1. 1. NAVIGATING THE THREE-RING MEDIA BUYING CIRCUS Panelists: Lauren Baker, Advertising Marketing Manger, Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau LeaAnn Dearman, Director of Communications, City of Seabrook Anthony Wilson, Public Information Officer, City of San Angelo Moderator: Sara Bustilloz, Public Information Officer, City of Midland
2. 2. MEDIA BUYING 101 Lauren Baker, Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau Advertising Marketing Manager
3. 3. MEDIA BUYING FLOW 1. Research and identify your Target Market 2. Set goals/objectives 3. Plan your strategy/tactics and determine budget 4. Execute Plan 5. Analyze Results
4. 4. TARGET MARKET Who are you trying to reach? Hint: its not everybody Use market research to help identify your target audience Create a target audience profile: ie, Women, 25- 54, HHI $75k+, has a family
5. 5. SET GOALS/OBJECTIVES What do you want this media buy to accomplish? General awareness? E-newsletter signs ups? Increased Facebook likes? Etc Put your goals in priority order
6. 6. PLAN YOUR STRATEGY What is your budget and timeframe? Allocate the budget across mediums Dont forget to set aside money to create any new advertising or for production Is your destination landing page ready to receive advertising? Use of reach and frequency to determine a healthy media buy Dominate, dont dabble
7. 7. STRATEGY: WHAT IS REACH AND FREQUENCY? Reach refers to the total number of households that will be exposed to the message This is measured as a % of the total audience you want to reach and often seen as a television rating Frequency refers to the number of times the receiver is exposed to the advertisement Repetition of the same message R/F is typically measured in broadcast buying as a Gross Rating Points (GRPs)
8. 8. STRATEGY: BUDGETING TV Gross Rating Points (GRPs) vs. Spots GRP: Reach x Frequency. This is calculated by the percent of the target market (rating) multiplied by the exposure Ex: Morning News is 2.5 rating against the buying demo of W25-54 in Houston. You schedule it to run 4x in a week, then the total GRPs = 10 in a week Morning News reaches 2.5% of W25-54 in Houston, which is why is has a 2.5 rating Spot: (1) commercial ad unit Ex: You run a :30 spot in Morning News against the buying demo of W25-54 in Houston. You schedule it to run 4x in a week, then the total spots = 4 in a week
9. 9. STRATEGY: BUDGETING TV Gross Rating Points are priced by CPPs (Cost Per Point) Several factors determine CPP, like target and the daypart when the ad is running Where do you get CPPs? Local TV stations can give you this price for your target audience Each daypart has different prices, with Prime being the most expensive SQAD is a program that can forecast the CPP to help with budgeting
10. 10. STRATEGY: BUDGETING TV, SQAD SQAD will forecast CPPs by quarter/daypart/market This is useful negotiation tool Primetime
11. 11. STRATEGY: BUDGETING TV, SQAD In order to place effective and efficient media buys, its best to diversify your daypart mix when your target audience is watching 100 125 GRPs per week across all stations in a market is a healthy minimum. Minimum advertising flights 4-6 weeks
12. 12. STRATEGY: BUDGET ALLOCATION Sometimes, its easier to work backwards when determining budget allocation for each medium
13. 13. EXECUTE YOUR PLAN Now that you have your plan, start negotiations Reach out to publications to let them know youre interested and have them put together a proposal If youre a non-profit, tell them Ask for their rate card, and the best frequency discount they can give Require added value (I ask for minimum 10%)
14. 14. EXECUTE YOUR PLAN TV: If network TV is too expensive, look into buying cable TV Go direct with a station, and let them know they are receiving 100% share of the buy. They will treat you much better! Adding :15 second spots can help cut down on the cost too (2) :15 second spots is generally about 65% the cost of a :30, but can add double the frequency
15. 15. EXECUTE YOUR PLAN Digital: Request share-of-voice for each ad unit proposed when the publisher creates the plan Rule of thumb: SOV should be at least 5% or higher Look at buying ad networks, like Google. Publishers, like Hearst and Gannett also provide network/programmatic buys Ask about viewability, which is how visible your ad is on the page. Typically bigger ad units and ads above the fold have high viewability Request standard IAB ad units to make advertising on a variety of sites easier to manage
16. 16. EXECUTE YOUR PLAN Print: Request positioning that is far forward or above the fold so your ad is seen Request premium position (like the inside-front-cover or C2) at a discounted price If you have a key competitor, ask if that competitor is advertising and if your ad can be before their ad Does the publisher provide any sort of advertising effectiveness studies you can be part of?
17. 17. ANALYZE RESULTS Have you seen traffic to your website or social media page increase? Investigate time-on-site and bounce rate Look at the digital advertising reports Successful campaigns include high click-through-rates Industry average CTR is between .06% - .10% If you have campaign success, potentially negotiate next years ad buys early to lock in rates
18. 18. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY? Anthony Wilson, City of San Angelo Public Information Officer
19. 19. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY? Expertise Whats the best way to reach the target audience? Whats the right mix of media? Which media/outlets are most effective? Which media/outlets offer the best value? Whats a good rate? What extras can we get added on at low to no cost?
20. 20. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY? Value The best rate. (Walmart vs. Mom & Pop) Low to no cost. We pay the cost of the advertising (and, at our option, production). Media pays the commission. Relationships. Effectiveness.
21. 21. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY? Consistency Branding. (use of the logo, fonts, colors, URLs, etc) Message. Mediums and outlets. Ease One less thing to worry about. Agency plays bad cop.
22. 22. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY? How it works for us: RFP, Council approval, contract. (Want our contract? Ask @CityofSanAngelo) Departments set advertising budgets, meet w/ agency to review years needs. Agency works directly with departments. PIO serves as liaison and facilitator. Departments have final approval of all advertising campaigns and materials.
23. 23. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY? Our advertising agency ensures we spend the limited funds budgeted for advertising in the most effective manner possible and that we reach target audiences at the lowest cost.
24. 24. SMALL MARKETS LeaAnn Dearman, City of Seabrook Director of Communications & Marketing
25. 25. SMALL MARKETS Get creative with funds Consider cooperative ads Split your budget (print, digital, tv) Track and analyze your results Custom URLs QR Code (yes, they can be more graphically pleasing) Request market information and digital analytics Design your ads in-house or negotiate reasonable graphic design pricing
26. 26. EXAMPLES HOT Funds specifically used for promotion and advertising. Texas Highways, Bird Watchers Digest, Food and Travel, Avid Cruiser, Texas State Travel Guide, Houston Chronicle, etc. Digital: Visit Houston, VacationFun.com, TourTexas.com, etc. TV: Road Trippin and Check this Out Houston EDC May be able to spend up to 10% on advertising. Print: Texas Real Estate Business Journal, Houston Business Journal, REDNews Digital: HBJ and REDNews Every city department needs to place funds under their advertising line item.
27. 27. ADVICE Regardless of what ads you choose to buy, always saturate the market via your own channels Post your ad/info on social media Send it out to your list serve Put it in your newsletters (print & electronic) Write a news release about it and post it to your website Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make. ~ Bill Bernbach
28. 28. QUESTIONS? Panelists Contact Information: Lauren Baker: lbaker@visithouston.com LeaAnn Dearman: ldearman@seabrooktx.gov Anthony Wilson: anthony.wilson@cosatx.us Moderator: Sara Bustilloz, sbustilloz@midlandtexas.gov Download Presentation: http://bit.do/media-buying