Optic Marketing

Here's How a Good Advertising Agency Can Transform Your Business

When you think about your marketing strategy, what springs to mind first? Is it running social media ads, or sending emails?

They're both valid options. Yet there are still other forms of advertising open to you.

Look at podcasts. 37 percent of Americans listen to at least one podcast. That's up 5 percent from 2019.

Connected TV (CTV) offers another opportunity. Fewer businesses currently advertise on the platform.

That means less competition and lower viewer fatigue. So you stand a better chance of converting viewers into buyers.

A good advertising agency can transform your business by adding these media forms to your advertising strategy. Read on to learn how it works.

Why Advertise on Podcasts?

Far from being radio's lesser-known cousin, podcasts are a booming form of content.

Spotify expanded their offering to include podcasts alongside streamed music. Apple rebranded part of iTunes as Apple Podcasts.

One of the advantages of podcasts is people listen to them in so many places. They might be commuting, walking their dog, or gardening.

Podcasts meet their listeners where they are. This means listeners are primed and ready to consume content when they hit play.

Another advantage of podcasts is there's something personal about the listening experience. It can feel like a personal conversation between the host and their audience.

This helps to create a bond between podcasts and their listeners. By advertising on those podcasts, you build trust by association.

Listeners are also consumers and almost half of them are very affluent. 45 percent of podcast listeners enjoy a household income of more than $75k.

How Should You Advertise on Podcasts?

Podcasts offer several ways to run adverts. These may vary depending on the show format or the preference of the host.

The podcast host may read your ad during the podcast, or they may weave the content into the episode itself. This has the advantage of feeling more organic.

Some hosts may even discuss their experience with your product or service. This is helpful if you want a more personal recommendation from a trusted host.

Other podcasts play adverts as a separate piece of content. This is closer to the way radio runs adverts. That said, podcasts won't have several ad breaks through the episode.

They may only include three ads per episode or less. That means less competition for you, and it's easier for listeners to remember your ad.

Hosts usually run ads at three points of an episode. The pre-roll slot runs at the beginning of the podcast, while the outro runs at the end. Mid-roll ads run during the podcast.

Which Slot Is Better for Your Advert?

The mid-roll slot is usually the longest, running up to 60 seconds in length. This gives you more space for the creative aspect of your ad.

Pre-roll slots are up to 15 seconds, yet it feels the least intrusive. It can set the tone for the episode and doesn't interrupt the content.

Outro adverts have the benefit of being the final thing listeners hear. This can turn them into a call-to-action, turning listeners into buyers.

A good advertising agency can approach the right podcasts and secure the right slots. They can also craft a professional advert to reflect well on your business.

What About Connected TV?

Connected TVs let users watch TV, access the internet, and stream services on the same device. They may also be known as smart TVs.

They're a hybrid between traditional television and internet services. These TVs are favored by those who had abandoned more mainstream services. 10 million viewers have cut the cord with traditional cable TV providers since 2012.

Unlike traditional TV advertising, connected TV advertising offers a high degree of targeting. An advertising agency will create your advert and ensure it reaches the right audience.

Choose time slots, programs, and viewer demographics for more success.

Viewers can't skip ads as they can on platforms such as YouTube. They need to finish watching the ad in the stream to access their content.

That sounds intrusive, but because ads are shown less often, people pay more attention. Viewers are also more likely to watch them because they're so highly targeted.

Your advertising agency will choose the right slots and streams to suit your target audience. They can also get real-time reporting on the ad's performance.

That tells them how many people watched the ad in full, and how many viewers would recognize the brand.

Traditional TV advertising can't offer this level of precision or reporting.

Create Multi-Platform Campaigns for the Best Success

The best way to approach your advertising strategy is to think in terms of campaigns. That means you create a concept to share in different formats across a range of platforms.

This means you reach different segments of your audience wherever they prefer to be. Some of your audience may prefer podcasts while others watch hours of on-demand TV.

Rather than running an ad on one or the other, a campaign lets you reach both. You can repurpose parts of your ads as static ads for print, or targeted social media ads.

Using this approach has another advantage. It turns each advert into a touchpoint. Every time a person sees or hears your ad, they build a stronger awareness of your brand.

It can take seven touchpoints to make a sale. Instead of running seven ads on one platform, you can make those touchpoints across different channels.

An Advertising Agency Helps You to Access These Platforms

Now you know how a good advertising agency can transform your business. They can craft professional content for a range of platforms.

An agency also targets your audience on the right platforms. That means people who are more likely to buy will see/hear your ad. You won't waste money reaching people who aren't interested.

All this experience turns your approach into an advertising strategy and not just marketing. You can see a swift return on investment when you advertise on these mass media platforms.

Do you want to advertise across mass media? Contact Optic Marketing Group today and find out how we can help.

by Optic Marketing

How Advertisers Can Attract Customers This Fall

With more people staying home this year due to COVID-19, it has changed the way that people vacation and how they will be vacationing this Fall for the holiday season. 

There are more guidelines in place when it comes to social distancing and wearing a mask in public. Restaurants are closed or only open for takeout. Vacationing and all travel, is quite different this year. 

As a business, it might be a struggle to attract customers, especially if they don't want to leave the house. People might have different plans this Fall because of COVID-19. 

That's why it's more important than ever to make your advertising more effective. You want to create advertisements that are more specific and show that you relate to your target market. 

Here's a guide that can help you attract more customers. 

Highlight How Clean Your Business Is

If you are going to advertise to attract your target market, you need to highlight pain points that are on everyone's mind. 

For example, you need to address how clean your business is, but also address what changes you are making to protect the safety of others. You might need to explain with a billboard advertisement or some other form of advertising how your business is doing its part to ensure that every customer is protected. 

Your advertisements should highlight what you are doing to keep your business clean and safe for customers. That may mean showing people that your employees are wearing a mask and gloves to prevent other people from getting sick. 

Your advertisements can also show what protocols you have in place when it comes to doing business with customers. These protocols may involve less contact and are centered on the customers. 

Talk About Social Distancing Rules

Another critical part of advertising to attract your target market is to highlight social distancing rules. 

To show that your business is abiding by social distancing rules could mean that you have 6ft apart decal stickers on the ground for customers to keep their distance while they are in line. Or, if you are a home services based business you can ensure them that you have been actively enforcing social distancing methods with in-office teams and your service technicians. 

It can also mean that your business has notifications on your website, ads and service vehicles to show that your employees are abiding by this rule. It shows that you care about the customer and their safety. 

Show More Discounts and Promotions

Another way to attract your target market to your store this Fall is to offer promotions and discounts. 

With the economy slowing down due to COVID-19 and people figuring out ways to save on shopping, it's important to show people how they can save money, especially when they will be spending a lot of money for the holiday season. Offer discounts and promotions through email or in other advertisements that show people they can save when they shop at your business. Target your market with Facebook ads, social media posts, landing pages, emails, and other forms of advertisements. 

The point is, you want to make it clear that your business is adjusting during COVID-19 in a way that helps people during this difficult time. 

Know Who You're Targeting

It's also important that you know who you're targeting during COVID-19. If you want to maintain sales and attract customers, you have to understand how the customer's mindset has changed during COVID-19. 

During the holiday season,, people want to take a vacation and visit family. They want to leave the house and feel like they can take a break from life. The question is, how can you help them achieve this while also feeling safe during COVID-19? 

With that in mind, you should create billboard advertisements or other forms of advertisements based on answering that question. Your goal is to help people feel safer while they vacation and now that people will be driving to their destination rather than flying, outdoor billboards will be seen by many faces.

While targeting age, demographics, and interest will, for the most part, remain the same, it's messaging of your business advertisements that will change to adjust to people's new lifestyle. You want your advertisements to give a feeling of safety.

In addition, it's important to remember that people are ready to spend, although their vacation spots are limited. That means you have to create better advertisements that outshine your competitors. 

You want your target market to spend their carefully earned dollars on your business. 

How to Improve Your Advertisements

Your advertisements should not only be about safety and the well-being of the customer, but it should also be more precise and targeted. 

That means writing a better headline as well as body copy that specifically addresses how you can help your target market. You want to avoid being overly general. You want to hit home on specific pain points and show what your business is doing to help the customers. 

You should also consider advertising more on social media, with more people hanging out online during the pandemic. This means you should consider posting and advertising more on social media in order to promote your business. 

If you want to see how you can generate revenue from social media posts, check out this blog article. 

Overall, it's always important to improve your advertisements to achieve better results. But it's more important than ever to show people how you're maintaining health and safety rules and ensuring their safety is of the utmost importance. 

Now You Know How to Attract Customers This Fall

While the economy has slowed down a bit during the pandemic, it's still an opportunity for your business to adjust and generate sales. It's an opportunity to attract customers with targeted messaging. 

You want to show your target market how your business is adjusting during COVID-19. You want to promote your brand and show people that your business is safer than ever to shop at. So now is not the time to halt your advertising but just to adjust your messaging and advertising platforms.

If you need help with how to attract customers this Fall, contact Optic Marketing Group today to get started. Optic Marketing Group is a full-service marketing agency that specializes in HVAC marketing. 

by Optic Marketing

The 3 Stages of the Media Buying Process

If you're unsure of what media buying is, it's when you buy ad space to promote your message. 

It's a way to reach your target market. 

In other words, a business that wants media buying should look for the lowest cost that offers the best placement. You want to pay less for people to see it the most. 

That's the most basic concept of media buying. However, there's a lot that goes into the strategy behind it. You need to know your target market, the placement of your ads, the conversion rate, brand awareness, and more. 

The better your strategy, the more likely your conversion rate will improve and you'll be able to generate sales. If you want a solid strategy, you need to know about the three stages of the media buying process. 

This article discusses these three stages and how they can help your business. 

Stage 1 

Stage 1 is pre-launching. 

That means figuring out all the nitty-gritty details before the launch. It's the research behind the launch that will make it successful. Here's all the research you should have compiled before you actually launch. 

Know Your Target Market

Understanding who you're targeting is key to any launch. You want to make sure the product or service is the perfect fit for the ideal customer. 

When you do have a target market, you need to segment them based on interests, age, demographics, as well as other factors. When you segment your audience, it enables you to send a more specific message. You can send more targeted messages. 

Here are some questions you should be asking about your target market: 

• What problems do they have? 
• Why would they shop at your business or use your services over others? 
• What are they thinking about that you could help them solve? 
• How do they book your services? 

These are just some of the questions to consider when understanding your target market. Ultimately, the more you know about your target market, the more you can help them. 

Who Are Your Competitors? 

After you figure out your target market, you will need to figure out who your competitors are and why some of the target market chooses to hire them instead of you. 

When you're researching your competitors, you need to figure out if they are targeting a different group and how they are advertising differently. Are they offering a service that you don’t offer? What about a rebate or special coupon? 

Choose Design and Figure Out Your Budget

Another key part of stage one of the media buying process is the actual design of your ad. You want to choose if your media will be on radio or television. You may decide to also do it on social media. 

After you decide, you need to figure out how your message is specifically designed for that media outlet because every one of them requires a unique message. 

You also want to set a specific budget to your marketing campaign. You will also have to prepare for unplanned expenses. 

If you want to see how we help businesses with the media buying process and our work with past clients, can check it out on our website. 

Stage 2

Stage 2 of the media buying process is the actual campaign launch. 

This is when your business monitors the campaign and sees if there are adjustments that need to be made. Although you know everything about your target market at this point, you will still need to see how they react to your advertisements. 

Worst case scenario, you may need to scrap the entire strategy if the conversion rate is horrible. 

But stage 2 is really about how to optimize the campaign. It's important to see how the consumers react and how you can change your campaign to reflect their behavior. That's why it's critical to continue monitoring any changes. 

Another important piece here is what happens after customers contact your business after seeing your advertisement. The ads generate the leads, but the internal sales and service teams are what closes the deal. So you will also want to check in on how you are doing during the process as well. If you are finding that leads are not turning into sales, this is where you will want to check for any areas of improvement. 

Call listening and call handling are important components of this step, especially in the home services and HVAC industry. In fact, they can make or break your bottom line. You can read our full guide on customer service call handling tips here. 

Stage 3 

Stage 3 of the media buying process is post-launch. 

This is when you figure out what went wrong and right after adjustments were made during the launch. It's a time for discussion and seeing what your conversion rate was. 

You should also assess what your ROI was and if it was better than anticipated. You can also evaluate the daily ROI and why it was better on some days during the launch. 

After you've done a thorough assessment of your campaign, you can have an idea of what to do better next time. You can figure out if you need to change your audience or change the campaign messaging. 

In addition, don't forget to look at the data. It can provide you insight on what part of your segmented list purchased the most. You can also look out for trends. 

Overall, it's important to evaluate each stage of the media buying process. You want to ensure that your campaign is set up for success. The more analysis and preparation you put into each state can determine how successful your campaign is. 

Now You Know Everything About the Media Buying Process

Now you know everything about the three stages of the media buying process. These 3 stages can help you figure out how to be successful. It's important to take a deep dive into the research and figuring out who you're targeting. 

You also want to ensure you choose the right medium to express your campaign to the right audience. You should also take a careful look at the data and see how you can improve your next campaign. 

Now it's your turn to succeed with media buying. 

The media buying process is quite complex and can be a bit overwhelming, especially when you are just getting started. You can save a lot of time and money by hiring a professional who has this method down to a science. Contact Optic Marketing Group to get started with a mass media campaign for your HVAC or home services business.

by Optic Marketing

This Is the Importance of Advertising During a Recession

One of the first recessions dates back to 1857. One of the key things businesses need to remember with a recession is to never stop advertising. In fact, the cost to advertise your business will drop during a recession. 

That's why it's important to advertise during a recession. But there's also another value in advertising during a recession that can help it profit more than ever. 

Here's a guide that can offer some insight on the value of advertising during an economic downturn that can actually help your business. 

People Are Still Spending Money

Although a recession means there are people with fewer jobs, it doesn't mean they are spending less. They are still spending money, but they are choosing more wisely where to spend it. 

That's why it's vital to make sure your business stands out more than ever. It means your advertisements need to be more precise and accurate to your target market. 

You want to give people a reason to spend money on your business, especially if they are being more considerate of what they spend their money on. You either need to make your advertisements better or you need to make them more widespread so people see them more. 

Your Brand Matters More Than Ever

Another important thing to remember if you are advertising during a recession is that people are looking to spend on brands that they care about. They want to spend money on brands that care about them. 

That's why your brand's messaging matters more than ever. Your brand is the story you are telling your audience. It's what the customer feels when they buy your product. 

You have to make sure that the customer feels something positive and reassures them they are making a positive purchase. 

In addition, you need to make sure your brand stays on the top of everyone's mind. You want to outshine your competitors. You want to show how your brand offers the most to your customers. 

When it comes to brand, it's important to convey trust and authenticity. You want people to trust that your brand is better than your competitors. You also want to be authentic and show people that you care about them during a recession. 

Most importantly, you want to convey how stable your business is during the recession. You want to show people that they can trust you during a recession and that you're not going to go out of business. 

You can convey this trust by writing blog articles or it can show in your advertisements. Overall, you want to reassure people that you will be there for them. 

What to Keep In Mind During a Recession

When it comes to advertising during a recession, it's important to remember the key points to any marketing strategy. The goal is to help people through this difficult time from the recession. 

As you advertise on social media or anywhere, you want to remember the importance of what people are going through and empathize with them. Empathy can often go a long way. 

Here are some things to remember when you advertise during a recession.

Remember Who You Are Targeting. 

It's important to remember who you're targeting and what they are going through. You want to create a message that shows you care about their needs.

In addition, you also want to be sensitive to who you are targeting. Your advertisements should be slightly tweaked to reflect the recession. You don't want to assume people will buy from you because they have money. 

You want to assume people will buy from you because you care about them. 

Choose Your Advertising Wisely

While it's important to advertise during a recession, it doesn't mean you should blow your entire budgeting on every marketing campaign. You want to be precise and think about where people are hanging out. 

You should figure out what social media or advertising platform will give you the highest ROI. Or maybe an outdoor billboard would make the most sense as consumers are driving to their destinations rather than flying. 

You want to ensure that your marketing campaign is the most effective and not assume that everything will work because it's a recession. 

You can see what platforms are the best to advertise on for businesses with this blog post. 

Provide More Value

Lastly, it's crucial that you provide more value to your target market. 

If your target market needs more help than ever, then you should be willing to give it. That means writing more blog content, offering more guides, and showing people how you can help them. 

You want to give as much value to your core market because they will always think about your business and how you helped them. Providing value is a way to constantly remind them that you are there for them. 

Why Advertising During a Recession Is More Important Than Ever

Advertising during a recession can offer your business a lot of success. But you have to be sensitive and careful about how you craft our marketing campaign's message. 

You want to show people that you care about them rather than enticing them to always buy. If done right, your business can boom during a recession with the right kind of advertising. Yet it's important to understand the correct way to advertise. 

Marketing agencies like Optic Marketing Group who specialize in HVAC marketing, know exactly what you need to do to best advertise your services during a recession. If you want help with your marketing campaign, you can contact us here. 

by Optic Marketing