Media and "Pure Michigan"

The "Pure Michigan" advertising campaign is carried out on television, radio, on-line and in print.  Having a combination of media helps to reach a broader cross section of the desired audience.  For most businesses, consistently using a limited number of paid media options is best.  Most advertising budgets only allow for doing one or two things well.  Knowing your audience and your message will help you determine which media is right for your business.

Radio is a good choice for business events and image marketing.  It's important for the advertiser to have a large enough budget to create the desired impact or consistency with radio.  Television also requires consistent repetition to have the desired effect.  Television and radio both are good at demographic targeting.  Television offers the advertiser the opportunity to show what they have to offer in an eye catching format.  The "Pure Michigan" marketing uses both television and radio for the ability to evoke emotion and build image.

The on-line portion of the "Pure Michigan" marketing includes a website, Facebook and YouTube.  A website can be done well and inexpensively but needs to be updated regularly.  To have an appropriate website designed it's best to know what the purpose of the site will be.  Facebook is free but requires a time commitment to to keep it fresh.  Facebook is great for customer interaction and Facebook only offers.  YouTube may not be right for all businesses.  Perhaps having a customer contest to create a YouTube video for your business could be fun and attract attention.

The print portion of the "Pure Michigan" campaign is the annual Michigan travel guide.  It provides details about attractions and events all over Michigan.  Most local businesses aren't likely to require a publication that large or detailed.  Print media is a good choice if you have a lot of information or images to share and the distribution area and audience meet your needs.  A good use for newspaper in particular is event marketing, as it allows the reader to keep a copy of the important ad.

Other marketing options to consider are direct mail and email marketing.  Both are great tools for customer loyalty marketing.  Email marketing also offers you the opportunity to provide information to your customers to potentially position your business as expert in your category.

The next post will cover audience.