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The term infomercial refers to a very specific form of TV advertising. Let's break apart the pieces and identify the parameters and ingredients of an infomercial. The term is a combination of the words information and commercial

IT IS AN AD. First and foremost, an infomercial is simply another form of advertisement. It is a commercial message, and as such represents the viewpoints and serves the interest of the sponsor. It is a "paid program."

IT IS LONG FORM. Unlike conventional 30 and 60 second TV ads, an infomercial runs at least a half hour. The reason: a half hour is the smallest block of airtime a TV station will sell without interrupting its programming schedules. (NO program on TV is shorter than 30 minutes.)

IT SOLICITS A "DIRECT" RESPONSE. An infomercial must solicit a response which is specific and quantifiable. The solicitation and the delivery of the response must be direct between the advertiser and the viewer. A normal commercial does solicit a direct response instead they are simply trying to brand their product in the market place, so that when next you are shopping you will remember the advertisement and be more susceptible to buying their new product.

Unfortunately, the term infomercial is not universally understood in the industry, and infomercials may be called different things by different people.

The list of official sounding names, from "documercials" to "long-form advertising" to "paid programming," is endless and can be confusing: some terms do not adequately define the scope of this type of advertising.

For example, the term 'long-form advertising' seems to be a favorite among media people. Unfortunately, the term describes only the time aspect, disregarding purpose and content. Of course, it does reflect the focus of those in TV circles, as opposed to the broader perspective of those in the marketing community. What will become of the term long-form advertising when paid advertising program extend to an hour or longer? Will we upgrade the term to longer-form advertising and then longest-form advertising?

By contrast, the term direct response advertising is obviously of a marketing heritage. But like the former, the term is incomplete because it does not qualify the medium being used. Mail order is also a form of direct response advertising.

What to Look for In an Infomercial Media Buying Agency

Infomercial media buying is a highly specialized type of media-buying. General advertising agencies do not have the expertise to buy infomercial time. They are familiar with buying general advertising that is designed to build awareness. In researching an infomercial production companies, look for a firm with the following capabilities:

' Make sure you align yourself with an infomercial media-buying expert that has a proven track record buying for other infomercial products in your category of business or for products targeting a similar audience. An infomercial media buyer with this type of knowledge and expertise will end up saving you money and increasing the chances of your infomercial campaign becoming a success.

' An infomercial media buying team that is trained to buy the best infomercial time for each campaign.

' Specialized software and reporting systems that monitor and track results and links with the telemarketing firm, so that results can be imported daily.

' An analytics team that reviews and analyses the infomercial results in real time and works with the infomercial media buyers to optimize the infomercial campaign based on those results.

' Utilizes competitive research that allows them to monitor where competitors are airing their infomercials with the highest level of frequency. Oftentimes infomercial time periods that are being purchased by a competitor with a high level of frequency are paying out and might be places your infomercial media buying agency would consider running your infomercial.

' An account service staff that knows how to manage an infomercial campaign from initial testing through roll-out, to taking an infomercial product to retail.

' Try to find an infomercial production company, that has experience managing infomercial campaigns through both good and bad times.

' Look for an infomercial media agency that has connections with the best vendors for key services such as infomercial production, infomercial telemarketing, infomercial fulfilment, infomercial card-processing, infomercial media funding and taking infomercial products to retail.

Assembling a seasoned team of infomercial industry veterans is critical to an infomercial campaign's success.

Select a Highly Experienced Infomercial Media Buying Firm

Successful infomercial campaigns can be very profitable, but make sure you do your homework before entering the infomercial business. During the course of a successful infomercial campaign your largest expenditure will be incurred buying infomercial media time, so it\'s very important to work with a highly experienced and results driven infomercial media buying firm.

TVA Production, one of the leading infomercial production company, in Los angeles, California. Since 1987, TVA has offered not only the strongest guarantees in the industry for producing highly effective promotional media such as infomercials, documercials, DRTV spots, WaterScreens, satellite media tours, movie trailers, corporate videos, DVDs, internet streaming videos, etc...

...with their blended media packages for PR and advertising, they also guarantee massive media exposure for far less than what it would cost for most to do in-house. They have over 200 references and case studies covering thirty industries. Google keywords like media blitz, infomercial production, documercial, performance-based PR, etc. to see TVA\'s highest rankings. TVA provides ultra-HD production facilities, a worldwide team, distribution and tracking resources.

Clients include Fortune 500 companies, emerging companies, Top 100 PR firms and ad agencies, national associations & non-profits, professionals, and government agencies worldwide.

TVA's team has won over 40 Emmy, Telly, Golden Mike, Addy, Clio, Peabody and Aegis awards.

Visit http://www.tvaproductions.com or Call 1-888-322-4296 for more details.