How often should we run 6 ads over 12 months? - 2006/03/23 15:33In search of some advice...we have six ads to use in 12 months. Which is best...to run an ad, then repeat it the following month? Or... cycle thru them, then repeat the cycle? Is there anywhere I can find case studies?
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Re:How often should we run 6 ads over 12 months? - 2006/03/23 15:38The answer to your question depends on a lot of factors: size of ad, budget, reach & frequency of schedule, branding, and creative. All things being equal in a print ad you should be able to get at least 3-4 months per ad.
If your six ads are targeted at different audiences, it would make sense to run simultaneous. Also, important is whether or not all six ads have the same message. Lots of stuff to think about.
This, of course, depends on what types of ads you are running. My experience with space ads in magazines has indicated that it is better to run the same ad more than once. I would run the same ad in two to three magazine issues before switching to a new ad. Repeated impressions with the same message improves recognition.
As I'm sure you know, consumers respond to marketing after they become aware of, and familiar with, the offering. If the offering is new to the market, I would encourage you to limit the number of spots in order to create awareness and establish familiarity with the offering and the marketing message (as well as to prevent confusion).
For example, rotate three spots equally on the schedule for a quarter, and then introduce new creative to the traffic pattern for the next quarter.
Here's a little "litmus test": select a popular product or service that advertises regularly on the medium that you're targeting (i.e. Revlon, Subway, auto dealers or manufacturers) and, while you are watching TV/cable or listening to the radio, make note of how many versions of their commercials are airing. I have found that print advertisers tend to use the same creative for longer periods of time in order to establish familiarity, particularly in monthly publications.
It's hard to say without fully understanding your budget, targets and schedule, reach, frequency, etc. Nevertheless, remember that in addition to the more frequently considered concept of wear-out, there is also a wear-out process. It takes time (frequency) for an ad to register with a reasonable number of consumers. Also, while wear-out is real, ads frequently wear out much faster with the sales and marketing departments who pay much more attention to them than they do with the consumer. If you have an adequate budget for research and tracking, lots of this can be measured and monitored for decision making. If not, use some "mother-in-law" research to some real consumer input anecdotally rather than depend only on people that are too close to the ads.
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Re:How often should we run 6 ads over 12 months? - 2006/03/23 15:39We are advertising a web application, each ad focuses on a different benefit, they all look similar in style (logo is in the same place, text type, size, etc) but the main object pertaining to the benefit is different in each ad. The audience would be school districts - board members, superintendents, and superintendent secretaries. We would like the audience to take action by calling in and learning more about the application and find that is a tool their district can't do without. ;^>
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Re:How often should we run 6 ads over 12 months? - 2006/03/23 15:41My suggestion would be to repeat the *theme* of the ad- that is, the ad should be recognizable as from the same organization for all of the run, but change the message from month to month to (1) get the eyeballs each month and (2) cycle through what might be a complex message.
If you can weave a theme to it, where the reader is almost looking forward to seeing the "next chapter of the story" (think about the 1980s Folgers commercials), all the better.
The reality is that you'll be sick of your ads long before customers really notice them most of the time, so repetition is probably the stronger of the two options overall. However, it depends somewhat on whether your messaging/creative is strongly linked between each ad and just presented differently or whether you have different messages to communicate with each creative - the latter means you have to consider the education & decision cycle of your customer.
I would add another consideration: many companies have been successful with a message "build" - starting with one ad that provides a teaser or basic information and then adding on. This depends heavily on execution, however. You have to get attention right off and the follow-on ads have to be recognizably related to the previous ads (too much tease and you'll lose relevance). Placement is also critical - the ads need to be "expected" - same page placement in print or same time slot for broadcast media.
For sources, I'd go to your media rep - if they're experienced and good, they'll know what industry standards are, what their readership/viewship responds to, and they'll have access to research to back it up (Readex surveys, for example are a great source.) This is especially useful if you are in a niche area with pretty well-defined customers rather than general consumers.
We just had this same discussion with a client of ours in the same space. We elected to repeat the ads then cycle back through the message (3 ads that ran for 9 months). Most publications targeting this group are purchased through subscriptions so the theory of an ad story line works well. I assume that you have created re-direct pages for each ad segment. (Track everything your sales people will love you). This will help in tracking what part of your message landed with your target audience. Your call to action is great, however it is easier to go to a website then to call. School are a unique group, their purchasing cycles are normally longer and you have committees involved (ie Board members). Your audience is faced with busy days and normally they will do their due diligence after "business hours" the average time of response from our campaign was between 7-10 pm. Educators and their support staff are with kids all day and not on their computers.
The audience you are dealing with are avid readers, they have to be to keep sharp. This again suggest that keeping the story line moving will "talk to them". Finally talk to your sales people and ask they what they think will work best with the client. They normally have the best pulse of the pipeline of course that is always a great debate.
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Given your circumstances, and without knowing if you have any parallel activities going on such as email/direct mail blasts, PR etc. I would vote for consistency and repetition in your advertising. It is said that only when a marketing department is getting sick and tired of repeating the same message, is when the target audience is starting to get it...
Is the ad educational in itself? I have found that some of the most successful ads actually teach their audience something, whether that is a little known fact, or perhaps a data point on a topic the audience should empathize with. I recently ran a campaign for a vendor of HR materials and the ad quote was "did you know that 55% of the US workforce is looking for another job?" and was followed up with a question to the audience about who is going to leave their company?
Your target audience may not be the ultimate decision maker so you need to be in a position to give them the info they need not only to motivate a call to your company but also to be prepared to defend their buying decision to their management. And if you are going to be depending on your target audience to do the internal marketing (within their organization) on your behalf, you need to be able to give them all the right ammo up front.
What grabs the attention of the readership, to your ad? I am guessing that the layout and content is already fixed and it sounds like you have already considered the various benefits, which is a great step that many advertisers completely overlook. So back to your original question, if you have 6 placements, I would be inclined to use three different ads, let's call them A, B and C. Each has its own little bit of education for the audience, and focuses on a key feature/benefit of your product. Then you can either cycle the ads AA/BB/CC or ABC/ABC. I would strongly suggest backing these up with email/direct mail and any trade show coverage that is available to you, as well as grabbing any editorial that you can find. Also be aware of buying cycles in the education market, largely July/August.
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Susie
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Re:How often should we run 6 ads over 12 months? - 2006/03/23 15:46I can't remember now the source of this information, but the rule-of-thumb for effective frequency is supposed to be 7 times exposure for a single ad (the same ad) within the same media within a campaign cycle. Having said that, there are many other variables - circulation, readership, target audience/reach, frequency distribution and so on.
The most critical component is the creativity of the ad because with a memorable ad, one can break through the media clutter and generate signigicant impact even with a few ads, in fact even with a single ad. This is why advertisers with limited budget sometimes resort to outrageous ads so as to generate good recall and memorability, sometimes at the expense of its image.
The rule would, of course, be different for B2B advertising since the approach would be more rational, rather than emotional, and the media will be much more targeted, i.e. trade media, with high concentration of readers who would naturally be interested in the ad content so long as the message is clear and concise, regardless of any creative angles. One should also be mindful of that old expression: "If it sells, it must be creative."
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