This video describes some aspects of Facebook’s targeting and artificial intelligence features that advertisers leverage when initiating ad campaigns. Which, by the way, could also be pertinent to other AI-based targeting on other platforms, such as Google and Amazon.
Although it’s clear that when an advertiser is indicating targeting preferences for his or her ads, the intent is to present those ads to viewers who are deemed to be the most likely to be interested. However, according to research from Northeastern University, Facebook sometimes displays ads to highly skewed audiences based on the content of the ad. What we don’t know and what this video doesn’t explore, is if the biases are in fact rationally or economically correct or incorrect?
In other words, even if the targeting selected by an advertiser is not designating racial or gender bias (for example), but the Facebook algorithms and data science determine that a specific gender or race is more likely to find the ad relevant, is that good or bad?
As an advertiser, I like the idea of generating the greatest results with the lowest cost.
TV advertising costs can be surprising. Few things have such a cost variance as television ads. For most people, what’s not surprising is how expensive they can be. The main surprise is how inexpensive TV advertising can be. (Having said that, the least expensive options may not be the best opportunities, either).
Overall, the cost of producing a commercial can run from as little as $1,000 if you are using stock photography and a simple voice over to upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars if you need to have multiple cameras, hire union actors and filmmakers and are looking for a final look that reflects high production value.
Following are some fundamentals about TV advertising costs.
TWO MAIN COSTS OF TV COMMERCIALS
1) A TV commercial needs to be produced 2) The TV ad needs to be broadcast
If you have a fixed budget, you can spend less on the production and more on getting the message out on the airwaves. Conversely, you could spend a bigger chunk of the budget on the production of the commercial and spend less on the broadcasting. For most advertisers, the budget is dependent upon an evaluation of short and long-term business objectives.
Broadcasting costs can be as cheap as $25 for 30 seconds in a small market, or thousands of dollars in large markets. But of course, you cannot buy just one spot. Hence, you’ll be buying a package of spots. So, even on the low end, for the least expensive placements, you’ll be spending a few thousand dollars, depending upon the market.
NATIONAL OR LOCAL TV?
National TV advertising is more expensive. Although some of the biggest brands may spend millions of dollars for a 30-second spot on the Superbowl, a more routine number would be in the six-figure range for 30 seconds on national TV.
Conversely, local TV can be surprisingly economical. If you are a local or regional company and you aren’t selling a product or service to a national market, then the decision is simple: buy local TV advertising.
A local commercial on a local station at 2:00 am can run as cheap at $25 per 30 seconds. However, 2:00 in the morning may not be the best time to advertise your product or service, even though it can be inexpensive.
TV COST VARIABLES
There are a number of factors that determine the cost of broadcasting a TV ad. Such variables include:
The region it will be aired (some are more expensive)
Time of day
Day of week
Quantity of expected viewers
Length of the commercial (15 sec, 30 sec, 60 sec or a 30 min infomercial)
How frequently the spots will run
In brief, the cost of broadcasting a 30-second spot mostly varies according to the number of viewers expected to be watching it.
To throw out some ballpark numbers on the low side, which would pertain to many small- to mid-sized businesses, a 30-second time slot in a medium-sized market can be purchased for as little as $5 per 1,000 viewers.
And bear in mind that a quantity of airings is vital to measuring effectiveness. If you run a commercial just once, it’s very unlikely you’ll see any increase in sales. Repetitive broadcasting generates the viewership familiarity that will make your message memorable.
Finally, if you think your products or service might qualify for our pay-for-performance partnership, including video and TV, visit our TWO PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE MODELS.
