TV Is Not Dead

All too often I’m asked the question from retailers on where they should be investing their ad dollars:  TV or the Internet.  Folks this is not zero sum proposition.   If you’re not doing both – then you’re missing the boat.

 The formula for success is relatively simple, in my opinion:

Use TV advertising to engage, entice and persuade consumers to get more information about your product or service from your website. 

Once on your site, inform, educate and sell them on doing business with your company – either online or in person. 

Of course, if you’re product requires little explanation … then it’s plausible that prospects can and will respond to your TV offer with little need for a website visit.  But, don’t fool yourself, if you’re anything less than a household name (i.e. McDonald’s or Coke), potential customers will most likely want to check you out on the web before walking through your door.  And they better like what they see – within 5 seconds or they’ll exit your website immediately.

Believe it or not, even in the midst of today’s Internet explosion, there are still some retailers that don’t get it. I recently had a furniture store chain client whose only web presence was a simple splash page that included nothing more than store hours and addresses.  The client did not have a website.  And the really sad part – there was no hurry to get one.

The client’s explanation defied logic.  There was concern that people would judge the client by the website and then decide not to shop at the stores. No amount of pleading and prodding could convince the client to look at both the storefronts and website as one in the same.

Your company’s website should be a reflection of the experience customers get when they shop your stores.  It should be intuitive, interactive and INTERESTING. That’s the point my dear furniture retailer did not understand. 

A ton of TV spots won’t help if consumers become disenchanted when they land on your website.  

Despite the naysayers, people are still influenced by what they see on TV, but today they require more than just a 30-second commercial to help close the deal.  Make sure you’re giving it to them with an easy-to-navigate website that is more than an online company brochure. 

Remember:  “No media is an island.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Interactive, Trends, TV advertising. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.