SilverTowne Media Strategy Recommendations

Spring 2014

Summary:
These recommendations were developed by students in Ball States Advanced Media
Planning class during the spring 2014 semester. Student teams were challenged to do
extensive research of SilverTownes existing media exposure and recommend potential
new mediums, digital channels or integrated brand promotions opportunities for delivery
of advertising and promotional messages.

Recommendations are categorized as Paid Media (traditional advertising), Earned
Media (public relations, promotions, events, etc.) and Owned Media (business-owned
websites, brochures, blogs, videos, etc.). Since there is often integration of these media
categories (for example, advertising is used to promote events), recommendations are
listed in the primary category.

Team members included Jessica Banaszak, Megan Brand, Tyler Brown, Ashton
Campbell, John Cress, Hannah Downham, Lizzy Grubbs, Aaron Martin, Jayson Mills,
Abby Pearson, Brandi Riggle, Jesse Sallee, Doran Slater, Kyle Smitherman, Nick Thee,
Amanda Thornburg, J.P. Ubana, Chao Wang, Luke Woody. The course instructor was
Professor Michael Hanley.

Acknowledgement: Without the leadership and brand insights of Ashton Campbell this
project would not have been successful.

SilverTownes Primary Target

Men and women 25-45 years old
Young professionals
Active investors with an interest in bullion, precious metals or numismatics
investing
High indexing users of social media
Brand loyal and respond well to digital and traditional advertising
When making purchasing decisions the target researches throughout the Internet
by using online reviews and social media for product information
A large portion of this target is family oriented and wants to provide financially for
their familys future
The target tends to be conservative in their investing and social philosophies
Described as a values investor

Paid Media

We recommend that SilverTowne utilize these media segments: Direct response,
Internet (banner and search), magazines, local cable television, out of home, video pre-
roll.

Direct response
We recommend that Silvertowne mail and/or email educational materials that
contain information about the perks of investing in gold and silver. To improve the
chances of reaching the desired target market in Indiana, we suggest that
SilverTowne concentrate on these five counties: Marion, Lake, Allen, Hamilton
and Elkhart. Nationally, DMAs should be selected that have a high concentration
of the value investor.

Internet Paid Search/SEO
Rationale
The majority of people in our target audience do their research online before
buying a product. It will be important to buy keywords and have ads present on
targeted websites when customers and prospects are trying to find the most
reliable or trustworthy product. There are several places that sell the same
products as SilverTowne and it will be important to be listed above competitors
for organic and paid search on Google.

There are several different avenues that can be taken with this category. One
example would be going with cost-per-clicks. If you were to do this with Google,
using a monthly budget of $300, your results would be:
o Your daily budget: $10
o Your maximum cost-per-click bid: $0.50
o Your average actual cost-per-click bid: $0.40
o Approximate number of clicks per day: 25


Google Use SEO to have SilverTowne websites appear in the top five organic
search results. When audiences type keywords such as silver, coins,
gold, gift, value, bullion, platinum, and investing, and misspelled
variations like glod, bollion, bulion, boullion, and platinum.

Use Google Adwords for paid search with a goal of appearing in paid
search results a minimum of three out of five search opportunities.
YouTube Pay for YouTube to display SilverTownes ads on its front page.
Facebook Pay for Facebook to show SilverTownes ads when the users age falls in
the 25-45 age segment.
Amazon Company could pay Amazon to show SilverTownes ads in some
segments of products. For example, when a customer searches for silver,
coins, gold, gift, value, bullion, platinum, and investing, SilverTownes ads
would appear on the page.
Yahoo! Company could pay for Yahoo! for SilverTowne be in the first list when
audiences typed keywords such as silver, coins, gold, gift, value, bullion,
platinum, and investing.


Local and National Magazines
Rationale
The majority of SilverTownes heavy buyers are usually indulging themselves in
other hobbies such as hunting, gun collecting, and knife collecting, or just
collecting, in general. By placing ads in these magazines you can target people
interested in SilverTowne products or at least the industry. We suggest placing
print and digital ads that show product variety as well as how the products can be
an alternative to the stock market or savings bonds.

Shotgun News - One of the top gun
magazines
Linns Stamp News - Worlds biggest
stamp collecting magazine
Blade - One of the top knife collecting
magazines and knife news sites
FlyRC Model airplane magazine
Rifleman - The official magazine of the
NRA
COINage - Coin collector magazine

SilverTowne should also advertise in local business or investing magazines such
as the Indiana Business Magazine and the Indianapolis Business Journal, and
national lifestyle magazines such as Esquire and InStyle. These type business
publications are part of national magazine groups, so specific DMAs could be
targeted. See www.bizjournals.com and http://acbj.com/ .
Also, along with print advertisements in the magazines, we suggest that
SilverTowne place ads on the online and mobile versions of the magazines.

Local Cable TV
SilverTowne should place ads on local cable on financial/business networks such
as Fox Business and CNBC, for shows such as Mad Money, Fast Money,
Squawk Box, The Profit or Money Talks. The cable networks should be located in
DMAs with a high concentration of the target. Cable providers, such as Comcast,
have local and national ad buying opportunities to make pricing and placement
more cost efficient.

Out of Home
Rationale
OOH advertisements must be quick, powerful and meaningful messages that
build a brands image and most importantly, promote brand recall. The message
also needs to help the target get involved with the brand and what it does.
Nontraditional OOH advertising creates brand engagement, lets people interact
with the brand, and then share it by word of mouth, social media, etc.

Billboards
In order to drive foot traffic to the SilverTowne store in Winchester, place
billboards near interchanges with I-70, I-69) and U.S. highways that are near
Winchester and run through or near neighboring cities with larger populations. It
could also be a viable option to use billboards in the major Indiana cities:
Indianapolis, Evansville and Fort Wayne.

Movie Theaters
Silvertowne should advertise during previews in movie theatres with a high
concentration of our target. Commercials could be run from 30 to 60 seconds
highlighting the value of investing in bullion or precious metals. Ads can be run at
individual theaters in select DMAs on a local, regional or national basis, and by
targeting certain movies and demographics. The commercials could also be
edited for use as online pre-roll video and websites.

Mobile
Rationale
The majority of the target market owns a cellphone or smartphone, and they use
them heavily. By placing ads on the same websites mentioned in the Internet
category the target will be in frequent contact with the brand. Also, the target is
apt to download apps and shop online. Creating a network between previously
mentioned sites and newly developed apps for both information and consumption,
connection and creation of a consumer network based around SilverTowne will
be much more successful.

For the downloadable application, a SilverTowne-specific app that would allow
one to download specific information about current promotions, pricing and
available offers, read newsletter and keep track of important information, the
target would be able to interact directly with SilverTowne and a lasting
relationship can be built.

Mobile Months
Impressions
/Month
CPM Total Cost
Mobile
Banner Ads 12 1,000,000 $10 750,000
Mobile Promos 12 1,000,000 $10 750,000
App
Development 30,000
$1,530,000

Video Pre-Roll
Rationale
Pre-roll is a cost-effective way to visually introduce bullion or precious metals
investing to prospects on websites frequented by the target.
Websites used for banner ads would also be purchased for pre-roll.
YouTube pre-roll videos could be :15 and :30 videos targeted geographically in
SilverTownes highest purchasing states/DMAs. SilverTownes :15 videos will not
be able to be skipped, while the :30 will only be skipped based on YouTubes
preferences.
These videos will also focus on a range of products, SilverTowne generically and
the advantages of purchasing gold and silver bullion for your future.
YouTube will also be measured based on click-through rates that SilverTowne
will monitor and will run alongside the campaign and its efforts.

Owned Media
We recommend that SilverTowne utilize their own website, blog, social media
accounts and YouTube channels.
For SilverTownes website, we suggest you engage viewers with investment tips
and insights as a way to get a better understanding of investing. Especially with
your younger target audience, it will be a way for them to have an idea of what to
do before they invest in bullion or precious metals.
Having a blog within their website can engage your target audience to post any
questions they have or others who have learned something and want to share it.
Measuring the number of people who have visited the website will be done
through click-throughs; measuring blog effectiveness can be done through how
many posts have been made on the site and site traffic.

Social Media
The social media accounts we suggest for SilverTowne include Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Flickr, LinkedIn and Google+.
To reach young professionals it is recommended that SilverTowne take on an
advisory tone. Posting about why bullion and precious metals are excellent
investment opportunities and being able to advise followers will help build and
maintain a relationship with the target.
A great way for SilverTowne to expand their current social following is by adding
promoted posts, which offer a unique opportunity. With social media,
SilverTowne can pinpoint its exact target by interests and gender, geography,
device, keywords in tweets, and even by similarity among existing followers.
These accounts will also include tweets that provide investment information on
bullion and precious metals and will be promoted through Twitter.
Facebook ads will include information on investing and why they should plan for
the future.
Sponsored Instagram pictures will also be posted to give your target audience an
idea what bullion looks like and different SilverTowne products they offer in store
and online.
Since our target audience is heavily involved with social media, its a good way to
promote SilverTowne and the idea of investing for the future. The way to
measure this will be done through how many people like, retweet or favorite the
posting.
For YouTube channels, we recommend SilverTowne make videos of the
processes that go into making gold and silver bars. Also, showing informational
videos will be a way for your target audience to learn more about the minting
processes SilverTowne uses within their business and motivate them to invest.
Measuring the amount of YouTube viewers will show up once they watch the
videos and the amount of subscribers to SilverTownes channel will show up as
well. YouTube usually shows who watches a video, who posts a comment and
who subscribes to their channel.
Silvertowne should purchase sponsored tweets and promoted pins on Twitter
and Pinterest to keep their audience engaged.
Silvertowne could benefit from sponsoring articles on the popular website
Buzzfeed.


SilverTowne
Social Media
Current
Users
Schedule Advertising and
Marketing
Promotion
Facebook 14,588 New year,
graduation
seasons
(May &
December),
wedding
seasons
(May
October)
Post all the activities
information.
Company could do some
activities in these three
main schedules. Introduce
special coins for different
means such as coin for
special year, coin for
graduation, and coin for
wedding.
Twitter 941 Ongoing Post the activities
about company, and
retweets other
information about
SilverTowne. Retweet
target markets twitter.
Post the stories about
different coins.
Instagram 99 Ongoing Company could put all
the products images
on Instagram.
Company could provide
some videos of how these
products produced.

Issues
Company should advertise their social media to their target market to connect
more audiences in their social media. This could be promoted in other media.
Company could mention their social media in print ads and OOH ads.
Currently, Silvertowne is fairly active with some of their owned media. This
campaign will ensure that Silvertowne stays up to date on all of their postings
and integrates the main strategy into all of its vehicles.
The social media listed are recommendations for Silvertowne because the target
market actively uses them. They need to make sure that they are staying up to
date of each one of these vehicles to keep the interests of their target market.
The social media listed needs to be updated more frequently: By keeping up with
the social media more it will be easier to get your message to the desired target.
Also, by posting more prevalently the campaign message will reach our target
more often.
On all of the current social media, Silvertowne needs to remind the target why
they need to buy various coins from their company. Silvertowne will benefit from
explaining the investments and collecting of their coins. By investing and
purchasing coins from Silvertowne, the future of our target and their children will
be more stable financially. As well as reminding the target of the campaign
message they need to be informed on different coins, collections, the Internet site,
etc.
The social media should also remind the target of the Silvertowne website and
mobile app.
Likes, retweets, favorites, pins, comments, and views from the social media
websites will measure these segments.

Company Website
Rationale
The majority of the target market uses Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and
they use them heavily. SilverTowne owns it official websites to provide different
information to connect with the target market. Placing ads on these online social
media would let the target be in contact the brand frequently. Developing their
owned media for both information and advertising could help SilverTowne keep
their heavy users to buy products.
We recommend that SilverTowne restructure their website and make it more user
friendly. More specifically, we suggest that you link all three different sites
together and make the links between them more noticeable.
An education component should be added to their site because the lack of
knowledge deters many young professionals from investing, especially in bullion
and precious metals. Offering webinars and white papers on the value of
investing in the gold and bullion industry will encourage the target to invest and
feel supported by the brand.

Native Mobile App
We recommend SilverTowne create a native mobile application. The app will
allow users to personalize the content and information based on their personal
investments and ownership. Users will receive push notifications for the daily
market value of gold and silver, as well as an analysis of their current holdings,
like buy and sell, forecasted value and graphs of changes.
The app should also offer a loyalty program, a valuable way to encourage brand
adoption and loyalty in our target segment. The loyalty program would offer users
discounts, advanced purchasing opportunities and a renewable point system for
offers. A native application is a way to keep the brand in the targets mind on a
device that coordinates their life.

Earned
Relying on word of mouth and people to spread the word will help SilverTowne.
The people who see SilverTowne through your owned and paid media
recommendations will also recommend them to others and get the word out
about investing in bullion and precious metals.
We recommend that SilverTowne, as a promotional option, make college visits
not to promote SilverTowne, but to give educational presentations about all the
benefits of investing in gold and silver.
Along with that we suggest that SilverTowne partner with an economics
professor from Ball State to further your chances of having students who are
somewhat already aware of the economy and how investing work because those
students would be more inclined to become an investor in the future. In doing so,
we believe that this can secure future customers for SilverTowne.

Integrated Brand Promotions
Rationale
One of SilverTownes main business objectives is to educate new target
segments about the economic importance of buying bullion, precious metals and
coins. Our target is already a rapidly growing segment in the gold industry. They
have little faith in equities and they are more inclined to consider alternative
investments, contrary to older investors. Our target seeks tangible assets to
counter the fluctuations in stocks, bonds and cash as they are not as reliable as
they once were. While the goal is to provide education and create interest in
investing in gold and silver, it would be simple and effective to create brand
awareness to those that already have interest.
Young, curious investors are likely to attend the following trade shows and
events. These events will do the education for SilverTowne. The target simply
needs to be aware of the SilverTowne brand. Therefore, sponsorship and
contribution to such events would be very effective in building the brand.
Trades Shows and Events
For current and potential Investors: Metals and Minerals Investment Conference
in New York and San Francisco. These conferences educate its attendees on
precious metal investing and where emerging investment hotbeds are.
Sponsoring these conferences or ones similar will create brand awareness from
coast to coast. Also, the annual New Orleans Investment Conference is a viable
option for sponsorship or participation.
Coin Collectors
o Midwest Coin Shows
o Chicago International Coin Fair, 1st Sunday Coin Show; Palatine, Illinois,
Annual Spring Club Coin Show; Burlington, Iowa
o Indiana Coin Shows
o April 26. Highland. Calumet Area Stamp, Coin & Postcard Show.
o May 17. Jasper. Jasper Area Coin Club 11th Annual Coin Show.
o May 18. Lafayette. Lafayette Coin Show.
o Spring 2014. Bloomington. Bloomington Coin Show.
o Spring 2014. Marion. Marion Coin Club 56th Annual Coin Show.
Alternative promotion
The Indianapolis ArtsGarden structure resembles the shape of a coin. It hovers
17 feet above the intersection of Washington and Illinois streets and connects to
the Embassy Suites complex, the Conrad Hotel, and Circle Centre Mall. It is
linked by the indoor skywalk to the Hyatt Regency, Canterbury, Omni, Westin,
Marriott and the Indianapolis Convention Center. In other words, the structure is
right in the middle of Indianapolis where there is heavy foot and road traffic. Tens
of thousands of people pass under, by or through the ArtsGarden every day. This
presents an opportunity to wrap the coin-shaped structure in a gold or silver wrap,
to resemble a gold or silver coin. It will undoubtedly be seen by thousands of
passerbys every day.

Blogs
Rationale
More and more people in our target audience are becoming interested in blogs. It
is also important to hear from a person first hand what they think of a product.
The website of a company may say one thing or present a product in a way that
is misleading. Because of this the people in our target audience find it important
to hear and to confirm that what they expect is exactly what they are going to get.



Partnerships/Sponsorships
Create partnerships with virtual investment websites. These websites are meant
to create financial literacy, and virtually test your luck in the stock market
(marketwatch.com, wallstreetsurvivor.com).
SilverTowne could sponsor a contest and award the winner with complementary
compensation in the form of gold, silver, bullion etc. The participants of the
contest are already looking to broaden their knowledge of investing. Creating
partnerships with websites such as these will create the opportunity to
automatically target those that are in the investor mindset and seeking stock
market education. Sponsoring a contest that these virtual investors participant in
will surely create brand awareness and pull in future customers. SilverTowne
could rely on social media, OOH, mobile and IBC to encourage the target to
participate in such contests.
A sponsorship with another company would be extremely helpful for the sales of
Silvertowne. By sponsoring a company that our target market is involved in
Silvertowne will gain awareness and attention. This will give them an opportunity
to sell to younger audience. As well as a sponsorship with another company, it
would be helpful to sponsor events that are prevalent in the lives of our target.
Through the use of social media and blogs Silvertowne will inform the consumer
by giving them reviews and insights of their products. This is important because
the target researches heavily before making a purchase decision. By integrating
our Secure Your Future campaign the consumer will be informed of the ideas of
saving for their children and well as the idea of saving for their own retirement

Partnerships, Sponsorships
SilverTowne does not currently have any sponsorships or partnerships with any
companies or trade shows. To reach SilverTownes target market, young
professionals ages 25-45, we recommend partnerships with two of the largest
gun and sport shows in the U.S. These two shows are Wanenmachers Tulsa
Arms Show and Midessa, Boat, RV, Sport and Gun Show.
Both of these shows have a high saturation of our target market, as well as
Blog Name Description Price
Harvey Organs
daily gold & silver
report
Gold and Silver, Market Manipulation, Economic
Commentary
Starts at $20,
up to 18,068
imp/wk.
Lazy Man and
Money
This is a personal finance blog, focusing on reducing
expenses and increasing income through topics such
as mortgages, banking, investing, stocks, mutual
funds, peer-to-peer lending, etc.
Starting at $60,
up to 9,011
imp/wk.
Chief Family
Officer
Chief Family Officer is about finances, parenting and
cooking. Daily posts on saving money, building
wealth, recipes, children's health and development,
and product reviews. Ads are highly visible.
Starting at $10,
up to 3,922
imp/wk.
SilverTownes current target of an older demographic. People that attend these
shows are interested in investing money into a lifetime product. This makes it a
perfect place to set up tables for our target market to learn more about investing
and to invest in bullion. There will be tables set up with educational materials and
samples of actual product. SilverTownes name will be on banners, posters, and
on every table, which calculates to over 10,000 tables.
Create partnerships with virtual investment websites. These websites are meant
to create financial literacy and virtually test your luck in the stock market
(marketwatch.com, wallstreetsurvivor.com).
SilverTowne could sponsor a contest and award the winner with complimentary
compensation in the form of gold, silver, bullion etc. The participants of the
contest are already looking to broaden their knowledge of investing. Creating
partnerships with websites such as these will create the opportunity to
automatically target those that are in the investor mindset and seeking stock
market education. Sponsoring a contest that these virtual investors participant in
will surely create brand awareness and pull in future customers. SilverTowne
could rely on social media, OOH, mobile and IBC to encourage the target to
participate in such contests.