Infomercial Marketing – Infomercial Media Buying + Media Buying

Statistics throw up some interesting facts. Nowadays infomercials account for at least 25% of all television commercials. And nearly two third of the American viewers have watched an infomercial sometime or the other. Potential customers for DRTV are usually more affluent and educated. Although previously female customers outstripped the males, it is changing slowly but surely now.

Infomercials tap into the emotional side of viewers. Watching the product in its entirety, being explained all the aspects of the product, watching it in actual use – all these go a long way in building the viewer’s trust. This is a special advantage for complex products like repair kits and multi piece sets where the potential customer has the satisfaction of knowing exactly how to use the product in its totality before deciding to buy it. Nothing is vague or left to the imagination. Surprisingly according to a survey, infomercial viewers are more likely to trust infomercials than congress, used car salesmen and corporate executives!

Unlike traditional advertisements, the viewer is a part of the infomercial. The presenter talks directly to the viewer which works sub-consciously at a near-personal level and persuades the viewer to call for more information or to even place an order. Attractive buy-back policies, discounts and freebies add to the winning formula. Add-ons are also very important for a successful infomercial campaign to maintain the recall value of a product.

President elect Obama used a successful DRTV / infomercial marketing campaign to gain traction. He used both long from drtv and short form drtv for his campaign.

Its just amazing to see how his media plan and his drtv media buyer put together such a comprehensive plan.

Gone are the days when infomercials were the exclusively confined to late night spots. That used to be the time when those guys in infomercials would sell products that seemed ground breaking, innovative, or at worst, downright weird. Today, these very same direct response adverts have whole channels dedicated to them. And when you see that big players like MGM and Apple have made themselves comfortable in this medium, you know that DRTV has arrived big time.

Infomercials are all about storytelling. The biggest advantage of an infomercial is that there is plenty of time to present the product, talk about its unique points, advantages over other similar products, illustrate its uses with actual demonstrations, talk about its unique points once again, have genuine users testify to the usefulness, talk about its unique points yet again and finally call on the viewers to place their orders right away. Even though people are generally reluctant to buy what they see on TV straight away, infomercials are surprisingly successful. Breakout hits have become virtually goldmines, for example the all time hit, the Ginsu 2000 Knife Set.

Advertisers are being drawn to direct response TV because it’s a more efficient — and flexible — way to acquire ad time and target prospective customers, says Advanced Results Marketing EVP, Beth Vendice. People love magical transformations and the longer time given to infomercials gives ample time for the company to show very thoroughly all the aspects of the product and simulates a hands-on trial for the viewer. Another reason for the success story of infomercials is the very attractive prices and offers (you almost always have many add-ons or gifts thrown in for free). But the biggest attraction of all is the “Order now! Our operators are standing by!” promises that viewers find simply irresistible!