Television Advertisement Techniques

Television is typically the most expensive medium to use for advertising. Even local ads cost $10,000 to $25,000 to produce and several thousand more just to air a few times. Because of the significance of the investment, your small business should use some basic techniques to improve the effectiveness of its TV ads.

Television offers the opportunity for creative advertisements that tell a visual story, and product demonstrations are one way to do this. Household cleaning supplies are a natural for this type of advertisement. If showing the product in action isn't feasible, a visual presentation of some type still gets the customer's attention. If you're selling a service or other intangible product, you can use customer testimonials or celebrity endorsements to sell its benefits.

Multisensory appeal is a general strength in any advertisement, and television offers access to the most senses. You can show people your product, incorporate sound and dialogue and tell a dynamic, action-driven story. Use characters your customers can relate to for a more personal connection. When you're targeting a specific demographic, your ad should feature characters that reflect that audience. Jingles are commonly used in TV ads to build brand recognition and image.

A number of filters detract from the effectiveness of TV ads. People leave the room during commercials, call or text friends, talk, hit the "mute" button or otherwise ignore the message. Given these behaviors, your ad needs to hook viewers into your commercial right from the start. An attention-getting opening with strong visuals, interesting sounds or immediate action can help you keep people's interest or draw them back in.

Establish appropriate tone and emotion in your television ads to persuade customers to act. Balance all the elements of your appeal -- visual, audio and movement. Pay special attention to the coordination of sound and video, as the music or sounds should inspire appropriate feelings. Sensually or sexually themed messages, for instance, often include risque or sensual music; this works for some people and offends others. People need to connect emotionally to your message to be affected by it.