through TV has its benefits as it is an image-building and visual medium. TV offers the ability to convey your message with sight, sound and motion creating visual interest.
- Publicizing your product through television allows you to reach large numbers of people on a national or regional level.
- Independent stations and cable offer new opportunities to pinpoint local audiences.
One of the more traditional methods used by businesses both big and small to publicize products is print media. Unlike radio and TV, when you execute a message through print media, exposure to your marketing message is not limited as readers can go back.
- Print media allows you to reach a large number of people in a given geographic area.
