When purchasing media, there are a number of issues to consider including identifying the target, setting a media budget, and of course choosing the medium or media that is the right fit for the product or service being advertised.
Choosing the Target
Knowing the target is one of the most crucial steps that needs to be considered in the media buying process. Understanding the demographics—age, gender, household income, and education is the first step. The second step is the psychographic component—attitudes, values, and lifestyles. For example, a person might be working in a professional field and might be heavy print and online readers, and watch very little television.
Setting Media Objectives
Knowing what your objectives are will assist in what message you are sending to consumers. Are you creating loyalty, awareness, or trying to sell? Allen Media, Inc. knows the importance of objectives and can help with objective clarification.
Setting the Budget
Setting the budget often helps dictate which medium is selected. For example, if a brand new company only had a small media budget, chances are they wouldn’t advertise in national print publications. Also, if we learned from our research that they are heavy print and online readers, a schedule could be developed using regional print publications with an online component to support the print campaign.
The budget also dictates the timing of the campaign. If unlimited funds aren’t available to always have an advertising presence, recognizing time periods that give the company the best sales opportunities should be considered. For example, if the best opportunity for selling your product is during the late summer, early to late fall, and spring, a schedule would be developed to cover those time periods.
Plan in Motion
Now that a target, objective, and budget have been set and the media schedule is up and running, it is important to then look over how the plan is being received. Are you reaching enough consumers? Should frequency be increased, decreased? Making tweaks and changes are all a part of the process. Evaluating results enables you to make a stronger impact with the necessary tweaks for this and future plans.
Need help with your Media Buying Plan? At Allen Media, Inc. we have experienced staff to help you with all of your marketing needs. Call us at 413-534-6100, (941) 237-0408 or email dallen@allenmedia.net to request our assistance.