Why it is a mistake to cut your marketing budget.

Have you noticed the shrinking size of magazines and other print publications? Is it due to less available content or fewer newsworthy articles? No! It is due to shrinking ad budgets. Advertisers are running for the hills as they pull back and slash their marketing budgets. The end result is formerly burgeoning magazines are now a mere shadow of their former selves.

To stay ahead of your competitors, especially when they are in full retreat, you need to keep your marketing momentum going. If you pull back, your customers may loose sight of you in the marketplace and possibly forget about you all together.

If you think that “hunkering down” is the way to survive this economic downturn, consider this:

 10 sure-fire ways to kill your small business

1) Stop Marketing and pretend that everyone knows who you are and what you sell.

2) Stop Marketingand fantasize that you have more important things to worry about in your business.

3) Stop Marketing and make believe  that your customers didn’t notice that you stopped sending your newsletter.

4) Stop Marketing and continue to tell yourself that your customers will never abandon you.

5) Stop Marketing and ignore all the potential new customers that would do business with you, if they only knew you existed.

6) Stop Marketing and stop thinking about what your competitors are doing with your customers.

7) Stop Marketing and keep telling yourself “it costs too much” to advertise.

Stop Marketing and disregard the fact that marketing is an business investment, not an expense.

9) Stop Marketing and pretend that your customers will still believe that you care about them, even if you never tell them.

10) Stop Marketing and forget that NOW is the BEST time to advertise as all of the other IDIOTS in business have chosen not to.

There has never been a better time to tell the world that your business is there and what it does or sells.

Tell your existing clients you both appreciate and need them.

Announce to prospective new clients that you are ready and prepared to serve them.

Don’t let this great opportunity pass you by!

Effective Media Buying will Boost Your Sales and Save your Business Money

All advertising campaigns involve media buying. The best media buyers possess a highly specialized skill to understand customer experience and behavior. With this knowledge it is possible to know the best medium needed for a particular campaign. The savvy media buyer also knows and understands the criteria used to measure results, thus being better equipped to properly manage costs.

Important factors that are critical to the buying process are: costs, demographics, products, services, and goals. The buyer must fully understand that the best possible return on investment is reliant upon the resources available (i.e. television, radio, internet, print, etc.). Space and time are also elements of consideration for the most effective media buy.

There are two types of media buyers; General Marketing Media Buyers and Direct Response Media Buyers. The General Marketing Buyer works to execute plans put in place by media planners. They negotiate prices and create a to-do list based on the media plan. General Media Buyers are generally dependent on published cost guides.

The Direct Response Media Buyer is more independent, being well versed in negotiating a functional rate and obtaining a variety of media channels from the suitable stations. They follow the sales, making the necessary adjustments to the media plan. Direct Response Media Buyers work to fortify the results by using unique phone numbers to each station where they place advertising spots.

The following is a summary of the most important components of media buying:

Always buy TV and radio on a “tonnage” basis.

Establish your target market with the goal to reach as many people as possible in that specific market.

Always shoot to reach the most viewers with enough frequency to make an impact. This goal will be achieved by advertising to at least two of the four major TV stations (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. You should buy time on all four if rates are competitive.

Another alternative is to purchase time in specific programs, although this can come at a higher price.

Additional tips for Media Buying:

Provide a commission for small advertising companies and freelance media buyers; you can to give away up to 15% commission or throw in some other services for free.

Another possibility would be to setup your own “in-house advertising agency”. As long as you hire the right people, this will reduce the cost of all commissionable advertising you buy.

 Make sure that you hire only people who understand media and media buying.

RF

Media planner: Job description and activities

Job description

Media planners enable their clients to maximize the impact of their advertising campaigns through the use of a range of media. In order to ensure that campaigns reach their target audiences as effectively as possible, media planners combine creative thinking with factual analysis to develop appropriate strategies. They apply knowledge of media and communication platforms to identify the most appropriate vehicle for building awareness of a client’s brand.

Media planners work with the press, television, radio and new media, in particular the internet, as well as more unusual platforms, such as, for example, brand promotion on the sides of buses and taxis. Some agencies combine the role of planner with the role of media buyer.

Typical work activities

Media planners usually work on a number of projects at the same time, usually for a number of different clients. Typical work activities generally fall into two main areas, with levels of client contact increasing with seniority.

Preparation:

• working with the client and the account team to understand a client’s business objectives and advertising strategy;
• liaising with the creative agency team, clients and consumers to develop media strategies and campaigns;
• making decisions on the best form of media for specific clients and campaigns;
• applying detailed knowledge of media owners in a range of geographical locations;
• thinking creatively about ways to represent particular clients;
• undertaking research using specialist industry resources;
• researching and analyzing data to translate ideas into a quantifiable task;
• identifying target audiences and analyzing their characteristics, behavior and media habits;
• presenting proposals, with media and cost schedules to clients.

Implementation:

• recommending the most appropriate types of media to use, as well as the most effective time spans and locations;
• working with colleagues, other departments and media buyers either in-house or in a specialist agency;
• making and maintaining good contacts with media owners, such as newspapers, magazines and websites;
• managing client relationships to ensure respect and trust in your judgment;
• proofreading advert text and content prior to release;
• maintaining detailed records;
• developing evaluation techniques for your campaigns.