In frugal times, the best way to maximize smaller media budgets is to make sure money is spent efficiently and in a way that will make investments go further.
Not every company has billions of dollars to spend on each online marketing tactic. Clients with smaller budgets need to be more selective about how they allocate their funds. Their money needs to work smarter -- not harder -- to generate their desired return on investment without going over budget. Fortunately, for these clients, there are steps advertisers can take to make the most of their clients' budgets, especially when it comes to media campaigns.
In broad terms, agencies have several ways they can leverage their relationships with online publishers to maximize budgets. A few examples are continually cultivating relationships, being creative in campaigns, adjusting to campaign variables and creating agency-publisher win-win situations. Advertisers working with clients who have a media budget in the million-dollar range can tap into their network of publishers to stretch their clients' spends.
The way to maximize smaller media budgets is twofold: make sure money spent is going to be efficient and work with publishers to tack on as many extras as possible to make investments go further.
First and foremost, agencies need to make certain they maintain amicable, cooperative relationships with their representatives. Agency reps know their site better than anyone, so it's important for media teams to listen to the suggestions, insights and proposals publishers have to offer. This does not mean that agencies should blindly follow their initial proposals, but agencies can do themselves a sizable disservice to just cast aside the expertise of their reps.
Developing a cost-effective and efficient media plan should involve a collaborative effort between the publisher and agency. I also recommend being up front about the expectations of the campaign and create shared metrics to keep publishers responsible for campaign outcomes.
Here are eight ways to stretch those ad dollars:
1. Ask for extras
Another way for advertisers to get the most for their investment is to ask for little extras here and there that can really add up and increase a client's visibility. Some bonuses included link sharing, offline efforts and added value impressions. One of the most viable extras in my opinion is inclusion in their newsletters or website features. This cross-promotional effort can be very a effective and realistic way publishers and agencies can trade services.
2. Ask for a test
As I mentioned before, one way to stretch a media budget is to make certain that buys will garner relevant traffic and impressions. If publishers are willing, running a free pre-campaign test will help advertisers fine tune their campaign and ensure money is being spent on the best placements. Getting these kinks worked out before launching the full-blown campaign can greatly improve conversion rates and deliver ROI for clients.
3. Be flexible
One key component to stretching media dollars is being adaptable at the negotiation table. If marketers are too locked into their preconceived plans, they might miss out on ideas presented by publishers about how funds can be cost effectively distributed. Certain variables are more concrete, but if advertisers can be flexible about their impression load, dayparting or filtering through their lower priority targets, they are in a better place to get mileage out of a media budget.
4. Leverage your future/past buys
Publishers want to make money -- and rightfully so. As we in the advertising world know, it is most efficient to retain customers instead of acquiring new ones. Applying this theory to publishers and vendors, agencies can get covetable inventory and price rates if they can guarantee future projects or increased budgets based on campaign results. Especially when working with one publisher for several campaigns, agencies are in a better position to bundle their past and future buys to make the most of a campaign where funds are lacking.
5. Be a "test subject"
Another way advertisers can make campaigns go further on limited budgets is to offer to be a guinea pig for publishers. It's easy to forget that publishers are trying to keep up with one another, and by offering to be a prototype -- in return for impressions or a service offering -- publishers can be on the cutting edge of their industry. This will also help establish clients as progressive and might result in additional marketing opportunities outside of the media campaign.
6. Offer to share/ develop case study
One of my favorite truisms is that nothing in life is free, and these wise words certainly pertain to advertising. If you, as an advertiser, are requesting a favor from a publisher, it only makes sense to provide something in return. A case study or sharing back-end information, which publishers generally do not have access to, is one thing advertisers have to offer. This shows publishers a few things -- most importantly that you appreciate their help. Secondly, offering to compile a case study at the end of the campaign illustrates that you are willing to make up for a lack of funds in other areas to possibly help publishers generate new business for themselves. Lastly, by offering publishers information and data that they do not have access to shows that you understand their business and want to maintain a good relationship.
7. Self-service options
Nowadays, there are several options for agencies to set up their own media campaign using publisher online self-service options. Since most publishers and ad networks have minimum spends, this option is ideal for campaigns with small budgets because they don't have any minimums. Between MSN's new partnership with AdReady, AdBrite, Google and Facebook, advertisers have a decent amount of options to make their own media buy and not be bogged down with publisher minimums.
8. It's about conversions
No matter how many clicks an in-page advertisement drives, at the end of the day conversions are what matter. This is why I suggest working with a fewer amount of publishers that can offer a more concentrated group of targeted users, as opposed to a buy that goes after a wider, watered-down segment of consumers. If publishers also have the ability to reach users that are further down the purchasing funnel, small budget media buys should go after them first. Utilizing geo-targeting can also help marketers get the most mileage out of a media buy. These targeting strategies are a key component of most media plans regardless of budget, but targeting becomes essential when working with limited resources. It ensures money is not wasted on users who are not likely to convert.
Conclusion
Approaching an agency-publisher relationship as more of a partnership allows both parties to get something from campaigns. Whether it's an impressive case study to tell at networking events or a good old-fashioned learning experience, online marketers and publishers should be able to extract value from most media engagements.
In the end, there are countless online publishers and agencies out there in the world, but we chose to partner with ones that are most effective and will help achieve client goals.
Article by : Andreas Roell is president and CEO of Geary Interactive.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment