How to Avoid the 5 Common Pitfalls of Direct Response Television

Direct Response Television is the great weapon to make your brand or product famous faster, but unfortunately many people often do the common mistakes when use DRTV so the result not maximum.

Direct response television, also known as DRTV, is an essential part of every business' marketing efforts. This type of advertising includes television spots that are meant to elicit a direct response from the consumer. In most cases, that direct response is as simple as going to the company's website or calling their 800 number. Businesses should use both short form and long form versions of direct response television. Short form spots are two minutes or shorter, while long form spots are usually 28 and a half minutes long (i.e., infomercials).

Of course with the large amount of technology that is now available to almost anyone with deep enough pockets, any business owner thinks he can now create his own direct response television plan. But creating a plan that actually elicits the desired response from potential customers is much more difficult than just pulling out a camera and going on television to tell them what to do. You need a targeted plan with a proven method that works.

Here are the five most common pitfalls of direct response television and how to avoid them:

  1. Focus on the customer—not your product. Right now you're saying that the whole point of direct response television is to sell your product, but the easiest way to turn a customer off is to focus solely on why your product is so great. Tell them why it will benefit your customers and why they need it instead.
  2. Show and tell. Telling your customer why their life will be better with your product is just the first step. Television is a very visual medium, so use it to your advantage by demonstrating your product. People love to see a product working rather than just hear about why it should work.
  3. Don't forget your audience. Direct response television also requires a complete analysis of demographics. You have to take into consideration the time of day the spots will air, who usually watches the channel it will air on, and a number of other factors, like what kind of spot will appeal to the selected audience.
  4. The price point has to be perfect. There are a couple of tricks to getting around the price point issue. The most important thing to keep in mind is the fact that everyone loves a deal. If you can make your customers feel like they're getting a deal, then you will likely get a good response. Another method is to break the price into several “easy payments.” This makes it seem like the cost of your product is less than it really is.
  5. Don't assume everyone is watching all of the time. One of the keys to being successful in direct response television is to keep repeating the core features and demonstrations. Few people sit and watch an entire long form infomercial, so your audience is changing throughout the spot. Repeat the most important messages quite often. Also the average viewer forgets what they saw within 24 hours or less, so the more you repeat yourself, the more they are likely to remember.

These common pitfalls are just a few reasons why you need a company that specializes in direct response television to help you out. Just because you have a video camera, it doesn't mean that you should start making your own commercials. Even the best actors and actresses have a huge supporting staff and a director to help them hit the mark, and you need a team too.

Two Twelve Direct is a trusted integrated marketing agency. They will help you make the most of your marketing dollar, ensuring that you reach as many of your customers as possible. The best way to succeed is to have all parts of your marketing campaign working together.

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