TV produces the most profit at the greatest cost efficiency for the lowest risk.
Every major piece of research into advertising effectiveness, including those commissioned by competing media, agrees that TV outperforms all other.
TV not only delivers short term profit, an average of 20% greater than print and 100% more than online display, this more than doubles when you look at the long-term gains, measured for 3 years and based on an ongoing but not constantly active campaign.
TV is proven to make other channels work harder – from the obvious of PPC and organic search, but also online display (average 25%) social media interaction (average 33%) but also radio, press and outdoor.
TV has become more effective over time, with the range of channels and TV viewing platforms now available you can buy cheaper and more efficiently. 25 years ago, the average sales uplift to a TV campaign was 12% from 2008, in 2019 this has increased to 40%, which is why online brands have more than doubled their spend on TV in the last 5 years making them the largest on TV.
TV increases sales across the portfolio, so you would expect to see a surge in sales on the product you advertise, but there is also an increase in sales of product not advertised of up to 31%.
TV rules the media day with 33% compared to 11% on social media, 17% on internet browsing and just 4% on press. There are now more places than ever to consume TV – from the big screen in your living room (66% of main TV’s are over 40”) to your phone, tablet or laptop. There are also many platforms from linear TV to You Tube to catch up TV.
TV viewing hours have increased so whilst new devices, platforms and subscription services have evolved, live TV still makes up 83% of the viewing (higher for 35+) and the additions have not only increased impacts overall but made light viewers slightly easier to reach.
TV ads are talked about more than any other media: it is the most trusted medium and the majority of people are watching to relax and unwind so they are in a positive state of mind.
TV has unbeatable reach and scale. 95% of individuals watch TV and the more you spend, the greater the gains (to a limit of course) but spend becomes more efficient over time with immediate sales and long term sales disproportionately increasing, partly due to the impact of increased exposure, but also because you can refine and optimise your campaign as it evolves.
TV is low risk – costs of making a TV commercial are highly competitive and if you are looking to drive response then you don’t need to spend the earth. The visual element gives you a strong connection, the sounds mean you can tell them all the information you want and you have a captive audience. Whilst a lot of the information above is linked with brand campaigns with large budgets it is also very true of smaller daytimes only campaigns too.
People now multiscreen view on average 40 mins a day making the synergy with TV and online greater than ever and making it easier than ever to respond immediately to advertising. It is highly measurable with Google Analytics and TV software tracking packages so your campaign will only improve over time.
Despite all the new additions to the TV world (devices, services etc) linear TV still dwarfs even the largest subscription service, Netflix, with their most successful original programme, Stanger Things coming in at 105 in the viewing figures by programme. Live TV is still 83% of viewing so it is very much the front runner.
We have three clients who were spending £50k a month on press, inserts and digital (combined) who then started spending £15k a month on TV (production costs ranged from £10k to £18k) and their web traffic more than doubled.
Some of this came from direct traffic (about 35%) some generic search (10%) but the majority from brand PPC, which drove the cost per lead/sale from this by 50% and doubled the volumes. Had they spent an extra £15k or £50k for that matter in their existing media it would never have achieved this. Spend has then increased gradually month by month and has become the lead medium in 2 out of 3 cases and all have continued with ongoing TV campaigns.
So, in summary, if you are looking to grow your business in the most cost-effective way then TV is the answer. It will drive phone calls, footfall (when shops are allowed to open again) web traffic and most importantly sales. It is the most consumed media in our advertising day and it will lift not only your other media but also sales, not only of the product you advertise, but your entire range.
With thanks to Thinkbox for the stats and up to date information shared in this article