How to get your media buys approved.
How to get your media buys approved:
Tough times typically call for media and marketing budgets to be cut back. But, these times also create great opportunities.
I've been on both the "buy" side and the "sell" side of Internet Media transactions for 6-8 years. In times like these, you can get so much bang out of your media buck if you know where to look, negotiate and how to get the deals approved internally.
1. Provide intelligence on the media movements of your direct competition:
The results of such studies that you will conduct must be acutely interesting to any level of your organization.
Show a list of keywords your competitors are paying for. How much are they paying? Is the current figure more or less than historical averages?
If they've been buying a set of keywords for an extended period of time, it should mean they have proof enough to keep spending money in that direction. Should you spend money in that direction? Should you chase your competitor or break out in an entirely new direction?
Notice I said they "should" be doing well. You'd be surprised how many advertisers spend money on paid search and really don't know if their efforts are generating conversions that pay back over time. If your competitor is known as a smart operator, then you might assume he's getting payback.
Always show up 100% prepared. Prepare for questions that they might just toss out there to “test” you. The more information you have the better off you are.
2. Demonstrate long-term value to the media budget spent now.
Think recurring traffic. Think the value of your product’s brand. Think about the retail vs online angle.
I used to work for the 4th largest photo software company in the world (ACDSee) and even though our retail channel was losing money it supported our online channel. People saw the box in the store. Remembered it and Googled it. Bang! We captured that sale.
3. The trend is your friend.
If you are responsible for getting upper management to sign off on online media buys rather than traditional media buys, you are in the sweet spot.
According to a Forrester study, 6 of 10 marketers were planning to shift money from traditional channels to online channels such as search, email and social networks. Internet Media spend is now greater than radio and is poised to overtake magazine advertising.
Private-equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) has published its Communications Industry Forecast since 1986.
Their August 2009 study shows "alternative advertising is forecast to have a 12.3% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) from 2008-2013, compared to a 3.3% decline for traditional advertising." Convincing upper management that the rest of the world is shifting quickly to online ad spending should be pretty easy now. The VSS Forecast also noted that email marketing is a cheaper alternative to traditional direct mail campaigns.
The hard part is to convince the “old school” guys in upper management. Usually they are too scared... sorry... uneducated about online so they tend to stick with what they are comfortable with. This is where your negotiation skills come in handy.
4. Negotiate. Learn how to negotiate better.
Always negotiate going in. Don’t say “Lets agree on this for now and revise it later”. That will not work in most cases. If you have brought forward an iron clad case, keep your head cool and negotiate while you have the upper hand.
Until next time, stay tuned. Stay hot!
Chris Bjorklund
Ps... here in Perth Australia online marketing and media buying is an emerging market so if you are a media buyer or a digital marketer you might want to stay on top of new trends and how to outsmart your competition. Chances are other people are trying to outsmart you.
Tough times typically call for media and marketing budgets to be cut back. But, these times also create great opportunities.
I've been on both the "buy" side and the "sell" side of Internet Media transactions for 6-8 years. In times like these, you can get so much bang out of your media buck if you know where to look, negotiate and how to get the deals approved internally.
1. Provide intelligence on the media movements of your direct competition:
The results of such studies that you will conduct must be acutely interesting to any level of your organization.
Show a list of keywords your competitors are paying for. How much are they paying? Is the current figure more or less than historical averages?
If they've been buying a set of keywords for an extended period of time, it should mean they have proof enough to keep spending money in that direction. Should you spend money in that direction? Should you chase your competitor or break out in an entirely new direction?
Notice I said they "should" be doing well. You'd be surprised how many advertisers spend money on paid search and really don't know if their efforts are generating conversions that pay back over time. If your competitor is known as a smart operator, then you might assume he's getting payback.
Always show up 100% prepared. Prepare for questions that they might just toss out there to “test” you. The more information you have the better off you are.
2. Demonstrate long-term value to the media budget spent now.
Think recurring traffic. Think the value of your product’s brand. Think about the retail vs online angle.
I used to work for the 4th largest photo software company in the world (ACDSee) and even though our retail channel was losing money it supported our online channel. People saw the box in the store. Remembered it and Googled it. Bang! We captured that sale.
3. The trend is your friend.
If you are responsible for getting upper management to sign off on online media buys rather than traditional media buys, you are in the sweet spot.
According to a Forrester study, 6 of 10 marketers were planning to shift money from traditional channels to online channels such as search, email and social networks. Internet Media spend is now greater than radio and is poised to overtake magazine advertising.
Private-equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) has published its Communications Industry Forecast since 1986.
Their August 2009 study shows "alternative advertising is forecast to have a 12.3% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) from 2008-2013, compared to a 3.3% decline for traditional advertising." Convincing upper management that the rest of the world is shifting quickly to online ad spending should be pretty easy now. The VSS Forecast also noted that email marketing is a cheaper alternative to traditional direct mail campaigns.
The hard part is to convince the “old school” guys in upper management. Usually they are too scared... sorry... uneducated about online so they tend to stick with what they are comfortable with. This is where your negotiation skills come in handy.
4. Negotiate. Learn how to negotiate better.
Always negotiate going in. Don’t say “Lets agree on this for now and revise it later”. That will not work in most cases. If you have brought forward an iron clad case, keep your head cool and negotiate while you have the upper hand.
Until next time, stay tuned. Stay hot!
Chris Bjorklund
Ps... here in Perth Australia online marketing and media buying is an emerging market so if you are a media buyer or a digital marketer you might want to stay on top of new trends and how to outsmart your competition. Chances are other people are trying to outsmart you.
Labels: Chris Bjorklund, digital marketer, media buying, Perth Australia online marketing
posted by Chris Bjorklund at
9:47 PM
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