U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20447
About Advertising / Ad Types
You can choose from many types of advertising:
Each year, more and more people are sending and receiving text messages by cell phone (also called SMS). In particular, Hispanics’ use of cell phones is high; see these trends.
People who wish to make it easy for others to send them text messages can get a short code, so that others can reach them by typing just a few numbers. Some organizations also are sending ads via text message campaigns.
In addition, organizations are exploring other creative ways to use mobile devices. For example, they might add to their Web site a selection of ringtones that people can download for free. This approach draws traffic to the site. In addition, people who use those special ring tones may think of the organization every time someone calls, which raises awareness of the organization’s services.
Online advertising can help drive traffic to your Web site and educate even more people about child support.
See our
These ads can be paper-based or digital and can appear on anything out in the street—billboards, wall-sized posters, bus shelters, bus sides, coffee cups, pizza boxes—the sky’s the limit. They are easy to target to a particular neighborhood and demographic. They are extremely visible, and people going about their daily routines see these ads repeatedly.
Outdoor ads are gaining steam, because unlike TV, radio, and Internet ads, they are impossible to turn off. Considering their reach, out-of-home ads are among the lowest cost ads.
A streamlined version of your print ad that focuses on the visual and the headline would work well for an out-of-home ad. Use eight words or less—your readers may be in a hurry to get somewhere else and speeding past your ad.
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Magazines, newsletters, local weeklies, the Hispanic Yellow Pages, and even coupon books accept print ads. A benefit of print is staying power—people are more likely to hold onto and re-read print publications. Print ads also enjoy high believability and credibility.
To create a print ad, you’ll need a strong headline and a couple lines of supporting copy, plus your contact information. A photo or other graphic that illustrates your main point can draw attention to your ad. See our Creative Tips.
Where you place your ad is as important as what it looks like. Here are some statistics to guide you.
Each week, says a fact sheet that appeared on the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) Web site in 2007, Hispanics spend:
You can place your ads in newspapers or magazines depending on your objectives. See our Placement Tips.
Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
Because you will be marketing child support services, you may be able to run your TV or radio ads for free by creating a Public Service Announcement, or PSA. See our Public Service Announcement. The traditional process is this: You would create the ad, then submit it to the broadcast station where you wish it to appear. Then the staff at that organization would decide whether or not to run it.
While PSAs are effective, the media has limited space for PSAs, and you will be competing with other nonprofits for that space.
Other options:
However, to avoid the issue of space limitations, many organizations are now posting their PSAs for free on YouTube.com and similar sites. Read more about social networking sites.
This strategy lets organizations show their videos without the effort and expense of adding video capabilities to their own Web sites. People can see your PSA in three ways:
See our
Radio ads use sound to paint pictures in listeners’ heads. Like TV, radio reaches a large number of people and has a low cost per person. You can also easily target radio ads to specific markets by carefully choosing the shows on which your ads appear.
Radio is a good market for reaching Hispanics. According to the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA), each week Hispanics spend:
Radio spots come in three lengths—15, 30, or 60 seconds—and four formats:
Whichever format you choose, your ad must be punchy and short (20 words for each 10 seconds). To do a full ad, you will need to choose a production agency, write copy, select the sound effects or music and voices, and edit your tape.
See our Creative Tips.
For a sensitive topic such as child support, consider using someone who is not a radio professional to read your script. A less-polished voice is more believable and may make your audience feel more comfortable. A natural voice, without a music background, also may make your ad stand out from the others.
How to Air Your Ad:
Repeating your ad frequently is best; eventually it will stand out in the listener’s mind. You can air your ads in several ways:
Where to Air Your Ad:
To learn which stations and shows to choose, ask them who their audience is. You also can get detailed reports on Hispanics’ listening habits from the media and marketing research firm Arbitron. Contact arbitron.com.
According to a 2007 Arbitron report, radio’s reach is up in every Hispanic demographic group, except for men aged 18-24 and teenage girls. Spanish-language radio is rapidly growing in popularity—it rose 24 percent between 2002 and 2006. And on weekdays, Hispanic listening peaks at the 7 a.m. hour and is high throughout the morning, as well as at noontime and the afternoon rush hour.
This and similar insight will help you decide where and when to air your ad. See our Placement Tips.
Television ads are appealing and can make a strong impression because they combine sight, sound, and motion. This medium allows plenty of room for creativity, and a careful job of coordinating the video, audio, and copy is key to a professional ad.
You can use TV ads to explain how child support works, to demonstrate how it solves problems, to tell success stories, to share conversations, or to show a celebrity endorsing your service. See our Creative Tips and Sample Public Service Announcements.
While TV ads are highly cost effective on a price-per-person basis, the overall cost can be expensive. In addition, these ads run so quickly that many viewers may miss them, either intentionally or unintentionally. To ensure that your audience sees your ad, make it memorable, and run it on a particular show or channel that you know your audience watches.
Where to Run Your Ad:
What might your audience watch?
A June 2006 report from Total TV Audience Monitor said that virtually all Hispanics watch prime time TV:
A fact sheet from the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) says that, on average, Hispanics watch TV in two languages:
Hispanics watch broadcast networks for almost three-quarters (71 percent) of their TV viewing time. Hispanic females are more likely than Hispanic males to watch morning and daytime hours. Buying ads on network broadcasts is generally a good approach if you want to reach people throughout the country, and it can be expensive.
Other Options:
See our Placement Tips.
Word-of-mouth advertising occurs when people give personal recommendations to use a particular service or product. Viral marketing is another name for this type of advertising, though that term often is associated with spreading the word through technological means such as forwarding e-mails, videos, funny pictures, and the like.
Word-of-mouth advertising gives you good exposure for very little cost. Encourage the people you serve to recommend your services to other single parents they know. If you do an e-mail campaign, encourage the recipients to forward the e-mail to their friends and family.
Word of mouth is important to the Hispanic community because Hispanics, especially those new to the country, often do not trust the United States authority, not even banks and big business. However, they do trust their own people.
They tend to only speak Spanish, to live among Hispanics, and to spend a lot of time with each other. This is where word of mouth takes place, and it is a very trusted source of information. When people learn about a program or service from a member of their own community, they are much more likely to believe that person and more likely to act on the advice that person provides.
Access to reliable, useful information is the bottom line for parents. Every individual—whether staff, parent, or community member—can help spread the word about the importance of child support.
