The Importance of Media Research
by John Eberhard

The first question you probably have is what I mean by "media research," right? You might get a picture of some guy with really thick glasses pouring through really thick books in the library, or paging through endless computer screens in a dark office in the basement of the LA Times. Sounds like just about the most boring activity you could possibly do, right?

Well let me just define what I mean and maybe you'll get a different picture, because media research is one of the more important things you can do when you're trying to market a product or service. By "media research" I mean "finding out what communications media work best for your product or service, or have worked best in the past, or have worked for similar types of products or services for other companies."

By "communications media " I mean direct mail, brochures, trade magazine ads (i.e. Woodworking News), consumer magazine ads (i.e. Time, People), TV, radio, billboards, newsletters, cassette tapes, videos, etc., etc.

This type of research is totally in addition to finding out what your public needs and wants (their buttons).

The reason it is so vital to find out which media is working best for your product or service is that from industry to industry, the types of communications media that are in use, that the public tends to go to for that type of thing, and that work -- are often completely different! And often the types of media that work, will change drastically over time. One type of media will come along, be used for a while and work great, then get totally overused or "saturated", and so will not work any more. Other types of media may work well but then gradually start dropping off.

So you have to know which kind of media your public expects to receive communication about your product in. Are they going to look for it in the Yellow Pages? Will they hear about it on radio? Do they expect to find out about it via referrals only?

Now you might say "I already know what's working because I have a campaign that's running now," or "I know what my competition is doing," or "I have been in this business a long time." That's great. You probably have a lot of the information I'm talking about. But, here are some situations where it is vital to do some of this type of research:

1. It seems like your level of responses is falling off over time.

2. You are in a mature market with a lot of competition.

3. You are marketing a new product or service with which you have little experience.

4. It seems like nothing you are doing is having the kind of response that you want.

Let's say you are trying to market a new product, such as some multi-level marketing business. Let's say this business has had a very successful type of media in use for a while, but now it's falling off and doesn't work as well anymore.

Well the first thing you can do is to look at what other people marketing that specific product are doing. What's working for them? Then do some research on similar types of products in the multi-level field. What's working for them? Is it cassette tapes? Is it booklets? Is it personal letters with the recipient's name merged into the letter? Is it the new, cheap video tapes made out of styrofoam (yes you heard right)? Each field tends to develop its own unique media and you can get ideas from others.

Let's say you are marketing a product, and your campaigns are going pretty well, and you know a lot about the media that work for you in the past, and what your competition has used and all that. Well, as your market matures, you still need to know what media other people are using in your field and in related fields, and what new types of media are the new and coming thing. Because you may be able to find a new medium that you can test that will work a lot better than what you are using now. And even after you have found something that is working for someone else, remember to pilot it yourself in a relatively small quantity, to make sure it works for you. Then after it tests well, pour on the coals.

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