By Kristen Porter, Media Buyer
What does make a good media buy? The goal is to first define who and what you want to reach. In these fast moving and changing times, there are endless ways to reach your target… but it’s who exactly you want to reach- what’s their age? Are they married? Male/female? Do they have a family? What’s their income level? Where do they live? What do they like to do? What’s their occupation? Answering these questions will help lead you to where you should advertise. I like to sit down with the client and define the above BEFORE doing anything else. The biggest mistakes I have seen are when a client says that they want to advertise during a specific program or on a certain radio station or during a certain sporting event because “that’s my team” or because they “love that show” or “listen to that station all the time.”
Once you have established the who and the what, you can then narrow the scope and start to determine the where part of where you want to possibly advertise. I think it’s funny when someone says that this form of media or that form of media “didn’t work.” Really? What I tell my clients is everything “works.” If you had all the money in the world I would say to advertise everywhere- after all the goal of advertising is about is having someone see your message and react to it, right? But, unfortunately we can’t spend unlimited amounts of money on advertising, that’s not realistic. Everyone has to adhere to a budget and making sure the advertising we put out there fits within the budget and most importantly “works.”
In media buying, it’s important to pay attention to Cost per points and Cost per thousands, but there are so many other variables to consider as well when deciding where to advertise. Budget, Reach/Frequency, Time of year/Holiday season, Inventory demands…this one is going to be very important in the upcoming Election year…this is the when… Wouldn’t it be terrible if we took all the time and energy to create an ad campaign to have it not run because the stations were sold out due to the political advertising? That’s why it is so important for the buyer to know the market, know the media and know what outside forces may affect your buy.
In addition to the regular advertising schedule I always inquire what other opportunities are available – Are there any special promotions, events or sales happening? Can the media source provide client specific research or data? In these hard economic times, all media are working hard to be competitive and to get your dollars. Many have invested in new research tools and have increased their product offerings, although, be careful not to buy a “sale” just because they are offering a ton of commercials for a cheap price…remember, it is about who you are reaching…Why does it matter and how does it help your marketing efforts if you get 100 commercials for $10 each if they all run in the middle of the night when nobody is watching or listening? The biggest advice I can give is to look for ways to stretch your advertising dollar while ensuring the biggest bang for your buck.
What does make a good media buy? The goal is to first define who and what you want to reach. In these fast moving and changing times, there are endless ways to reach your target… but it’s who exactly you want to reach- what’s their age? Are they married? Male/female? Do they have a family? What’s their income level? Where do they live? What do they like to do? What’s their occupation? Answering these questions will help lead you to where you should advertise. I like to sit down with the client and define the above BEFORE doing anything else. The biggest mistakes I have seen are when a client says that they want to advertise during a specific program or on a certain radio station or during a certain sporting event because “that’s my team” or because they “love that show” or “listen to that station all the time.”
Once you have established the who and the what, you can then narrow the scope and start to determine the where part of where you want to possibly advertise. I think it’s funny when someone says that this form of media or that form of media “didn’t work.” Really? What I tell my clients is everything “works.” If you had all the money in the world I would say to advertise everywhere- after all the goal of advertising is about is having someone see your message and react to it, right? But, unfortunately we can’t spend unlimited amounts of money on advertising, that’s not realistic. Everyone has to adhere to a budget and making sure the advertising we put out there fits within the budget and most importantly “works.”
In media buying, it’s important to pay attention to Cost per points and Cost per thousands, but there are so many other variables to consider as well when deciding where to advertise. Budget, Reach/Frequency, Time of year/Holiday season, Inventory demands…this one is going to be very important in the upcoming Election year…this is the when… Wouldn’t it be terrible if we took all the time and energy to create an ad campaign to have it not run because the stations were sold out due to the political advertising? That’s why it is so important for the buyer to know the market, know the media and know what outside forces may affect your buy.
In addition to the regular advertising schedule I always inquire what other opportunities are available – Are there any special promotions, events or sales happening? Can the media source provide client specific research or data? In these hard economic times, all media are working hard to be competitive and to get your dollars. Many have invested in new research tools and have increased their product offerings, although, be careful not to buy a “sale” just because they are offering a ton of commercials for a cheap price…remember, it is about who you are reaching…Why does it matter and how does it help your marketing efforts if you get 100 commercials for $10 each if they all run in the middle of the night when nobody is watching or listening? The biggest advice I can give is to look for ways to stretch your advertising dollar while ensuring the biggest bang for your buck.
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