Advertising on television is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience. With nearly 99 percent of American households owning a television, it is marketing tool that almost any type of business could use effectively to its advantage.

Unfortunately many small businesses dont even think about advertising on television because they feel it is just too expensive. Small business owners feel that television is a medium that is reserved for only large companies with huge advertising budgets.

However, with the growth of cable and regional television, a small business can benefit from television advertising just like the large corporations. The industry is exploding today, new cable stations are starting up every year, and they need advertising to be able to stay on the air. Because of the competitiveness of television today, many stations offer very affordable rate packages for small businesses.

Television advertising is very powerful. Your businesses can gain instant credibility when you advertise on television. Advertising on television puts you in the same league as the large companies in the eyes of consumers.

Advertising on television is like any other form or marketing, it must be done correctly. Poor ads will do you no good and will cause you to loose a lot of money. Many ads you see on television today try to be cute, funny, and entertaining. With many television ads, its hard to tell what the company is even selling.

Studies show that with television advertising people pay attention to the graphics first, the headline second, the bullets third, and the text fourth. Headlines are just as important in television advertising as they are in print advertising. You only have a few seconds to grab the viewers attention, so you need to begin with a powerful headline that stresses benefits and then end your ad with a strong call to action.

Your ad must speak with a clear message to your target audience. With television advertising people will remember how they felt after seeing your ad more than the actual details of the ad itself. So its important to have great visuals that are supported by a good script. You want your ad to leave people feeling good, well informed, and motivated to buy.

Your call to action at the end of the television ad is critical because you must tell people what to do. They need to know whats in it for them and how to reach you. Make sure you give your location, your phone number, and your Web address. If your ad will be seen by viewers outside of your immediate area, include your toll-free number.

The key to a successful television advertising campaign is no different than any other marketing campaign: repetition. The more times people see your ad, the deeper your message will driven into their subconscious mind which will bring your prospects closer to purchasing your product or service.

Television advertising can be expensive, so its important to do your research before investing in a campaign. Look closely at the make-up of the stations viewing audience. There are plenty of cable channels out there that get a large viewing audience. Just make sure it is the audience you need to reach. How many viewers does the channel reach? Are the viewers made up of business owners and managers, or do they consist of mostly working men and women? It is a younger viewing audience, such as teens?

Getting a return on television advertising is like any other type of advertising, it takes time. It does not happen with just one ad. So once youve found the station that reaches your target audience, get a package that fits your budget, because it may take three to six months to begin to see results from your advertising.

Its important for any business and especially for a small businesses to make sure youre getting a good return on investment. So you need to be constantly planning, measuring, and evaluating your television advertising campaign. You must test your ad to see the audiences response. Testing is the best way to determine if television advertising is the right medium for your business.

Just because youre a small business, dont automatically discount television advertising. With all of the cable television stations, advertising on them has become more affordable.
If you advertise on the right station that targets your prime prospects, and have the right message, television is the most powerful medium you can use to get your message out.

Copyright2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many of Americas largest corporations, on the subjects of leadership, self-esteem, goals, achievement, and success psychology.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

Read more about this:

  1. The New Frontier of Advertising – Why Your Business Needs Both TV and Internet Ads to Survive: - :Today, television and the Internet are merging, at least when it comes to advertising and reaching potential customers. No longer are customers using only one medium to learn about new products and services....
  2. New Advertising for Local Business Owners: - :As a local business you are probably always wanting to know the newest way to reach your local market and get more customers. Now there is an affordable new service that can do just that and more....
  3. Advertising Strategies – Alternatives to Print, Alternatives Within Print: - :Is print advertising a dying swan? What are the alternatives? In this article I'll take a quick look at a few options that I have seen work effectively....
  4. A Brief History of Television Advertising: - :Did you know that early television advertising actually began and evolved out of radio advertising? Television ads were not always a multitude of short spots on shows that were created by the networks. They began as shows created by advertising agencies and had a single sponsor. Learn how television evolved...
  5. Advertising Your Small Business on TV: - :Advertising your website on TV is not only incredibly effective, it can also be surprisingly affordable as well! I'm positively STUNNED at the number of website owners and otherwise brilliant small business owners who think the only way to drive people to your website is via search. Cable television advertising...