Reaching audiences through advertising requires a multichannel approach. How people consume content and the ads supporting it have evolved significantly, with integrated campaigns enabling reach and targeting. In building these ad plans, you also must consider the crossover in media channels.

As a result of crossover, the same consumer may be an audience for advertising messages in multiple channels. This potential exposure can build brand awareness and stick in a person’s mind once they reach the level of making a buying decision. Ensuring consistent messaging that’s unique depending on the tactic is critical for recall.

There’s some interesting data that highlights media channel crossover, and you’ll learn how to interpret it and use this strategy when planning campaigns with your customers. There’s an opportunity to expand their ad spend and deliver a high-performing campaign, which often equals renewals.

What Is Crossover in Media Channels?

Crossover in media channels describes the behaviors of consumers who engage with different media daily. In many cases, there is overlap. For example, people listen to the radio, scroll on social media and watch streaming programs.

So, how do we know where the crossover occurs? Consumer research companies actually track this, like GWI. From their Core Q3 2023 metrics, many areas had substantial crossover.

  • Social media crossover: Of the 93% of people who use social media daily, 80% stream TV shows, 73% read online press, and 70% listen to radio.
  • Streaming TV crossover: Of the 77% of daily streamers, 95% engage with social media, 79% spend time online, and 76% tune in to radio.
  • Radio crossover: Of the 66% of daily radio listeners, 96% browse social media, 87% stream content, and 84% visit online sites.

These conclusions show a world of media where overlap is common. However, there is fragmentation in the customer journey. Fragmentation is the result of access to information that is available in just a few clicks. With this comes consumers’ ability to research and discover, so the path to purchase may have many detours.

Crossover can help your customers navigate the fragmentation. It’s critical that they advertise through multiple channels to continue building awareness that turns into intent. They don’t have to be in every channel, but the chance of overexposure is minimal.

The key to leveraging crossover for gain is to use the best tactics that align with the advertiser’s goals, meet their budget and appear where their audience looks for products and services.

Crossover Best Practices: What Makes a High-Performing Campaign?

Follow these best practices to build integrated campaigns that take advantage of crossover.

Recommend tactics that align with the advertiser’s goals.

The alignment may be a specific objective, like promoting an event or acquiring new customers. Use our ad mix tool for help with this option. The goal could also be more general but still apply to the stages of awareness, consideration and decision in the sales funnel. Check out this resource for guidance.

Use the 3-6-5 method.

A foundational best practice for integrated campaigns is to use three tactics with a minimum budget of $5,000 and a duration of six months. With the 3-6-5 strategy, advertisers commit to a longer campaign that can connect and engage with people in different mediums. It’s also long enough for optimization.

Create consistent but unique messaging.

The tactic sets the stage for what the content will look or sound like. The messaging about the offer, event or promotion should be consistent yet unique. A radio spot ad is only audio, so the words chosen should match the theme of display or streaming ads. It needs to look cohesive but not monotonous. Find ways to make each channel’s content distinct.

Incorporate digital and radio.

No matter how many tactics you suggest, there should always be a blend of radio and digital. When local advertising campaigns use both, performance is better. Radio lifts digital ad tactics. Consumers hear and retain information from audio ads, which plants a seed that turns into online activity, like using search engines or social media platforms for discovery. If your customer has a presence there, such as SEM (search engine marketing) or social display ads, they could see a lift in conversions.

Media Crossover and Local Advertising

There has always been media crossover; we just have more media than ever before. Decades ago, brands wanted to be in print and on the radio and TV. There’s now a broader world, but the fundamentals are the same.

Media crossover supports frequency and reach in advertising, which builds recall, recognition and awareness. Success comes from creating an integrated campaign to meet an objective that takes advantage of the overlap in consumers’ daily lives. Brands should still want people to hear about and see them; you’re the perfect resource to guide them through it.

Find more insights by viewing our integrated ad campaign recipe for success infographic.