DRTV Best Practices

You've seen them on late night TV. All the pitch men and women asking you to be the incredible new exercise equipment. We in the ad community turn up our noses at them. But to tell the truth, these guys typically know exactly what they are doing. We, as good direct response marketers, can learn from them. Here is my list.

Good Creative

• Is bold, creative, authentic & succinct (simple yet effective).
• Phone numbers should 800 #s and be shown the entire time (no 866, etc).

Bad Timing

• Mar, Jun, Sep, & Dec are the worst months for both clearance and price.

Best Practices for Testing

• Cable: 4 week flights, $75K/week, 10 networks, 2-3 dayparts per networks, 15 spots/week/network.
• Spot: 4 week flights, 3 markets, 3-4 stations per market, 2-3 dayparts per station, 15 spots/week/network.

Rules of Thumb

• Optimization typically lowers CPL by 50-75% over 10 week flight.
• DRTV ads increase online searches by 15-1000%