One of the most important decisions you can make when developing an advertising strategy is also one of the easiest to get wrong: deciding where to put your advertising dollars.
Too often, the question is, “How much should we spend on television?” or “Should we advertise on social media?” But those are not the questions that should come first.
The better question is: Where does our target audience spend its time, and what combination of media will most effectively reach that audience and move them toward a purchase or action?
That is the foundation of an effective media mix.
At ON Advertising, we believe media selection should never be based simply on what is popular, what worked for another company, or what happens to be the least expensive option. The right media mix is determined by the industry, the audience, the buying journey, the geographic market, the objective, and, ultimately, where your customers are most likely to see, consider, and respond to your message.
Different Audiences Require Different Strategies
There is no universal media plan because there is no universal consumer.
Consider a healthcare organization trying to reach adults making decisions about their own healthcare or the healthcare of a family member. That audience may consume television, search Google for information, visit healthcare websites, use social media, and read online reviews. A successful campaign may therefore require a combination of television, paid search, digital display, social media, content marketing, and retargeting.
Now consider a homebuilder trying to reach people actively considering purchasing a new home. Search advertising can be particularly important because consumers may already be searching for new homes, builders, communities, floor plans, and financing information. Digital video and social media can help generate awareness, while targeted display advertising and retargeting can keep the community in front of prospects throughout a longer decision-making process. Television and outdoor advertising may also expand awareness in the geographic market.
The audience determines the strategy.
Media Should Follow the Customer Journey
Consumers rarely see one advertisement and immediately make a purchase. Most decisions involve multiple touchpoints. Someone might first see a television commercial, later encounter the company on social media, search for the business online, visit its website, watch a video, read reviews, and eventually complete a form or make a phone call.
That means the job of media is not simply to generate impressions. It is to create connected opportunities for consumers to move from awareness to consideration to action. Each medium plays a different role. The strength comes from how those channels work together.
Industry Matters Because Buying Behavior Matters
As you know, different industries have different sales cycles.
A restaurant may be able to influence a consumer’s decision to eat with them within minutes or hours. Geo-targeted digital advertising, social media, search, streaming audio, and promotional offers can therefore be highly relevant.
A financial institution, by contrast, may need to establish trust over a much longer period. Its media strategy may require a broader combination of television, radio, digital video, paid search, social media, content marketing, and community outreach.
For B2B companies, the strategy may look completely different. LinkedIn, search advertising, industry publications, email marketing, thought leadership, webinars, and account-based marketing may be more appropriate because the audience is smaller and the purchasing process involves multiple decision-makers.
The point is simple: the medium must fit the way the audience makes decisions.
Reach Isn’t Enough
A large audience does not necessarily mean the right audience. A campaign can generate millions of impressions and still produce disappointing results if those impressions are reaching people who have little interest in your product or service.
That is why media planning must consider more than reach and frequency. It should examine audience demographics, geography, interests, behaviors, purchase intent, media consumption habits, and the specific action the advertiser wants the consumer to take.
For example, a business targeting Hispanic consumers should consider not only where Hispanic consumers are consuming media, but also language preferences, cultural nuances, and the specific segments within that broader audience. A Mexican-American consumer in Phoenix may respond differently to messaging than a recently arrived Spanish-speaking consumer or a bilingual second-generation consumer. Effective targeting requires understanding the audience.
The Right Mix Also Improves Accountability
A strategic media mix allows businesses to measure how different channels contribute to results. Digital platforms can provide detailed performance data. Search can reveal high-intent behavior. Social media can measure engagement and conversions. Television, radio, and outdoor can expand market awareness and reach audiences that may not be captured through digital channels alone.
When these channels are connected through tracking, attribution, and analytics, you can see what happened after they were reached.
That information can inform future decisions and help shift dollars toward the channels, audiences, and messages producing the strongest business results.
There Is No “One-Size-Fits-All” Media Plan
The right media mix is not necessarily the one with the most channels. It is the one that puts the right message in front of the right audience, in the right environment, at the right stage of the buying journey.
For one business, that may mean television and digital. For another, it may mean search, social and email. For another, it may require a combination of broadcast, streaming, outdoor, paid social, programmatic, search and public relations.
At ON Advertising, we start with the audience and work backward. We examine who you need to reach, what motivates that audience, where they consume media, how they make purchasing decisions, and what action the campaign needs to generate. From there, we develop a media strategy designed to connect those consumers with the brand across the channels that make the most sense.
Because successful advertising isn’t about being everywhere, it is about being where your customers are and giving them the right reason to pay attention.