Timely Gift for
Your ISP Marketing Budget

If the cost of commercial production is like a lump of coal dumped in your Christmas stocking, help is available. Build your ISP's sales this season with customized radio and television advertisements from the ISPBF.

by Christopher M. Knight
[November 21, 2000]

The ISP Business Forum (ISPBF), a U.S. trade association for Internet service providers, introduced an advertising campaign specially designed for the association's 700-plus members. Earlier this month, the television and radio spots were debuted at the fall ISPCON trade show in San Jose, California.

I reviewed the broadcast advertisements and immediately recognized a great opportunity for small- to medium-sized ISPs. If you're looking to advertise your Internet service, but don't have the time or money to go it alone, the ISPBF ads could easily be customized to suit your needs.

You could add your ISP's name, Internet access programs, or holiday sales message to your choice of base adertisements from the ISPBF. While producing broadcast advertisements from scratch might be a better marketing strategy for larger providers, the ISPBF ads may be just the ticket to streatch your advertising budget.

Gift that keeps giving
The ISPBF produced the spots in response member's requests for an economical way to create radio and television advertisements. In addition to producing the basic ads, the ISPBF also helps you build a cost-effective flight schedule and purchase time slots from local TV and radio stations.

On average, the ISPBF-produced commercials are sold to members for 50 percent less then it would cost an ISP owner to produce the ads themselves. The best part of the ISPBF commercials is that they are ready to be customized with your ISP's unique sales message right now.

I don't know about you, but the last time I got a quote for producing an original TV spot it easily could cost $15,000 to $30,000 for a 30- to 60-second advertisement. As if that wasn't enough to suck my marketing budget dry, I had to wait 3- to 6-months before the commercials would be ready to air.

In addition to production fees, I had to determine my frequency schedule for the campaign, and then purchase flight times from local radio and television stations. Based on my experience, this could cost the average service provider more than $21,000:

• First TV Commercial Flight $7,500
• Second TV Commercial Flight $7,000
• Third TV Commercial Flight $6,500
• Single Radio Spot $900

Distinguishing presents
As the ISP industry moves toward commoditization, marketing campaigns that create brand awareness for your business are essential for your Internet services to stand out in the crowd.

Cronan O'Connell, ISPBF executive director, said she recognized the membership of the group as a collection of the best and brightest Internet experts in the industry. O'Connell said these same ISP experts needed help when it comes to making smart choices about marketing strategies.

"I promised my members that they could depend on us to provide professional support in areas of the business where they may lack internal expertise," O'Connell said.

No need to shop around
So, the ISPBF did all the legwork, and O'Connell introduced the commercials to members this month. For any member of the ISPBF that wants to benefit from O'Connell's efforts, the commercials are ready to roll on either TV or radio, or both — right now.

There is no other ISP association around today that has provided their membership with this type of marketing tool. With a little customization, your ISP could launch a major branding initiative before Christmas.

Pretty wrapping
The ISPBF ad program consists of three television commercials and one radio spot. Television themes include "We Mean Business," "From the CEO," and "Compelling Silence. " The 60-second radio ad highlights network reliability, technical superiority and old-fashioned customer service. Of course, you may also customize the advertisements to meet the specific demands of your market.

From my brief meeting with O'Connell, it appears that the ISPBF only intends to sell one ISP each base version of the television commercial per geographic market — which is smart. This means that there is no way rival ISPs could run the same advertisements in a shared market.

If you'd like more information about the advertising program at the ISPBF, you can surf on over to their site, which is linked at the beginning of my column. Of course, you could click on this mail-to command or call Cronan O'Connell directly at (703) 748-4718.

To Your ISP TV & Radio Advertising Success!
Christopher "Sparky" Knight

P.S. For the purpose of disclosure, I have been an ISPBF member since inception. However, internet.com, ISP-Planet, and I were not compensated for this article. We don't accept paid editorials, ever. As in all business investments, do your own research with due diligence before pursuing a course of action on your ISP advertising campaign.

— End

 

Recommended resources: Discuss ISP-Advertising campaigns, strategies, and branding with industry experts at the ISP-Lists. To join, send an e-mail to: join-isp-advertising@isp-advertising.com.

   

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