Promote your business on TV with these tips
Television is one of the most powerful ways of getting publicity and promoting your business to potential clients, but it’s also one of the most expensive. Among other things, you have to pay for the airtime, production, and creative work. This may not be a problem for large, well-established businesses, but small companies and startups often struggle with the costs, and sometimes the effort is barely profitable.
But there are several ways to cut down the costs, or even get yourself on TV for free. You don’t have to be famous or have powerful connections (although they might help) – all you need is good planning, some creativity, and an ability to market yourself. Read on to find out how you can use the TV media to your advantage.
- Be the expert – One way to promote your product on TV for free, or at least for less, is to offer advice on your subject on a TV program. This way, you establish yourself as an expert, giving you and your product more credibility. Another advantage of this tactic is that you get to target specific audiences – so you can appear on a health show if you’re selling diet pills, or a sports program if you’re opening a sporting goods store.
- Split the ads – Another way of getting on TV is by adding your content to a similar ad in exchange for splitting the overall costs. To do this, you’ll need to plan a 30- to 60-second commercial to show your prospective partner. If you can afford it, try filming a sample and show it to your prospect from the camcorder window. The clip should talk about the general subject (sports, makeup, etc) so that you can both mention your products casually within the clip. This trick is especially useful if you know a bit of video editing and creative work, because you won’t have to pay as much for post-production – you can even charge your partner for the editing and effects.
- Sponsorship – Televised events related to your field present excellent opportunities for publicity. For example, quiz shows are great for promoting vitamin supplements for kids, and fashion shows can help promote hair and makeup studios. Usually, such events are financed by sponsors in exchange for promoting their products. This can be in the form of short commercials or placing your company name or logo somewhere visible. Most events offer sponsorship packages, where you can pay a set amount to advertise in a given set of mediums. Typically, big sponsors get to advertise on TV and radio, while smaller sponsors only get to put up posters or fliers on site. Some may even let you distribute samples to audiences during the event.
Final tip
Whatever method you choose, you’ll need to promote yourself to producers with a program selling package. This typically consists of a proposal explaining what you want and how they can benefit from airing your message, and sometimes a sample video, storyboard, or script. You can either mail the package to TV stations or send them in personally. Make sure they’re addressed to the program producer, as they are usually the ones who approve appearances. Once you’ve sent them in, keep track of your submissions and follow up occasionally.