3 DRTV Testing Tips for Digital Marketers

Lately, I have been talking to several marketers that want to test direct response television advertising for their brands. Interestingly, these companies that want to test DRTV are category disruptors, born from the Internet. These are companies founded on direct relationships with consumers established through search engines and social media.

The reasons to complement data-driven digital marketing with television are convincing. These internet brands are faced with many challengers in the same space. It is difficult to establish a unique brand position through search. Television remains the most powerful medium for quickly communicating a message and establishing an identity.

More importantly, marketers are finding that building companies one-click at a time is not achieving their goals for growth. Nielsen reports the average American still watches 5 hours a day. With that large an audience television can quickly scale the reach needed to grow businesses.

Most companies are concerned with the high-entry costs for television and not getting the instant ROI expected from digital channels. That’s what makes the more accountable DRTV so compelling. The opportunity to lower media costs with the assumption that the spots will generate response.

These expectations for DRTV might be misunderstood and a little high. One of the companies that I spoke with did a test of television (on their own and not with my direction). They ended up canceling after 2-weeks because of cost and perceived lack of performance.

Before testing television’s impact on response and acquisition, ensure your test is set-up to deliver effective and measurable results. A poor test could result in mistakenly dismissing a potentially valuable channel for marketing.

Here are a few tips for an effective test:

Tip #1 - Utilize Television to Its Strength – Reach

Television is a mass medium and is most efficient when used to reach a mass audience.