Using and Buying Media Wisely

Before we get into planning season, this seems like a good time to discuss the best ways to think about buying media. I touched on this briefly in my recent post, The Intersection of Planning and Improvisation. But this topic deserves an entire post before annual plans are laid for 2011. The first thing you must remember as you consider this is that you—yourself—are a microcosm of how the world interacts with media. You’re certainly not the perfect prototype, but don’t discount your experience and how you interact with media. That’s a critical smell test for whatever media you’re considering. I have always started with television because it’s the most expensive. The first thing to consider is if you have a good television commercial in the bag that enhances your brand position and is still relevant. If so, it’s worthwhile to consider buying a television for branding purposes. Specifically, local news/sporting events. Think about it – what do you watch live, news, and sporting events? That’s where you need to place your buys. Cable also provides a reasonably cost-effective reach, but not many people are watching commercials in the age of DVR and TIVO. So buy wisely! Be aware of when the first run shows are running and when re-runs have it (i.e., don’t buy in the summer). It’s also usually not worth the expense to buy in the political season – say no to those periods. Billboards and buses are usually my next stop. These are ideally suited to summer months. Think about it: people are outside, traveling, and driving around more in the summer than in winter. That means summer is an ideal time to buy billboards. Buses are also good to buy in summer. I prefer bus butts rather than sides. More people spend more time looking at the back of a bus than they do the side, so invest wisely and buy the bus butt. Because of the medium, outdoor is best suited to branding messaging, in a few words, with fantastic imagery. From there, I usually move on to the radio. Like billboards and buses, people listen to the radio in the summertime. Outside, working in the yard, driving to the coast, hanging out at the picnic, you name it – radio tends to be the backdrop to our summer moments. As such, you will want to move your radio buys to be heaviest in the summer months. Now, it’s accurate that iPods and other portable music are cutting into this market, but for the cost – radio still has tremendous reach. In my opinion, other highly underrated radio day-parts are weekends. The same rules apply – radio provides the backdrop, and the good news is that weekend day parts are CHEAP! Everyone wants the M-F drive time, and it’s worth paying for, but weekends are a significantly less costly investment. I think M-F 10a-3p are pretty worthless. It is valid; your radio reps will quote you all the at-work listenership numbers, but when did you last pay attention to the commercials playing on the radio when you were at work? Not often, so skip that when buying. Radio is well suited for both branding and promotional messaging. Print advertising should be used sparingly and just for promotional advertising. Not many people read print anymore, and they tend to be the older demographic when they do. Online—This is great for branding and promotional purposes. More people are spending more time online, so get a Google Adwords account and a Facebook Ads account and have at it—it’s cheap and reasonably effective. We’ll cover the details of online more in a future post. Social Media—Don’t underestimate the power of social media. It’s critical for branding, promotion, and authenticity. Spend money in this category! It’s cheap and will have a long-term effect on your business’ success. I recently outlined 5 Reasons You Should Be on Social Media here. So that’s a primer on buying media for strategic marketing planning. Plan well!