RadioActive Media : Marketing, Promotions and Advertising: Radio, Television, Magazine, Internet.

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By Jan Carroza, RadioActive Media Team Member 

The timing of media placement can be critical because it can be directly proportional to savings achieved in the final negotiations. Trying to buy too close to flight dates when inventory is tight will almost always make the media cost more than if it were bought months or as far out as a year before. 

I threw the question out to members of LinkedIn’s Media Planning and Buying Group and got a variety of great answers. Basically, everyone sets their planning to their particular industry, media rate availability and company factors which are inevitable, and of course, make sense. 

Share the timing of your media planning at our poll and see when others are doing it.

Media planning starts in August at MindTaffy Design to be able to plan for CES in 2011, says Wallace Jackson. The process starts at the beginning of Q4 for Mark Plumb, Sr. A.E. at Weise Communications, and continues as budgets and sales targets arrive. The idea of budget “liquidity” continues as explored by Mel Collins of Persuade, Inc., reminding us all of the need for flexibility to respond to continually changing needs and opportunities. Mel’s description of the budget as road map is perfectly apt. 

I know from my own experience on the buying side that the capability to lock in rates a year in advance created significant savings for clients. Even putting two quarters worth of budget together beat the average rate of the two bought individually. By offering more commitment, I could get more clout. 

Providing “slush” money for opportunities, preemption, emergencies, and contingencies is especially important for the long-range planner. Many media like radio offer terrific opportunities at remnant prices for those with the flexibility both in timing and budget. 

However, all that flexibility keys off advertiser forces not in the planner’s control. The savings potential is worthy of serious internal discussion as part of overall planning strategy. Understandably, many planners must wait for all necessary components. Sometimes a discussion with management about what savings could mean with the greatest possible advance notice might make a difference. 

At RadioActive Media, we are keenly aware of the goals and needs of media planners and join you in sharing the success of the process. If you are an advertiser interested in what direct response radio can do for you, give Jeff Pollak a call at 800-559-RADIO (7234) to talk about what media planning might mean for you in 2011.

@radioactivemed

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800-599-RADIO | Text DR Radio to 511-511 | 714-787-0101 International

By the RadioActive Media Team

As an advertiser or media planner, are you willing to go outside your comfort zone to test direct response radio?

“The effectiveness of leadership is seen by his or her ability to rock the boat, which means that the leader never becomes complacent at any level of achievement or accepts the status quo” writes NC Narrayan in Defining the Role of Champions in Business Excellence.

Many traditional advertisers historically have sniffed at direct response referring to many of the “slicer dicer” companies as not being in their same league. During economic downturns, “champions” explore new options to stretch ad dollars.

1. Advantages of Direct Response Radio
2. Stretching the traditional ad dollar by 20%
3. Minimizing risk by testing in small increments
4. Sales and lead tracking
5. Tweaking campaign from results to continually improve benchmark goals
6. Achieving reach goals by using multiple dayparts and formats

Trying direct response radio minimizes the risk of a new initiative by offering the ability to test incrementally by budget and market. The tracking capability of each spot in the test provides sales/leads per spot. As soon as the next day, analysts can massage a media buy to add the most efficient time slots and cancel others, continuing to tweak with each result, thereby constantly improving from initial benchmarks.

By testing and expanding campaigns in this way, reputations have been made. The proof is in the results. Advertisers learn that 3 different dayparts coupled with a variety of formats gets them the same reach as campaigns with the prestige of primetime for a lot less money and the accountability of result details by station, day and time period.

The Marketing Director for a solar panel installation company became a hero when she turned to direct response radio and improved their cost per lead by 75%.

Another marketing manager chose direct response radio in combination with text messaging to hit the heights of iPhone’s Top Paid Apps and Top Grossing Apps lists.

These and many other “champions” look to direct response radio to build sales and brands with much success, improving their position and moving into new, higher ones.

“In fact, a leader should foresee the trouble the organization will face in the coming years and initiate changes when everything is going well in the eyes of others. Rocking the boat means driving the organization to change when everything appears to be fine.” NC Narrayan

Certainly champions improve the sales and attractive perception of their companies by willing acquirers (See Building Brands with Radio Ad Campaigns – Creatively and Building Brands with Radio Ad Campaigns: How Advertising Can Make a Brand Attractive to Buyers.

So when you reflect on the advantages to stretch media dollars while minimizing risk to start small and expand with continual test increments and quick results, doesn’t direct response radio start to make sense?

Champions in business shake off complacence by choosing options like direct response radio that let them minimize their risks and continue show and share results quickly.

Related Posts: Case Studies Blog Post

Driving Down the Cost per Lead by 75%: Green Marketing Case Study

134,000 Apps: How Will Yours Stand Out and Be Found

Building Brands with Radio Ad Campaigns – Creatively

Building Brands with Radio Ad Campaigns: How Advertising Can Make a Brand Attractive to Buyers

@radioactivemed

The purpose of the program: to find information about DR programs (and the frequency of any alerts)
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Text STOP to cancel alerts
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A statement of privacy disclosure