With over 25,000 local businesses having access to the Balihoo Local Marketing Automation platform, we have a very unique view into the local marketing strategy landscape.  When looking at the pre-Balihoo marketing efforts of these businesses, the single most mis-used medium we see is local television.  Given that TV is typically the most expensive medium a local marketer will engage with, it's such a shame to see it so frequently mis-used. 

For those of you without access to Balihoo and our expert local media planning and local media buying, here are a few tips from our media team:  

• DON'T be sold TV advertising.  This is an extremely expensive and important component of your local marketing strategy, so take the time to strategically buy it.  You should explore every TV option available in your local market and compare them against one another.  
• If you haven't clearly determined your target market, TV advertising is going to be wasteful for you and should not be used.  Don't be fooled by low per-spot prices or package deals - determine the cost-per-target-impression of every option and then make the choice that makes the most sense for your business.
• TV is by nature heavily reliant on quality creative.  If you don't have the resources to develop national-quality spots, look at other marketing tactics to achieve your goals.  
• Given the expense of adding TV to your local marketing strategy (both the media and the creative) make sure you have the methodology in place to track the results.  Best-case is using unique 1-800 numbers and/or URL's to track results, but at the very least train your staff to ask customers what brought them in.