The Top 6 Media-Buying Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

We frequently find ourselves helping clients fix a number of key problems with their buying strategy. These mistakes muck with their media efficiency, siphon their ad budgets, and just plain cost them sales. Once identified, these problems can easily be avoided.

1. Inattention to the schedule. Many media buyers are happy to create a schedule, place it, wait for the invoice, and consider the job done. This hands-off approach means the buyer is naïve to changing market conditions. Is the creative working? Is the level of response acceptable? Has the client’s competitive situation changed in any way? How many spots are pre-empted? Why is the clearance low? If these questions are going unanswered until the post mortem, it’s too late!

At Golden Media we believe the schedule is fluid and must be tracked and adjusted as necessary on a daily basis to ensure optimum results.

2. Paying too much. Bumped inventory comes with the territory and shrewd buyers can tell simply by the number of spots being bumped whether they are getting the best spot rate or paying too much. It is advantageous to have some bumped inventory because that reveals that you’re paying the low end of the negotiation scale. But it’s all about percentage. Expectations of clearance levels vary by client and should be considered with rate negotiation.

At Golden Media we monitor clearance on a daily basis and react quickly to reschedule bumped spots.

3. Relying too much on research. Placing media spends based only on numbers ignore important factors such as the attitudes, opinions, and values of your target audience. For instance, a 35 year old woman who watches MTV is of a very different psychographic than a 35 year old woman who watches CMT.

At Golden Media we strategically consider the demographics and psychographics of your target market to match them to your brand.

4. Not doing enough research. Many agencies rely on ratings information provided to them by the sellers. Let’s face it, media companies share the information that puts their brand in the best light. Sometimes the information is either inaccurate or spun in such a way as to be inexact.

At Golden Media we purchase television ratings and research such as Nielsen™ and reliable qualitative research. This maximizes response levels for our clients.

5. Not getting the best value. Some media outlets are over-priced based on a perceived demand, while others are of superior value. The trick is in understanding the difference. This comes with experience.

Golden Media’s decades in the media business has taught us to recognize the best value proposition.

6. Adversarial relationships. Media-buyers can be demanding and difficult simply because they can. While that approach may win the skirmish, it does not serve the needs of the client, nor does it represent them well in the long term.

Golden Media promotes positive relationships with all of our vendors and media outlets. Time and again, this good will translates into very real return for our clients in the form of added value, bonuses, and better rates. We also visit the national media in New York three times a year to solidify and maintain our quality relationships.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Industry Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.