MEDIA STRATEGY STAGE 1
Once the general staff has determined the advertising objectives, chosen the priority audiences and set the main guidelines, the only thing left to do is define its media strategy, that is, determine the communication channels through which it will try to send its messages to the public. priority, so the following should be done:
a.- Choice of means.
It is necessary to determine from the universe of media what type of media and what messages we will send through each of them, for that it is necessary to determine from among the media:
MEDIA: Official, private, local, national, international.
b.- Determination of the media budget.
The cost of buying time and using media is by far the main part of the cost of advertising, so before starting to look for money, those in the largest stadium should make an at least approximate evaluation of their needs. Although there is no infallible method, it is possible to get an idea of the amount of the budget after making the following considerations:
- Nature. – If it is national, it will be more expensive than in a local territory.
- Objectives. – If you want to spread the ideas, the cost will be less than if you want to get a good score.
- Size and specificity of the priority public. – If the natural public was chosen, the cost will be lower than if the opinion leaders, the undecided or the critical voters were chosen.
- The amplitude of the change of opinion or attitude that is desired to provoke. – If you try to change a deeply rooted attitude it will be much more expensive than if the attitude is relatively new.
- Strong ideas. – The more progressive and innovative the ideas, the higher the cost.
c.- Selection of media and distribution of the budget between them.
The budget of any plan is sometimes limited, so it is necessary to make a selection of the media that exist in the market in order to distribute the media budget.
1.- Inventory of the available resources.
a.- official television; b.-official radio; c.- depersonalized marketing; d.- individualized marketing; e.- public meetings; f.- publication and dissemination of documents; g.- massive public meetings; and h.- graphic media.
2.- Media evaluation. – The characteristics of any medium can be evaluated under five main aspects.
a.- The amount and nature of the resources that require their use.
b.- The breadth and characteristics of your audience.
c.- The degree to which it lends itself to a differentiated campaign.
d.- The interactivity that it allows the voter.
e.- Its adaptation to different types of objectives and campaign themes.
3.- Determination of the suitable means according to the stated objectives and the available budget. – Once the two previous exercises have been completed, the speaker can determine which means are the most convenient to use based on their budget to achieve their objectives and their audiences.
4.- Distribution of the budget according to priorities. – The priority objectives the distribution of resources can be done as follows:
The media are classified into three categories based on their degree of adaptation to the set of advertising objectives:
a.- In the first category are the media that are either the only ones to respond completely to one of the objectives or respond satisfactorily to several of them. These means are called priority means.
b.- In the second category we find the media that respond satisfactorily to some of the objectives without doing so completely and without being the only one to do so, and those that respond well to several of the objectives. These are called useful means.
c.- We will put the other media in the secondary media section.
2).- The next step is to start distributing among the priority media all the resources that are needed for their effective performance. If after this distribution there are still resources, they will be assigned to the useful media and if there are any resources left, the rest will be assigned to the secondary media.
STRATEGIC INSTRUMENTATION
A well-conceived strategy in terms of objectives, public and broad guidelines, as well as the selection of media, is undoubtedly a necessary condition for success, but it is far from being sufficient. It remains in effect that in the short period in which an advertising campaign is developed, it is possible to correctly implement the adopted strategy.
As far as the implementation of the campaign strategy is concerned, it is made up of two major themes. On the one hand, the judicious use, at a tactical level, of the main means of communication through the different marketing techniques and, on the other hand, the implementation of an effective system of organization, planning and evaluation of the campaign, all with the aim of make the best possible use of the adopted strategy in the field.
Marketing technique.
The first thing we have to consider is what marketing techniques are necessary to achieve the planned objectives, to the desired audience with our great guidelines.
I). – Depersonalized techniques.
Posters and fences. – Sending our messages through posters and fences is not only expensive, but the time spent on placing and caring for them, if we could quantify it, would raise our costs too much. this technique is designed for projects that have a lot of money or an army of militants capable of doing it for free.
Spectacular. – Billboards are a relatively expensive technique, but it is definitely appropriate for projects that do not have many militants and whose objective is to spread their ideas and obtain a good score, since their cost is only economic and Due to its dimensions, it can send clearer messages and therefore reach more voters.
Radio and TV spots. – The scope of advertising spots, whether on radio or television, depends largely on the time they are broadcast and their cost is very high, but for candidates who want to spread their ideas and obtain a good score, they can be more recommended than a strenuous campaign of painting fences and placing posters.
II). – Individualized techniques.
A campaign should not only be based on the use of depersonalized techniques, it should try in some way to have a personal approach with its priority audiences.
1.- The mailing. – Although the mail is much in disuse in this country we must not forget apart from being very cheap, people have the habit of reading their mail, even once. This means can be effective depending on the quality of the message that we can send you or the frequency with which we do it.
2.- The porterage. – This technique is very costly in terms of time since a large number of people are needed to do it, but it can be effective if you can have a large group of trained and above all motivated people, since it is an extremely exhausting technique.
3.- The phone call. – Since the number of households that have a telephone set in the cities is very high, the telephone has become a very good replacement for porting, it is very economical, less tiring and with the peace of mind that someone does not have. have the interlocutor face to face.
4.- The steering wheel. – This technique has the same characteristics and disadvantages as portage and likewise requires a large, trained and seasoned group willing to put it into practice.
PUBLIC PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT CALL
During the campaign period, the promoters of the project see the need to make public appearances, so it is of the utmost importance to prepare these appearances in the best way. Regardless of the proper wording of the speeches, each appearance requires a different preparation.
- – Appearances on television are usually short, so it is essential that the speechwriter be clear that the important thing is to send two or three messages, but forceful that an improvement or deterioration of opinion depends on the image of the plan of the citizen. In the case of television debates, it is important that the project speaker undergo prior training.
Radio. – In this medium the appearances are a little longer and it gives space to be able to elaborate more on the strong ideas of the campaign, but you have to be very careful with the tone that is used since the people who listen to the radio are very receptive to the emphasis of the campaign. voice, in the same way in case of debate, training is essential.
Newspaper. – Appearances in the written press allow the speaker to broadly address the major issues of his campaign, since the public usually spends more time reading and through sight it is easier for the messages to be recorded and to be able to with this influence.
Public meetings. – The defenders of the plan are forced to a greater or lesser extent to appear in public meetings with their potential clients or with their sympathizers, so it is essential that the messages in these meetings be as clear as possible so that they can be recorded on the media. mind the messages that are desired.
IV.- Relations with the written press.
As in the previous comments, relations with the written press are fundamental since it allows us to deepen our messages, so it is essential to have an excellent relationship with the graphic media, although each one must be treated in a different way. – The media that are published every day generally tend to publish current affairs, so for them, regardless of sending them information every day, the important thing is to generate news and opinion on the subject.
Weeklies. – Throughout the week, too much information is gathered, so the weeklies only publish the information that had the most impact on society, so it is essential to want to appear in a weekly to ensure that at least one of our articles has sufficient impact.
Journals. – Magazines usually do not talk about politics, so they are the ideal means to publicize the friendly side of the plan.
National Media. – In the national media it is necessary to emphasize internal affairs, but of interest to all.
Local Media: – In the state media, what is important to address are related issues.
International Media. – These media are suitable not only to deal with global issues but also because of their influence on news agencies and national newspapers, it is the way to filter information that is sometimes difficult to talk to the national media or to try to get these take into account the otherwise interesting message.
Responsible for the organization, planning and evaluation of the presentation of the project.
Implementing a system of organization, planning and control of an advertising campaign aims to put the strategy into practice in a very short time through procedures that allow actions to be coordinated.
2.- Use of human resources.
Conducting an advertising campaign requires putting human resources into practice to deal with multiple tasks. These people can have various backgrounds.
Participation of the main structure. – The territorial structure of the project usually receives a salary and is the first in charge of implementing the programs of the advertising campaign.
Participation of network users. – This collaboration is usually free, it is more or less programmable and it is directed towards the most essential field tasks.
Participation of supporters. – This is totally free, temporary and can also be directed towards field work.
Participation of eventual people. – Among the temporary staff we not only find the staff that is hired for field work but also the companies that can be hired for image design, including sound for an event.
3.- Planning.
Scheduling. – Taking into account the time and the large number of actions to be implemented and the scarcity of some resources, starting with time, rigorous planning of all activities is essential. It is therefore desirable for a single person or cell to be in charge of scheduling all actions and to be able to modify them each time an unforeseen event appears.
Modulation of the intensity of the campaign. – In the establishment of the strategy, it must be done with regard to the temporary modulation of the intensity of the advertising campaign. In other words, it is necessary to choose if you want a campaign that gradually increases its intensity or if you want to set the strong points at the beginning and end of it, maintaining a stable rhythm during development.
4.- Evaluation.
To strictly control the impact of the campaign we have three key tools:
a.- The pre-tests. – They are intended to assess the quality or effectiveness of a marketing message or technique before it is used on a large scale.
b.- Impact studies. – They are intended to subsequently evaluate the effects of the message.
c.- Studies on the evaluation of activities and on the evolution of the public’s intention.
– These allow a project to globally assess the effectiveness of the advertising campaign, as well as measure its progress and that of its opponents with the different segments and consequently try to modify them.
