5 top tips for a DRTV advert

Why do some DRTV adverts work and why do some not gain any response? The offer needs to have the response triggers that make consumers want to find out more and hopefully purchase the product or service. These have been tested over 30 DRTV campaigns and are sure to give your DRTV advert the best chance or getting an increased response.

Call to action

When you look at the structure of a DRTV or direct response advert, the CTA or ‘call to action’ section is the most effective way to direct consumers to purchase your product or service. Different length DRTV adverts will require direct lengths of CTA but most of the time 2 CTAs will work with a 60 second TV spot. The first should be at the halfway mark and the spot should end with the final more detailed CTA. We recommend the 1/3 plan to get the most effective balance between explaining the benefits of the product or service and the harder sell in the CTA. So always make sure you spend one third of the runtime of the DRTV advert on the CTA.

Creating recognition through repetition

Although brand adverts focus on trying to create awareness for the brand, DRTV adverts can and should do the same thing. It’s not the primary purpose of a DRTV advert, that is to generate a response, but a good advert will always help your brand awareness. Repetition is one of the easiest ways to get something to stick in the minds of your viewers. In a 60 second DRTV commercial you should be seeing the name of the brand and/or the product at least 5 times. Thats almost once every 10 seconds. You want consumers to have no option but to remember the product you are selling.

Less is more when it comes to Voice Over

It’s very easy to have ‘wall to wall’ voice over to try and communicate as much info as possible for your brand in your DRTV advert. But how much information can a viewer actually absorb in 60 seconds? Or even more importantly how much will actually stick with them after the advert is over? To get a positive response rather sell 3 points well than 10 points poorly. 

Forget the story, show me the product

Brand adverts will often have a story to drive the narrative, but DRTV is different. Don’t waste time and budget telling a story and worrying about continuity. Spend as much time showing the product and what it can do to improve the lives of the consumer. A DRTV advert wants a response, that’s its primary reason a brand will add it to their advertising strategy. 

Tell me and show me

DRTV adverts need to have a clear offer to give it the best chance or getting a response. One of the most effective ways to do this is show and tell at the same time. When voice over matches what we are seeing, there is the greatest chance of the message being internalised. When these don’t match up the viewer has to decide to focus on the VO message or the visual message. Often in these instances neither will be remembered and unlikely to get a response.