What is an appropriate DRTV budget?

Wisely managing your budget is of critical importance. If the budget is too low – your message will not capture the attention of, or resonate with, your audience and you become invisible. Of course, if the budget is too high you may never recoup the original investment.

It’s all about balance.

If your primary criteria for developing budgets is the “lowest cost possible” and “speed of development” you risk dooming the entire effort before you even get started. Criteria #1 must always be: What actions are required to positively impact the target audience we seek? If you fail to do that it won’t matter how much you “saved” on marketing. All your investment (not just marketing) will have been wasted. Our advice to those who don’t want to ante up the appropriate amount to get the job done? Do nothing – save your money.

Connecting the dots...

At the center of your campaign is the development of your TV commercial. But that is only one of several components that must be seamlessly integrated into a single, targeted effort. Let’s look briefly at those components now – the average DRTV effort includes: (note DRTVtools provides components in green)

DRTV average campaign costs for 2006

The links at top of next column provide overview process descriptions and cost ranges for all DRTV component (based on market averages in 2005). The costs range from $40,000 for a short form spot with simple support components to $400,000+ for development of an infomercial with full marketing support components.