Advertising Strategy

4. Media Selection

Identify your segment of the market and decide which media best reach your target audience.

4.1 The choice of media is vast.

It is likely that you will need to advertise in more than one ype of media to be effective.

• Observe where your competitors advertise.Consider using more than one type of media and marketing method (see box).
• Search online to see how easy it is for your customers to find your website.The Internet is often the first place customers go.
• Ask a selection of people from your target market what they read, watch, listen to and which websites they visit.
• Look in BRAD, available in reference libraries.
• Consider the use of a specialist media buying agency to help you.

4.2 Ask newspaper and magazine advertising departments for media packs.

• Look for circulation figures audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
• Ask for a readership profile, which analyses characteristics and spending habits of readers, including the proportions in socio-economic groups A, B, C1, C2, D and E.
• Examine advertising rates for different sizes and types of advertisements and different positions.

4.3 Choose the media that match your needs. Ask yourself some key questions.

• How many members of your target group read a particular publication or visit a certain website and how often?
• Does the publication or site have the right image for your advertisement?
• How much will your ad cost to produce?
• How much will the ad cost to run?

4.4 Investigate the scope for negotiation.

• You might get a big discount for taking unsold ad space at the last minute.
• You might be able to have a larger ad or a better position for the same price.
• Extra discounts may be available for repeat advertising.
• The cost of your Internet advertising could be based on clicks or sales.