TV Advertising and Direct Marketing Neck-in-neck as Leading Advertising Solutions

As part of the 2021 SavvySME Media Buying Consumer Report, which analyses a wide range of advertising needs for small businesses, researchers looked at the behaviour of over 940 companies ranging across the North American (NA), Europe-Middle East-African (EMEA), and Asian-Pacific (APAC) markets to determine the most in-demand media buying streams. 

This research looked into outsourcing behaviour on business community marketplace, SavvySME with the results showing traditional media is still top of mind for businesses.

TV advertising was the most in-demand media buying stream with 20.40% of SMEs investing in this form of advertising. Direct advertising (which includes direct mail, email, telemarketing and television marketing) followed closely at 18.42%. 

Despite the presumed high cost investments required for traditional media advertising, SMEs are still investing heavily in these streams compared to the comparatively lower cost options in print. 

Businesses are investing in niche channels to minimise cost and maximise returns. SavvySME Influencer in Retail, Edwina Gleeson, explains:

"I found radio advertising very successful for my business.  Hope radio station in Sydney is a Christian radio station that reached many of my target market in The Hills district as they were in their cars on the way to work or doing the school run.

In fact, out of all the advertising, it has been the best. I ran ads on the back of buses for 3 months and got not one sale from that effort. Hope radio is a good introduction as they have very reasonable rates compared to your bigger stations. The money I spent was recouped with the sales that were generated."

This applies to print advertising as well. Magazine and newspaper advertisements accounted for 13.75% of SME outsourcing in advertising and media buying, in fifth and sixth place respectively. SavvySME Influencer in Content Marketing, Tam Bui elaborates: 

"When it comes to print advertising, circulation is everything, and you can reach your demographic for a cheaper cost. In terms of the cost to advertise in printed publications, they can really range. To advertise a large-scale newspaper, it can cost thousands of dollars, but an ad in a local newspaper can cost as little as $70."

Unsurprisingly, digital advertising came in fourth, capturing 12.58% of SME outsourcing, providing businesses with niche targeting and lower cost per acquisition. This figure does not include another 4.55% in mobile advertising, 2.97% in paid search campaigns, 2.08% in the Google Display Network, 1.39% in both Google Shopping ads and remarketing, 0.87% and 0.79% in Google Adwords and PPC management respectively, for a combined 25.23%.

SavvySME Top Influencer in Display Advertising, Renee Rollestone comments on the rise of OTT advertising in online advertising: 

“Amazon states that companies that use both online video and display ads have a 150% increase in purchases and a 320% increase in web traffic. So clearly, OTT advertising on streaming, video, and gaming advertising is quite successful. 

In a Nielsen poll, over 80% of respondents had used an OTT platform in their week. It has become a crucial aspect of our daily life, which means your audience will be HUGE. Even if you target a subsection of the audience, it’s going to be a fairly large chunk regardless.”

Despite the recent rise in online marketing mediums, the research shows businesses are still multi-pronged in their advertising efforts and investing substantially in traditional mediums as much as digital ones. SavvySME Top Influencer in Marketing, Paige Arnof-Fenn explains why multi-marketing approach has become the preferred approach: 

“It comes down to where the best place is to find your customers. Traditional marketing, including tv, print, direct mail, etc., can be very effective when trying to reach an audience that tends to skew older, less tech-savvy, or where lots of information needs to be processed and considered to make a buying decision. 

There is no one silver bullet in the marketing tool kit, so the best bet is to look at the budget and put together a realistic strategy and plan to reach your customers in the most effective ways possible.  Each vehicle has strengths and weaknesses so using a mix of tools is ideal with the right message getting to the right audience.”

Source: 2021 SavvySME Media Buying Consumer Report

If you're finding it difficult to manage multiple advertising streams, there are many affordable companies in your area that can help you get your business the exposure it needs.