Maximize media dollars with flighting

Alternating media runs helps stretch hospital advertising spend

Are tight budgets threatening brand awareness for your hospital or physicians practice? Think flighting, a media buyer’s term for stretching your media by alternating run periods.

Perhaps you have the budget to do a four week campaign, with the goal of having the average consumer see your advertisement three to four times during the campaign. By simply running every other week, or flighting your buy, you’re able to be present in the market for seven weeks instead of four.

Not everyone’s schedule is the same each week. Things come up; they go out on Tuesday night instead of watching TV, or they miss the Sunday paper. But if you go strong one week and off the next week, then on again, your target is much more likely to see your ad multiple times over seven weeks than over four straight weeks.

Think about your own buying habits. As a consumer, you’re more likely to buy a brand that is recent on your mind. As advertisers, we can effect that by reaching our target audience when they are going to make that buying decision. Advertising over a longer period of time makes your brand much more likely to be on the consumer’s mind when that decision time arrives.

Are you maximizing your media dollars? If not, try flighting your media buy.