What do people usually do after they’ve viewed a DRTV commercial? (a) Buy vast quantities of the advertised product or service. (b) Rush to the fridge to load up on snacks. OR (c) Seek more information.

Most advertisers hope the answer is (a) Buy vast quantities of the advertised product or service. But the correct answer is (c ).  Immediately after taking in a DRTV commercial, most of the TV audience will hunt for more info. And the place they seek it out is – as you probably guessed – the web.

‘Great!’ you think. I’ve plastered the brand’s web address all over the infomercial. Viewers will easily remember it and drop the URL straight into the search bar. Then, bingo – they’re on our landing page to gather info galore… info that will drive them straight to the purchase page.

Let’s back up a second. Yeah, they’ll go online to find you. But you’ll have a better chance of hitting the moon with a golf ball than you will of getting viewers to plunk a brand’s URL into a search bar. Viewers rarely do it.

There are several reasons why they don’t take this action. First and foremost, viewers probably won’t remember it. Yeah, yeah, you’ve splashed the web address from one end of the DRTV commercial to the other. Despite this strategic saturation, however, most URLs melt away from memory quicker than ice in the Sahara Desert. And even if people do recall the URL, there’s a good possibility they’ll misspell it. Remember, spell-checking is not Google’s primary function.

So how do interested viewers find your online destination? By Googling your brand name – not your URL. This being the case, marketers worldwide have but one option if they hope for ROI – accompany each DRTV commercial
with a strategy to grab searches that originate with the infomercial or spot. The purpose of said strategy will be to guide viewers to the right destination (typically a brand’s landing page). If the landing page is properly designed and suitably compelling, people will move one huge step closer to the ultimate objective — conversion.

DRTV Meets Digital
Thus, marketers must create the right DRTV to digital connection. This ensures productive Google searches that bring your advertised brand into the spotlight immediately. The first step to this goal is search engine optimization, popularly known as SEO. The aim here is to bring your brand to a first page position, where your brand easily is spotted by roving eyes. Bear in mind, digitally-oriented viewers are an impatient lot. If you’re not easily found, they’ll easily find other things to think about.

By and large, the coveted first page position is attained through a combination of keyworded blogs, social media posts, and other forms of focused online exposure – otherwise known as organic strategies. But be patient – if you’re not already on Google’s radar, it’ll take some time to build up an organic presence. How much time depends on a number of factors, including intensity of SEO strategies. If organic search results are not immediately forthcoming, paid searches such as Pay Per Click (PPC) can be a solid investment. One way or another, searches must bring your brand front and center.

Assuming your search strategies are paying off, you’ll want a landing page that works like a charm when visitors arrive. Each landing page should have the look and feel of your DRTV commercial – a digital extension of what viewers already are familiar with. This similarity creates a very important brand consistency that builds trust with visitors.

Along with proper design, a successful landing page exhibits proper functionality. For DRTV purposes, the two critical landing page functions are (1) Convert visitors to buyers. (2) Grab contact information of visitors who don’t convert — this creates a pat\
hway for future marketing efforts.

Would you like to learn more about aligning Google searches with DRTV commercials, or about any other video topic? Reach out to IDR for additional information and answers to all your questions. You’ll d
scover why we’re Orange County’s premier producer of TV commercials, infomercials, and online videos for a wide range of businesses, organizations, and brands.