Smart Media Buying to drive greater ROI for Offline Advertising

There has always been this quote that struck a chord and is very relevant in the present times, “Business has only two functions-cost-effective Marketing and Innovation.” Every brand to survive needs to do correct marketing that reinforces the positive aspects of the brand in the public memory and continuously innovate their products or services. The advertising industry per sec has gone a tremendous metamorphosis given the new tools of marketing that are currently available. Given advertising inventory is perishable, the pricing for it varies for every advertiser. “Smart Media Buying” is the process which ensures to drive the lowest rates across advertisers for their media campaigns. The current market scenario for media buying differs from the traditional methods and employs new-age practices. Smart Media Buying works by leveraging data, creating competition and negotiating with the right sales person. Before going all out with media buying, keep a few essential points in mind to steal home the winner deal:

  • Never negotiate with media houses without proper research

There is a prevailing tendency among marketers to negotiate only until a point till where they can fit the campaign within the stipulated budget. This practice not only makes them lose precious money but also is bad for future ad campaigns. A marketer should have proper knowledge of the medium and credible research data to back his arguments with media salesperson. When venturing out, one might not have an idea about the best rate for an ad space. This is a critical data which acts as your armor against media houses. Information on what space has been sold to which advertiser at what rate is critical to steer the negotiation process. Not only will you appear knowledgeable to the sales lead but also drive home the winner deal. Remember that to get the lowest market rates awareness of the prevailing historic rate pricing is of critical importance. Therefore, do your research and proceed accordingly.

  • Do Not Ignore last minute Ad Inventory

Media is a perishable commodity. Everyday crores worth of ad inventory go unsold and thereby vacant across mediums (Newspapers, Radio, TV, Outdoor etc.). Information on these vacant spaces are generally given at the eleventh hour after the entire day’s planning is over. These media spaces are sold to advertisers at relatively cheaper prices in order to fill in the vacant slots. Keeping flexibility in ad release date ensures that these spaces are available at discounted rates. You not only end up spending less but also get the desired space in the media. The easy access to these now newly opened ad spaces will lead to more opportunities for market disrupters to emerge and grow. A win-win situation arises when an advertiser gets an impressive rate for Ad inventory and the media supplier is saved from losing on the revenue of an unsold space. Every supplier craves to reach that equilibrium. So, get your contacts right to garner the last minute inventory that benefits your business. Rates are actually slashed over 70% on these remnant inventories. Try negotiating on ROS Ad inventory availability, you will be surprised on how much you could save.

  • Choose One Media but cross check with others

Remember, in the world of media buying you are the supreme bet and media houses are the bidders, who would extensively compete and give you the right rate to win the deal. Competition is a powerful pressure tactic that would swirl your best media buying deal. It doesn’t mean you choose the media house that quotes the lowest, it’s about negotiating with the preferred media house on the basis of the lowest rate rack. The media salespersons have jaw-dropping deadlines and every potential customer is the apple of his eye. He would do anything to avoid losing you to the competition, but you need to get your figures correct to initiate the right negotiation on his behalf. When people are clamoring for the other media options, they tend to receive a more competitive price. Always be open to getting rates from all the leading media houses before you go ahead with an Ad campaign. Go rate shopping across media houses and compare to get the best-negotiated deal. Never settle for just one.
These few tricks can save up your marketing budget considerably but also serve the objective behind advertising.  Thinking out of the box and walking the extra mile by breaking the traditional media buying technique will only benefit you in the long run. So, the next time you are planning your media campaign bring these strategies into play.
About releaseMyAd:
releaseMyAd is India’s largest online advertising platform serving 1.5 lakhs+ customers annually. Our online platform has helped serve local businesses, startups and individuals to successfully plan and buy their ATL campaigns. Through our experience, we have gathered insights to drive better ROI from mass-media campaigns, we call this, “Smart Media Buying”. We have successfully applied them across our clients to help grow their business – such as Swiggy, Craftsvilla, Voonik, Housejoy, Peppertap, Nykaa, PharmEasy among others.

Sharad Lunia

Founder releaseMyAd

 

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