TV or Internet? Newspaper or Magazine? With thousands of channels available to advertise your event, choosing the right one has become increasingly difficult. This is a major concern as selecting the wrong channel means that your message will not reach your target audience and will hamper your event success.
We've come across a few companies which take event marketing for granted assuming that the event is so cool that people will automatically know about it. Sure, your event could be filled with amazing activities and cool celebrities but if you don't create awareness about the event at least two months before the event (and this means frequent reminders and not just a one-off notice), trust us, no one will be excited enough to attend. Advertising helps to build the hype and the desire for your target audience to attend but the question now is what sort of advertising medium should you opt for?
Here are a few questions you need to ask before selecting a channel for your event:
1. What is your event size?
2. Where is your event located?
3. Do you have a fixed or diverse audience?
4. What is your promotion budget size?
As you answer these questions, you slowly but steadily eliminate channels that will not work for you. For example, if you are organizing a doctor’s conference for doctors practicing in Mumbai, buying a TVC spot on popular channel is both pointless and expensive. You will deplete your budget without seeing an impressive rise in conversion rates. A better and more cost effective channel for a medical event would be a medical magazine.
To simplify your decision-making process further, here is an at-a-glance look at some popular advertising mediums and their pros and cons:
TV – Strengths
1. Versatile medium that uses both sight and sound to communicate
2. Promote events on a national, regional or local level
3. Reach out to selective and diverse markets based on channel choice
TV – Weakness
1. Prime time spots receive maximum viewing audience but are expensive
2. TV ads are short in duration and so, are easy to miss or ignore
3. There are limited spots available
4. Not suitable for event with a set audience e.g. Pilots
Radio – Strengths
1. Promote on a local or regional level
2. Target specific markets or reach large, diverse markets
3. Excellent way to reach commuting audiences
Radio – Weakness
1. Radio ads are short and can be missed easily
2. Each channel has a specific audience and you may have to purchase spots with multiple channels to deliver your message effectively
Newspapers – Strengths
1. Promote on a national, regional or local level to both select and diverse markets
2. Newspapers are published daily and are a great way to generate instant response / action
3. Publish detailed messages
4. Long lasting impact (people keep the entire paper or clip )
Newspapers – Weakness
1. Readers are selective, they might not read the page your ad is on
2. National newspapers are expensive and are not feasible for small or local events
Magazines – Strengths
1. Reach selected markets easily and effectively
2. Large audience (multiple readers read a single magazine)
3. Permanent as readers keep acquired magazines to re-read
Magazines – Weakness
1. Only approximate readership figures available
2. Strict deadlines to place ads
3. Difficult to make changes once ad is placed
4. Reader may forget about ad as magazines are published on a weekly or monthly basis
Internet – Strengths
1. Promote on a global level for a cost effective rate
2. Communicate to selective and diverse audiences easily
3. Interactive Youth friendly medium
4. Instant changes possible at any time
Internet – Weakness
1. Language Barriers
2. Time Differences
3. No very effective to reach a 60+ audience
4. Requires some at least a basic level of computer skills
To summarize, all channels have their pros and cons; ultimately, you need to decide which channel will best promote your event. By choosing the right a channel, you will spend less money and will retain a bigger budget for other essential activities.
We've come across a few companies which take event marketing for granted assuming that the event is so cool that people will automatically know about it. Sure, your event could be filled with amazing activities and cool celebrities but if you don't create awareness about the event at least two months before the event (and this means frequent reminders and not just a one-off notice), trust us, no one will be excited enough to attend. Advertising helps to build the hype and the desire for your target audience to attend but the question now is what sort of advertising medium should you opt for?
Here are a few questions you need to ask before selecting a channel for your event:
1. What is your event size?
2. Where is your event located?
3. Do you have a fixed or diverse audience?
4. What is your promotion budget size?
As you answer these questions, you slowly but steadily eliminate channels that will not work for you. For example, if you are organizing a doctor’s conference for doctors practicing in Mumbai, buying a TVC spot on popular channel is both pointless and expensive. You will deplete your budget without seeing an impressive rise in conversion rates. A better and more cost effective channel for a medical event would be a medical magazine.
To simplify your decision-making process further, here is an at-a-glance look at some popular advertising mediums and their pros and cons:
TV – Strengths
1. Versatile medium that uses both sight and sound to communicate
2. Promote events on a national, regional or local level
3. Reach out to selective and diverse markets based on channel choice
TV – Weakness
1. Prime time spots receive maximum viewing audience but are expensive
2. TV ads are short in duration and so, are easy to miss or ignore
3. There are limited spots available
4. Not suitable for event with a set audience e.g. Pilots
Radio – Strengths
1. Promote on a local or regional level
2. Target specific markets or reach large, diverse markets
3. Excellent way to reach commuting audiences
Radio – Weakness
1. Radio ads are short and can be missed easily
2. Each channel has a specific audience and you may have to purchase spots with multiple channels to deliver your message effectively
Newspapers – Strengths
1. Promote on a national, regional or local level to both select and diverse markets
2. Newspapers are published daily and are a great way to generate instant response / action
3. Publish detailed messages
4. Long lasting impact (people keep the entire paper or clip )
Newspapers – Weakness
1. Readers are selective, they might not read the page your ad is on
2. National newspapers are expensive and are not feasible for small or local events
Magazines – Strengths
1. Reach selected markets easily and effectively
2. Large audience (multiple readers read a single magazine)
3. Permanent as readers keep acquired magazines to re-read
Magazines – Weakness
1. Only approximate readership figures available
2. Strict deadlines to place ads
3. Difficult to make changes once ad is placed
4. Reader may forget about ad as magazines are published on a weekly or monthly basis
Internet – Strengths
1. Promote on a global level for a cost effective rate
2. Communicate to selective and diverse audiences easily
3. Interactive Youth friendly medium
4. Instant changes possible at any time
Internet – Weakness
1. Language Barriers
2. Time Differences
3. No very effective to reach a 60+ audience
4. Requires some at least a basic level of computer skills
To summarize, all channels have their pros and cons; ultimately, you need to decide which channel will best promote your event. By choosing the right a channel, you will spend less money and will retain a bigger budget for other essential activities.
-Event Industry News
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