Advertisers are always searching for cost and time efficient ways to market their products. New and emerging strategies and technologies are helping them do just that, and one of these strategies is performance marketing. Performance marketing is a form of advertising where advertisers pay marketing companies based on how well their ads perform. This performance is usually measured by the number of clicks, views, or sales an advertisement generates. In Direct Response Television (DRTV), performance is based on how many leads can be generated through inbound telephone calls or website visits. Knowing how to create the most efficient performance campaign is key to maintaining your best return on investment. Below are five practical ways in which your company can benefit from utilizing DRTV performance marketing techniques.
1. The most immediate monetary benefit of performance marketing is that advertisers pay strictly for their performance, as opposed to paying for media. In this scenario, an advertiser’s money is not wasted on an ad that does not perform. It’s a reliable option that has the potential to provide amazing results. If the results are not there, then that will be reflected in the spending. In the end, the goal is to gain significant market share and increase sales by taking advantage of “remnant”, unsold commercial inventory. There is virtually no risk to the advertiser. To eliminate all risk, work with a partner who may be willing to share upfront production costs for your commercial or infomercial.
2. Affiliates, publishers and influencers have access to niche markets that you may not. Ads that are targeted to specific groups can increase sales within that group. They also have the time to do this immediately, as affiliates will be eager to air great ads that are earning them lucrative commissions. Marketing to niche communities alone has multiple benefits. Stronger relationships with consumers leads to more brand loyalty. There’s also less competition, allowing you to have a larger presence in a smaller universe.
3. You have the ability to block some traffic sources. What is almost as important as the online advertisement itself is the media on which it’s featured, whether a television network or a website. Consumers are less likely to click on an ad that comes from an untrustworthy source. With performance marketing, perhaps the only downside is that you lose some control over when and where your commercials air. Cash is still king, and advertisers taking the risk to buy media can book specific times, even specific shows, for a premium price. When airing a performance campaign on television, narrowing hours and/or days could severely restrict media from airing your commercials. You can, however, restrict your commercials from airing on content that does not align with your brand. A major difference between performance media on television as opposed to online is that there is more control online. In the online world, you can easily restrict hours, states and traffic sources for performance campaigns. Clients tell me all the time about seeing their ads air in high-profile sporting events and live shows, all on a performance basis. And when your ad is displayed on a reputable website or television network, consumers ultimately view your brand as reputable and trustworthy. And with television, there’s no risk of data breaches or creepy telemarketing calls.
4. It is low-risk and informative. With performance marketing, you save both time and money. You’re not spending your budget on a campaign that may or may not work. If your DRTV or online ads do not yield results, you’ll know immediately. Images, content and headlines have the flexibility to be continuously improved or discarded altogether. Tracking analytics make this especially easy. The data you receive is transparent and has the capacity to show where your spending and how your dollars are converting into sales.
5. DRTV Agencies can provide you quality insight and creativity. By outsourcing marketing work to those outside of your company, it allows different types of creativity to shine through in marketing your products. Sometimes a marketing team can be too close to their own products and services, essentially making it more difficult to see the “forest through the trees.” An outside voice brings a fresh perspective and can lead to more innovative ways to execute an explosively successful campaign.
Performance marketing has proven itself to be an essential weapon that every advertiser should have in its arsenal. You never have to choose one or the other. It can simply be layered on top of your traditional media buying and, when utilized properly, delivers an array of benefits that will strengthen your company’s market share and increase your audience’s engagement. Performance marketing on television is especially transparent, low risk, and can dramatically impact your bottom line without consuming your marketing department’s time and energy. Picking the ideal agency partner, one with the right experience and resources, can help you deliver a transformative campaign that could elevate your company to an entirely new level.
