Media Buying - They all work

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Tue, 4/20/2011

Today I was asked by a client “which media works best?” A favorite question that I’ve been asked countless times. And my tried and true answer- ‘They all work.’ They really do. Several factors help in making them work, but the bottom line is that they are only conduits to consumers. Let’s take a look at the nine most important variables in media buying.

1. Targeting the demo- If your demo is women don’t put ads on ESPN! Plain and simple. Yes, women watch ESPN, but there are hundreds of other place to find higher percentages of women, so why waste the money?

2. Call to action-Make sure the message you send has a call to action for the consumer to sit up and realize what you are offering. No action by the consumer typically means no movement of product or services for you.

3. Run a strategic campaign, not a schedule of ads. And run the entire campaign, so the planned reach and frequency goes to work for your business.

4. Mix media that support each other, and keep the message consistent. Direct mail and social media may work together, if you focus on the same promotional items. Have the Twitter icon on your direct mail piece.

5. Be ready for a response. Have inventory to support increased sales, and sales staff ready to engage with the customers.

6. Develop a tracking system to determine which medium is getting more response and increasing your ROI. The media mix you run for the first thirteen week campaign may change for the next campaign. If you don’t ask how the customer learned about your business you may never know.

7. Plan ahead for future opportunities through the media you buy. If widget A sells at a high volume, I will need to promote widget B in the next campaign.

8. Outside variables are key to when you promote. If your product or service is dependent on occurrences out of your control, you need to take every precaution to avoid having these occurrences ruin the results you are looking to achieve. Why promote during the hurricane season when your budget can be preserved until the hurricanes are complete.

9. It’s not just one or two or three of these variables that you need to contend with-it’s every one of them, all the time. The moment you let your guard down and only focus on a few of these variables, the others will come back to haunt you.

What are your challenges when it comes to media buying for your business? I look forward to hearing your comments.

Until next time …