DIY TV Spots: Are They Really the Way to Go?

The best way to save money is to spend less. Whether it's the family budget, or the national budget, keeping a rein on spending makes sense if saving is your goal. But what about a small business, with limited resources, that wants to advertise on TELEVISION and keep costs low? First of all, good for them for not eliminating or drastically reducing the advertising budget. Ironically, many small business owners target their advertising budget when belt-tightening, despite the fact that advertising is the best tool for driving sales.

But if a company wants to run tv spots while keeping costs low, they have some options. One particular option that we'll look at today is to do it yourself. It goes without saying that just because you're frequently called on to bring your camcorder to family functions, won't guarantee that you are the best person to actually shoot your commerical. But if you decide to take on all the jobs necessary to make your commerical, be sure that you can be very objective about your work.

Here are the basic steps:

1. See what your competitors are doing. Watch for commericals for products or services that are similar to yours. See what you like or don't like. Think more about the concept, because on a small budget and running your own production (without any prior experience), you won't be able to replicate the more expensive productions. Make some calls to local advertisers and ask them how their commericals are working for them and ask for advice.

2. Plan. Establish your budget. Research costs to air your cmmercial There are many factors to consider here: Broadcast or cable tv? Will you have a 30 or 60 second spot? How often do you want your spot to run? What time of day or night? Identify your unique selling position--why propects should buy from you instead of your competition. Decide what your goal is: Is it to make people aware of your business or to promote a particular product or a sale? Or both? Be sure to include a call to action.

3. Write your script. First decide on the type of commercial you want. Will if be funny? Will there be someone on camera or will you only use still pictures or video with a voice-over. Will you be on camera or hire someone? Will you show the exterior of your business or shoot it on the premises? Write for everyday conversation is a good rule of thumb. Of course if your product or service is specialized or unique in some way then use easy to understand terminology. Don't forget to mention your website or have it (and your social media buttons) added in post production. Write and read aloud what you've written. Time your spot.

4. Produce and edit your spot. Again, you will not save money by using your camcorder--it'll cost you more because the results won't be broadcast quality. This means, you'll either have to hire a freelancer (not your brother-in-law), a production company, or use the production department of the televsion station that you'll be running your commercial on. Discuss post production with your videographer before production begins. Even if that person or company doesn't edit your commercial, get a recommendation, along with costs and be sure to check out samples of their work. Post production is not the time to leave your commercial entirely in the hands of someone else. You'll want to be in the editing suite to make decisions about what stays in and what gets left out of your commercial.

5. Buy your airtime. If you thought the first four steps were challenging, not quite. This is where the real challenge begins for the uninitiated. Your goal should be to consistently get as much airtime as possible in decent time slots. Don't buy the first thing that's offered to you. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. The television ad market is very competitive. They want cash, and you have cash, which gives you a great negotiating position. However, there are details about buying tv airtime that an experienced ad buyer would know, such as which months are cheaper to buy and the days of the month when the rates are better. Rates are even discounted per program. You can request this information from the station, and they are required by law to provide it within 72 hours. Buying time from a cable operator is actually easier and allows you to spread your money around (more channels), for less money than broadcast channels (but you should still negotiate). Just remember, you want as much saturation as you can get, therefore don't spread yourself over too many channels if it means that your commerical will only air once or twice a day per channel.

The process is not cost-free but you can save money by doing this yourself. On the other hand, today, production costs can be very reasonable so you can save time and more by hiring a company to handle everthing.

Would you rather shoot and place your own commercial or hire a company?