Broadcast media might seem out of reach for growing businesses, but it’s both more affordable and more impactful than you might think. In fact, it just might be the tool you need to get your business from the minor leagues to the majors.
What is broadcast media, exactly?
Broadcast media is any visual or audio content transmitted at a distance to a distributed audience. A lot of people interpret this to mean either television or radio. In fact, the modern definition includes a range of newer mediums, such as:
- Podcasts
- Vlogs
- Live streamed interviews
- Open virtual events
- Digital journalism
In short, anytime you’re broadcasting audio or visual content to the public, that’s broadcast media
Why is broadcast media valuable to younger companies?
As broadcast media has expanded to cover online content, the costs have fallen within the reach of small to medium companies. It’s now possible for any business to incorporate broadcast media into their marketing strategy.
That’s a game changer, considering the medium’s potential. Let’s run down a few of the most powerful advantages.
Reach: Modern broadcast media reaches people where they are- online. The average person watches more than 10 hours of online broadcast media every week, and that’s not just streaming TV platforms. It also includes content like online tutorials, influencer videos, and product demos.
They’re engaged in broadcast media, too. Videos especially generate more interest than image or text ads, are shared more often, and help viewers retain more information about the brand and product than if they simply read it.
As a side benefit, content can spread organically among a self-defining target audience as people share them with friends who might be interested.
Brand confidence: People want to feel comfortable and confident in the brands they use. They don’t want to get scammed or wind up with an inferior product, and this can make them wary of trying a service or product from a smaller company.
Encountering a brand multiple ways can ease those fears, increasing the perception that your company is a mature, legitimate brand and a safe bet. Video content provides extra peace of mind. Potential customers can see a product in use or examine the results of a service themselves.
This isn’t a small section of the market pushing for broadcast media. 54% of consumers would like more video content from brands, especially tutorials and new product demonstrations.
Return on investment: With relatively low costs and more demand for content, broadcast media is a solid investment. Companies net an average of 66% more qualified leads from video marketing than from online text or image ads.
Lead generation is just one benefit. Add in wider brand awareness, higher conversion rates, and more customer loyalty, and you begin to see why 88% of companies who used broadcast media in 2020 were happy with their ROI.
That’s up from 33% in 2015, reflecting major growth in consumer interest. Customers are getting used to broadcast content from all their favorite brands, and that’s not going away.
What kinds of broadcast media can I offer?
With low costs and high potential ROI, it seems like an obvious choice to make room in the marketing budget for broadcast media. What makes some companies hesitate is uncertainty over what content they should broadcast. There’s a fear that creating content will get in the way of their business.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The kinds of content customers want to see can be produced alongside your regular operations, or even become a part of your product development process. Here’s what’s popular:
- Product demos: This is “start of the funnel” content which attracts new customers. People like to see something in action before they buy, especially in a live stream or minimally edited video. Genuine content builds that all-important confidence to convert.
- Tutorials and product training: After demos, tutorials are some of the most useful content for keeping customers engaged. It helps them get past any sticky points instead of giving up and abandoning a product out of frustration.
Companies who offer educational content are seen as industry thought leaders- the people who know how things work and are happy to share that knowledge.
Don’t overthink this one; a fifteen minute “tips and tricks” video can be as effective as a longer tutorial.
- Interactive Q&A sessions: These help you as much as your customers. They provide a forum for users to offer feedback and get answers they couldn’t find on your website.
Live video is seen as less rehearsed and more genuine, too, so an unscripted session can improve your relationship with customers.
- Sneak peeks: Generate excitement ahead of time to have strong early sales of new products. Hollywood has been doing this for decades with trailers- why not learn from their example?
- Highlight community and charity efforts: While this doesn’t directly result in sales, it does build your company’s reputation and draw attention to worthy causes. People tend to share these even when they don’t share more enterprise-focused videos, which pulls in a wider audience.
Of course, these are just ideas to get you started. You know your company best, so there may be other kinds of content that would resonate with your target audience. The main takeaways here are that making content won’t disrupt your business, and that broadcast media is both more affordable and more valuable than you may realize.
In other words, don’t settle for a double play when you have a star player on the bench. Knock it out of the park with broadcast media!
Making content can fit into your operations, but the technical side of broadcast media can be intimidating. Don’t let it steal time from your core business. FanHero can set you up with the tools you need to reach your potential!
