Which DRTV Format Works Best For
Your Product Or Service?

Determining which format of Direct Response Television is best for the Project you are launching should be part of a rigorous evaluation and feasibility study.  Understanding your “most wanted response”  is the first step of many that need to be answered.

Oftentimes, the inexpensive alternative that short form DRTV offers, both in production and media costs, attracts marketers, Ad Agencies and Corporate Executives towards that format.
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Related Links & Courses::
>> DRTV Feasibility
>> Why DRTV Training?
>> DRTV Management Boot Camp
>> Infomercial Marketing
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For many companies and Ad Agencies, there is no question concerning which Direct Response Television format is best for their project.  If branding is the primary strategy and the product price is $19.95 or less, Direct Response Short form is the best vehicle.

However, when analyzing projects that are lead generation models (as an example: free catalogues), customer acquisition models (as an example: pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements or acquiring web traffic), or products that consumers will purchase between $19.95 and $29.95 with a slightly more complex message needing more than 105 seconds to communicate, there can be compelling arguments for both Infomercials (28 ½ minutes) and Direct Response Short Form (between 15 and 120 seconds).

Infomercials create a wonderful opportunity to clearly show the features, benefits, advantage and emotional appeal that a product or service offers the consumer.  Plus, there is enough time to tell a story, communicate the Unique Selling Proposition and build credibility as well as value for the product being offered. This translates into a vehicle that both creates transactions (sales) and builds a brand.

Rarely can a salesperson in a store understand the uniqueness and the sales pitch of a product the way the inventor or founder envisioned it.  The infomercial is like having your best sales person invited into the living room of your customer giving the best presentation your product could ever have.  Not only is it one living room, but tens of thousands simultaneously.

The infomercial is like the goose that lays the golden egg, because it not only creates sales from viewers that call, but it also impacts sales in retail on the web, in catalogues and in print.

Short form Direct Response is ideal when the sales process is several steps and the consumer needs to be given more information going on-line, getting a catalogue or speaking with an expert.  From free catalogues to Yachts and everything in-between, short form DR can shorten the sales process and bring awareness to an audience that can be difficult to otherwise reach.

Inexpensive products, selling for $ 19.95 or less, that have excellent benefits but need to be demonstrated are also ideal for Direct Response short form.  Fortune 500 companies en masse are using DRTV to differentiate their products from the competition with the goal of showing just a few advantages their products offer.  The format best for this strategy is one and two minute spots.  They sell product and they build awareness.

Direct Response spots of 15-60 seconds are more often used to drive web traffic or exclusively build awareness.  Labeled Direct Response because they do have some response mechanism and are judged on response, companies use this format to save on media dollars and build awareness simultaneously.

A key list of factors for determining the DRTV short form or infomercial format would be:

• Branding or Branding and Selling
• Product or service Price
• Sales process
• Necessary length to communicate key features, benefits and advantages
• Product Category history in Direct Response
• How long it takes to communicate:
• Endorsements
• Testimonials
• Features,
• Benefits
• Advantages

All Direct Response campaigns begin with building the message that needs to be communicated.  Many have heard the old saying attributed to Thomas Jefferson apologizing for writing a 10 page letter because he did not have the time to write a one page letter.

The Direct Response Academy offers Feasibility analysis, Direct Response Strategic marketing plans and winning direct response messaging tactics for its clients.  Too often marketers and project managers take too many steps without the master-plan in place.