Selecting High Return Media Channels to Generate Leads
The American Association of Advertising Agencies last reported the average American consumer was bombarded with 3,000 messages daily. In the Chicago market alone, we have nearly 500 channels of content on Comcast cable, over 40 radio stations, hundreds of miles of billboards; add in taxi tops, sandwich boards, building signage, newspapers, and 200 million pages of content on the internet, and you understand just how overwhelmed – and some say desensitized – we’ve become with messaging and advertisement overload. This means your media plan has to work that much harder. Mass media strategies are no longer universal. A highly targeted multi-channel media strategy is now the elixir for generating leads. But knowing which of those channels will return the greatest ROI is what CBD provides its clients.
Many marketers approach lead generation as an advertising activity refined by ongoing performance analysis. This type of media planning is reactive inviting undesirable budget waste as a by-product. And even with optimization efforts, still the final media plan is likely to yield less-than-desired results as it was based on media efficiencies and not desired lead generation-oriented results.
CBD takes an outcome-based approach to lead generation formulating media plans based on projected KPIs (key performance indicators). This type of media planning places a high degree of accountability on every media channel and venue under analysis to perform desired actions - data capture, information request, apply now – before it’s ever executed. This allows for greater control over optimization variables in your media plan that ultimately heightens performance of lead generation and conversion. A welcome by-product is greatly reduced budget waste and increased cost per lead or cost per action.
CBD’s hallmark media plans for lead generation rest with understanding the behavior of the target and serving relevant messages that resonate within the environment in which they are served and the mindset of the individual in which they will be accepted and acted upon. Media consumption research pinpoints preferences and daypart usage are paramount to media selection. Our set of considerations for establishing high-return media vehicles continues with analyzing marketplace dynamics. For example, when does the strategy call for use of affiliate networks instead of ad networks?
Does creative messaging influence media? Offers and calls-to-action may require unique messaging only afforded by the dynamics of specific media usage. For example, the winning user path of banner ad to landing page can be circumvented with multi-tab animated gifs featuring multiple, segmented offers.
A lead generation program has the expectations of response, whereas brand awareness programs have the expectation of building familiarity and positive reinforcement of the brand values. One has broad reach, the other has targeted reach. CBD can point the way to leveraging the difference.
