November 21, 2024
Pierre Bourdeau—Director P&C Marketing, CAA Insurance Company
Adding paid mass media to your campaign can be a great way for your brokerage to reach your target audience. After all, it worked for all those advertisers in Mad Men, so why shouldn’t it work for you? Like any tactic, paid media has caveats. It’s best to understand these before deciding where to commit your marketing dollars.
Recognize that budget and campaign length are connected. It’s the chicken and egg: should you decide your budget or campaign length first? Either can be your starting point, just recognize that your budget will determine how long you can be in market, or your campaign length will require a specific budget to maximize its success. Here’s a primer on how and when to use paid media and what you can expect to pay.
Television
Though it can be one of the most expensive media options—this year’s Superbowl spots cost an average of $7M USD—TV is also one of the best ways to reach large audiences and can be affordable if you focus on smaller regional or provincial stations. There are different ways to use TV:
- Commercials: 15, 30 or 60-second ads—time is money, so stick with shorter commercials to save.
- Product Placement/Branded Integration: If you partner with a local TV station, ask if they’ll film their next human-interest story in front of your brokerage.
- Direct Response TV (DRTV): Typically 6, 15 or 30-second messages with a direct call to buy via a toll-free number, SMS message or website. You can select specific networks and daypart (daytime, primetime, etc.) To target your audience, use hours when your brokerage is open.
4 Week Estimate $5K–200K (varies by season, station, demographics, daypart and frequency)
Radio
More cost-effective than TV, radio reaches local and national audiences. You can have an on-air personality read your spot live or use station talent to record it—the latter is often free to produce. Or record your spot using professional actors. Stations frequently have deals on last-minute inventory and bonus spots on a significant media buy. Having content ready and available to go allows you to jump on these deals quickly.
4 Week Estimate $5K–$200K
Remember getting Canadian Tire catalogues? Those days are long gone. Today’s marketers use small print runs and segment their messages for different audiences. Reach yours via newspapers, magazines, inserts or special issues. Many print outlets also own broadcast and digital channels and offer integrated solutions.
4 Week Estimate $25K (magazine) – $40K (brochure)
Out-of-Home
A fancy term marketers use for billboards, bus shelter, bus and elevator ads. These are excellent for quick hits to help build awareness but should always be part of a larger campaign.
4 Week Estimate $70K
Social Media
Today’s world is online. Getting news and entertainment and staying connected is part of our daily lives. You can’t ignore social media—it should be part of every campaign. It can even be your entire campaign depending on your target audience. It’s a cost-effective way to build short and long-term branding and customer acquisition.
4 Week Estimate $5K–$150K
Paid Search
Find your customers where they search with display, remarketing, video and shopping ads. Decide on your keywords (most common ones cost most to buy), set your daily budget and pay per click (PPC)— each time someone clicks through to your ad. Focus on branded key terms (terms that have your brokerage name in it) as they’re the most affordable option.
4 Week Estimate $5K–$100K