The 6 Rules of TV Advertising for Small BusinessesWhen it comes to your ad buys, are you following these rules?

With exciting opportunities opening up at a dizzying pace, businesses are sometimes uncertain how best to maximize their local TVadvertising. The essence of advertising still rings true: Advertising is about branding -- and converting viewers into paying customers. Here are my basic rules any buyer needs to know about today's video advertising landscape:

1. Target the right audience.

The American marketing pioneer John Wanamaker famously said, "Halfthe money I spend on advertisingis wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." Mostsuccessfuladvertisers have a fairly strong sense of their audiences but until recent years have not had sophisticated tools enabling them to reach customer prospects via specific demographic, psychographic and "behavior-graphic" targeting. Advancements in digital targeting have been well-documented; you may be less familiar with the latest audience-targeting innovations in TV targeting enabled by the combination of the latest set-top box and consumer data.

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2. Know your options.

Local advertisers are best served when there is a robust complement of multiple local cable operators from which to select. In such a marketplace, advertising rates and placements are driven by local competition. The less competition, the higher the cost. The good news is that there may be more options available than many people realize.

3. Use digital to complement a TV campaign.

Practically every study we've seen about cross-platform video campaigns reveals this: Marketers who invest in multiple media outlets enhance the effectiveness of their advertising. Earlier this year, for example, the Interactive Advertising Bureau citeda new auto model campaignfor which a combination of desktop, mobile web and TV advertising led to a 211 percent lift in unaided brand awareness.

While digital-only advertising represents approximately 11 percent of our company's total revenue -- as an example – today, we are seeing more than 70 percent of our clients using online advertising (and about 50 percent of them using mobile) as a complement to local TV ad buys.

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4. Go ahead, use social media -- but with caution.

Social media has been plagued with well-documented issues such as gross audience overstatement, highly undesirable ad juxtaposition and general lack of accountability. The horror stories of lapses in social media messaging are legion. However, social media's power -- especially in helping you reach younger customer prospects -- in undeniable. Asksocial mediamarketers tough questions about how best to protect your business's brand. Have a strict social media policy within your organization as well. Social media should be seen as a piece of your overall marketing campaign, though not the centerpiece of it, and it needs to be monitored.

5. Liberate the gold in your company's data.

不管你意识到没有,你自己的客户ata file -- however large or small -- is a critical asset in building an effective ad campaign. This data can be cross-referenced with census data to define the demographic profiles of prospective customers. You can then match your data and census data with cable set-top box viewing patterns and even offline purchase behavior. And lastly, you can use the combined data to create a media plan to find the right audience by targeting your customers' favorite TV shows, and even reach them directly with a targeted message.

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6. Ask tough questions of your ad partners.

Whether it's your agency or your media partners, learn from them the relative strengths and shortcomings of various media platforms. Digital advertising's strengths include geo-fencing, re-targeting, reaching a highly engaged audience and the ability to measure ROI. But, digital's limitations -- including click fraud, viewability issues, ad-blocker technology, imperfect targeting algorithms and inappropriate content environments -- all underscore why many marketers choose not to use digital advertising in isolation.Radio advertisingremains ideal for reaching consumers in their cars, but is known for frequency of message and limited branding power. TV advertising is evolving to encompass digital-style targeting and ROI capabilities with the advantages of sight, sound and motion but remains nominally the most expensive medium. Have a frank discussion with your marketing advisors about the best mix for your objectives and your budget.