by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: October 07, 2009

How to plan the timing of your advertising campaign is a concept which can have many different meanings. The timing of your advertising campaign can be required to coincide with a particular event or season, it can be required to coincide with a new product launch, or it can even be required to have maximum exposure at a certain time of day, when the majority of potential customers are most likely to see it. There can be no doubt that the timing of your advertising campaign can be a huge factor towards the success of the advertising campaign and the greatest benefits being reaped from it, so it is vital that this factor be given due consideration and attention.

The timing of an advertising campaign for a seasonal event like Christmas is of course when timing can be at its most important. There is little point in advertising products or services in relation to Christmas at the beginning of March, as Christmas is not something many people are going to be giving much thought to in the lead up to Easter and even the summer break. Equally, however, advertising on Christmas Eve is likely to be too late to know any great impact as all the shopping for presents and even groceries is likely to have been done. Advertising for Christmas related items is therefore likely to be best achieved through November and early December, when people are turning their thoughts seriously towards planning for the event.

It could also be products related to a season of the year in general terms which requires the timing of your advertising campaign be correct. This form of advertising could relate to Summer products which are best advertised in the mid to late Spring as people look forward to the warmer weather or even back to school products which are best advertised at the start of the holidays. It is important that the timing of an advertising campaign in these respects capture the lead up to the prime selling period if they are to know the greatest effect.

When a new product is to be launched, the timing of your advertising campaign should coincide not only with the launch of the product but the lead up to it in a similar sense. It is important in this way to try to get people thinking and talking about the product in anticipation of its launch in order to maximise its impact on the market. New products which have attracted advance orders are far more likely to be taken up by retailers, perhaps doubtful in the first instance about the product's potential popularity.

Where a product is targeted at a particular group of people and is to be advertised on such as TV, it would not be appropriate to advertise the product while the target audience are likely to be at work all day. Similarly, products aimed at small children should not be advertised at eleven o'clock at night. TV stations will charge for advertising depending upon the time of day the advertisement is to be aired but taking the cheaper option in this way could prove to be very false economy in the long term.

How to plan the timing of your advertising campaign essentially requires merely a little thought and common sense be applied. In this way, the target audience or target market can be reached much more effectively and the success of the advertising campaign is likely to be all the greater.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.