Cable TV might be a strategic advertising option for GeoDomains (and other web sites).
I’ve just signed a deal to buy cable TV advertising to promote Lakeway.com, my geo web site for Lakeway, Texas. The ads will run on CNN, FoxNews, A&E, and a local news channel a little over 200 times each month. Here are my observations about cable TV advertising:
-Cable TV ads can usually be targeted to ‘zones’ within a city; you don’t have to advertise to the entire area. This can make it much more affordable.
-I’m not sure how much traffic the ads will drive to Lakeway.com nor how to track it. Online advertising is easy to track; for cable advertising I’ll just have to look for general trends and if any new advertisers say they saw the ads.
-Ad terms are different for TV advertising, as you are quoted a “price per point” instead of “cost per thousand”. A point is 1% of the viewers. Overall I’ll pay about a $15-$20 CPM.
-Part of the reason I’m doing cable ads is to comfort advertisers. They all ask “how do you get traffic to your site”. I can explain Google Adwords and search engine optimization, but they usually don’t get it. They understand tv ads, local sponsorships, etc.
-We’re going to sprinkle in features of various Lakeway businesses in the ads. The featured businesses will be advertisers on the site, so this will be an added benefit for them. This should help us get more advertisers.
-Ordering cable TV ads isn’t easy. It’s not like ordering online ads where it’s all self-serve. You have to meet with an account rep, tell them what you’re looking for, get a quote, fine-tune it, etc. Google still offers TV advertising but it’s not local. I think there’s a business opportunity to really bring local TV advertising online, where you can literally pick your networks, time slots, calculate pricing, etc.
David J Castello says
Smart idea, Andrew, and I’m curious to see if it ends up being cost effective. The only drawback may be that that once you start (and point it out to your advertisers), you may have to keep going with it. Theoretically, I’d put my money on freeway billboards, but your strategy may be more cost effective.
Andrew Allemann says
David – I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m considering billboards too.
Roger Collins says
Glad to see another domainer climb up the food chain to website publisher. Although I served the niche for years, I never really liked the name “domainer” because it is too limiting if you take it to heart. The best domainers are really sales people, website builders, affiliate marketers, lots of things besides just domain name investors.
Of course the name of something is important, but the something is almost always more important. Like tires on a car. The car can’t function without them, but the car is the main thing. Websites are the main thing on the Internet, not domain names.
Frankie says
This was just inspiring to read
owen frager says
Smart move. btw, Adage just did a story that most ads are not for consumers. Did you know the coke ads are targeted to retailers in order to justify in their mind why they should be favored for shelf space? It’s all about perception.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Owen – interesting. I guess that sums up why I’m doing this: both to get more eyeballs and more advertisers.
Alan says
Andrew,
You may want to look at spotrunner.com – know a few people that used this service for TV ads and worked out pretty well. Of course, its always hard to track but the cost of commercials is one of the biggest expenses and these guys have some pretty decent inventory where you can overlay your product.
Good luck
Andrew Allemann says
@ Alan – I thought the cost of commercial production would be the most expensive part, but Time Warner will do an onsite shoot and edit for something like $750. I’ve actually hired a friend’s production company in Austin to do it for me.
I looked into SpotRunner in general. They’re looking for people with fairly sizable budgets.
Sip says
@Andrew – My wife runs commercials via spotrunner on ocassion and her budget is actually pretty low… the most expensive item was the customization of one of spotrunner’s generic templates (a voiceover and adding her contact information to the end of the ad) that was ~$500.
She re-uses the 30 second add when she decides to run more spots, which they provide to you via CD.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Sip – thanks for the info. I guess I was turned off my SpotRunner’s quote form that or some documents I downloaded that mentioned $10k budgets. Maybe it was just for national ads.
Steve M says
Owen’s point is well taken.
Similarly, all those full-page real estate company ads are not for (and very rarely do) sell the homes contained w/in them…they are for making their sellers happy…and for impressing potential new sellers/listers.
I tested it years ago, and the little “reader” ads in the classified sections pull 2-4x as many ad/potential buyer calls as the exact same ads contained w/in those large ads.
And the real estate companies know it.
jp says
SanDiego.org, has been advertising a ton here in San Diego on tv recently. I’m sure SanDiego.com is enjoying the results.
Gordon says
I will be very interested to hear the results, but my instinct is that you won’t see too much traffic from it.
I’ve done radio ads and print ads for both an ecommerce site and a non-eccomerce site, and have even had a site on the today show, on local news etc. The traffic was never huge – a random post on a decent blog always brought me more traffic.
Good luck!
Andrew Allemann says
@ Gordon – A couple years ago I had a site that was featured in a local news column, on TV, and in a couple magazines. The local news column drove the most traffic, mostly from people reading the online version.
Alan says
A couple thoughts
jp,
People will always lose minor traffic to the .com but it doesn’t matter – is you have a solid business plan around a .org or .stupid it will still work and the monies saved from paying for a .com can be sometimes justified depending on the name / model (I said sometimes)
Gordon,
If I’m correct Andrew is hoping for traffic but the campaign is not about traffic as much as it is credibility. Unless I’m missing something with lakeway.com (and to be honest, almost every geo site) it’s about building the brand and getting advertising dollars from local business. It’s not about conversions for selling bubbleheads or vacation packages so traffic is great but the brand is more important and the theory of “build it they will come” applies.
At first, I was thinking about Andrew’s quote … “I guess I was turned off my SpotRunner’s quote form that or some documents I downloaded that mentioned $10k budget” … Radio, like TV is only effective the more you run and the slots you choose. 10k is an extremely small budget in the radio world to buy quality airtime but more importantly it’s an investment that has to continue to run month after month since it takes time to build awareness and a brand. Until that brand is somewhat build an owner must continue the monthly spend otherwise when the ads stop, so does the brand building. For geo domain owners “this extremely small budget” is actually an incredible large investment since most do not have the luxury of seeing returns from units sold or phone calls converting to leads on a daily basis – it truly is about building creditability.
I remember a few years ago we purchased some ads in the New York Times and with that came the ability to say “As seen in the New York Times” … that money was some of the best we ever spent. Did we buy the ads ever to expect a return dollar for dollar based on the simple math of how much traffic we got from the ad? Hell, no. The only reason I even cut the check was to use these words and showcase some “street credit” to our visitors. Time after time people mentioned this little blurb when they called in.
By not diving in deep with ad costs, creating an ad which can probably be viewed on Lawkeway.com at some point and being able to say “As seen on CNN, Fox News, A&E etc…” is worth the money.
My only advice … once you get the ad and finish your initial contract … limit the rotation to a skeleton show every month or just stop since you can easily spend 100k on TV ads but that money is better spent promoting the hell out of where Lakeway.com has been seen or sponsoring a morning radio show for a couple days a month.
Note …. EVERYTHING you hear on the radio is an Ad. Free burgers at Papa’s Deli for the next caller …. Yep, Papa Deli’s cut a deal with them – its not because the morning crew really think they have the best burgers in town. Media is an illusion – we only hear what others pay for us to listen to.
I’m also with David on Billboards … they are probably more effective (although very pricy) but not only do users see them but the ADVERTISERS you want will see them every day.
Good luck …. !!!