In the midst of the rise of the Metaverse and all-consuming TikTok content, the last thing Freestyle expected to see was an increase in traditional media buying for our clients in Oklahoma and beyond.
So, why has traditional media buying become more of a trend lately?
Digital marketing is great and can help advertisers be hyper-specific when targeting specific audiences. This is a great tactic when you know exactly where to find your audiences, who they are, and their habits or behavior. However, much of digital marketing uses third-party data that is not entirely accurate or reliable, and above all, many potential audience members opt out of tracking in one way or another, making the job of the advertiser more difficult.
While traditional media can sometimes overwhelm incorrect audiences by people seeing billboards, hearing radio spots, or watching broadcast ads, there are many benefits including word of mouth, brand recognition and awareness, and an increase in community trust in credibility of a brand.
Billboards, radio spots, and broadcast ads often have an extensive shelf life depending on the duration of the original campaign. The key here is to not overwhelm audiences with the same creative time after time. Examples of this could include having 2-3 billboard designs to rotate at 33% per digital billboard placement, flighting frequency in a strategic pattern for broadcast ads to prevent ad fatigue, or taking a brief break in the campaign altogether. Creating ad fatigue will only make audiences tired of seeing a message and decrease effectiveness in whatever message is being promoted regardless of the advertising platform.
Programmatic + Traditional = Success
Now, the increase in difficulty of targeting digitally is not to say that traditional and digital media platforms cannot be mixed to create the perfect campaign. Where broadcast may fall short with specific targeting, programmatic placements can help fill in the gaps.
Specifically talking video ads, Freestyle has seen success in marketing these traditionally and digitally within the same campaign. With our programmatic partner, StackAdapt, we have been able to flight video campaigns on CTV, Disney/Hulu, and as pre-roll to reach specific audiences while still having a broader focus with selective broadcast programs in a general geographic region.
By monitoring programmatic completion rates we are able to gauge how engaged our audience is with content, and sometimes even track their conversions. Did they visit the site? Purchase a product? Complete the set goal action
Another capability with programmatic videos is our ability to retarget viewers who completed x% of the video with a longer, more informative ad. For example, if John Doe watches 50% or more of a :30 healthcare video, we are able to retarget him a few days later with a :60 healthcare video from the same campaign with more information to help him make an informed decision.
What we’ve seen
In a recent campaign for the Oklahoma City-County Health Department, we had a broad spread of media placement, including billboards, broadcast, mailers, posters, programmatic placements and social ads. When conducting the post-campaign survey, 40% of Oklahoma County recalled having seen an ad, most recall being with broadcast television or billboards.
Social media apps are saturated with ads, making it difficult to cut through the noise. Also, as users see something they may not believe an important message to them, they can opt to no longer see that specific ad. This is where the benefit of traditional advertising comes into play – the message is pushed out to people for them to then decide if it’s something they choose to pay attention to, or maybe they hear it in the background and it helps make a decision at a later date.
Strategy tactics vary based on client goals and needs, but traditional media buying is making an unexpected comeback as a tool to be used in conjunction with digital strategies.
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