TV Advertising Juneau AK

Real-estate agents and brokers traditionally build business through a combination of referrals, direct mail, and newspaper and billboard advertising. Because of the cost of producing and placing effective ads, television -- the most influential advertising medium in history -- is generally avoided by real-estate professionals. Avoided, that is, until the recent fundamental shift in delivery technology and viewing patterns.

The growth of special interest stations like The Golf Channel, The Travel Channel, ESPN, The History Channel, and the 24 hour news stations, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, plus the growing demand for high-speed internet access, has transformed cable TV from bit player to entertainment and communications star. Figure 1 indicates the relative household viewership of broadcast TV and cable TV over time.

Figure 1

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Not only has cable television's share of viewers grown, but cable programming now enters the most affluent households, as Figure 2 indicates.

Figure 2

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The growing share of viewers is opening up business growth opportunities for real-estate agents and brokers. Here is why:

• Special interest programming helps to target key customers;

• Digital technology allows the cable companies to focus advertising on geographic zones served by local businesses;

• Cable offers the impact of television at a fraction of the cost of broadcast TV advertising. Creativity And Time

  When an agent or broker talks to a cable TV sales representative, he or she will likely find this person knowledgeable about demographics and ways to stretch placement dollars most effectively. Working with a local cable TV salesman, one of our clients who provides services to home owners in a suburb of Denver developed a three month cable television advertising campaign. During those three months, the firm aired a library of four syndicated ads 900 times on 10 cable television stations, including Home and Garden, Food TV, Lifetime, The Weather Channel, The Learning Channel, Discovery, Fox Sports Rocky Mountain, CNN, Fox News, and The History Channel. The ads reached 29,000 households with cable in the firm's sales area. The total cost for this campaign, including syndicated ads and placement was $7,000 -- less than $8 a placement.

  Buying the time and selecting the best stations and programs to advertise on is only half of the advertising equation, however. The other half involves the time, energy, creativity, and cost to develop the ads. Regardless of whether an agent or broker competes with large national firms or local ones, the ads must be high quality in order to achieve the desired credibility.

  Agents should spend time watching local ads on cable TV to determine what makes some ads on these stations memorable and others lackluster. The time spent will help guide the creative process. Effective ads should have a positive impact and a polished professional look that enha...