Welcome to Resort Marketing Vids. I’m Michael Grimm here for the Resort Developers Association and this week we’re wrapping up our strategy set for video marketing.
Did you ever wonder how the goofball from the local mattress store had enough money in the budget to do a television marketing spot? That’s expensive, right? …Isn’t it?
You know, a lot of people are unaware that before I was introduced to the resort world I had a strong background in film and television. I had an agent in Hollywood and a job at a news studio at just sixteen years old. After that I went to film school and have since worked with about a half a dozen different studios.
One of the things I learned, working at a local television station, is how inexpensive cable advertising can be. Now, if somebody is trying to sell you internet ads they’ll tell you how most people have DVR’s now and fast forward through the commercials.
Or they’ll tell you how most people watch shows online nowadays. Well, all of that could be true, to an extent. But they’re manipulating the data. Most of the people in our demographic – married, aged 35-60. Still watch plenty of TV, they “suffer†through the commercials, and they don’t even use Hulu. Don’t worry if you don’t know what I’m talking about, it just proves my point.
But television advertising is still a very effective medium. And should be used as a part of a greater integrated channel marketing strategy. So how much does it cost, really?
Well, it’ll cost you as little, or as much, as you let it. You can pay for a reasonable network TV spot at two thousand to three thousand dollars a pop. Or you can advertise on a cable network for about ten percent that fee.
Your cost will depend on the timeslot and programming you shoot for, but can be as low as under a hundred dollars per spot.
Wait – a hundred dollars? Right? Hey, I wouldn’t have believed it either if I didn’t actually work for the station.
But with most cable networks you are able to laser target in to a specific zip code, or municipal area – think Targeting your Best Buyers.
Naturally the larger the area you cover, the greater your costs will be. But you can at least get your feet wet for little to nothing at all.
Now how about production? How much is that going o run me? This, also, depends. Do you have a nephew in film school? Is your neighbor in the business? Do you have a member that’s great with a camera? Are you near a university with a film program?
Take advantage of any resources you can to get your ad filmed. From the different firms I’ve worked with, if you do go to a firm, expect to pay anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 for production of a thirty to sixty second spot.
Now, that being said, I’ve seen deals from hiring local talent that was not with a full fledged agency where you can get the whole shebang for as little as five hundred to a thousand dollars.
Yes, in some cases, you will get what you pay for, so always request a demo reel before talking contracts or anything.
But the takeaway for today – take a look at TV. Call your local broadcast and cable networks and get their rates. Television advertising is still a viable medium for us, for now. Take advantage of it while you still can.
For the Resort Developers Association, I’ll see you next week.