Egelhoff (2006)
Media buying basics
Getting the best buys for the buck
By Tom Egelhoff
If you have a big marketing budget and/or you live in a larger city, you may have an advertising agency that will take care of media planning and buying for you. But if you’re a smaller store and/or do business in a small town, you’ll probably have to do it yourself. And even if you work with an agency or media buyer, you need to walk in armed with your own goals and objectives. You also need to be able to oversee what they’re doing with some intelligence, so a grounding in the basics is always a good idea.
14 SleepSavvy • May/June 2006
F
urniture and bedding retailers are tempted to advertise in all available media – after all, everybody needs furniture and mattresses. But small businesses can seldom afford saturation advertising. You must be selective in the media that reaches your customers. So first figure out exactly who your target market is. You’ll want to be noticed by the largest segment of your target market with the limited dollars you have. Decide on your media objectives. For example: My ads should reach at least 75% of my primary target market an average of 20 times a week and at least 50% of my secondary market an average of twice a week. Once you know what you want your advertising to accomplish, you can start to make specific media decisions. Here are the steps I recommend: ● List and review as many possibilities as you can for reaching your target audience. Don’t be concerned about cost at this point; you want a list of as many ways to reach your market as possible. One of the best ways of finding out where your customers get their information is to ask them. Most people enjoy talking about themselves. They don’t need to know you’re doing research. Have them fill out a Satisfaction Report Card. ● Get a media kit from each potential medium and study it. A media kit will have all of the necessary information about the readers or audience. It should contain the
Getting the best buys for the buck
By Tom Egelhoff
If you have a big marketing budget and/or you live in a larger city, you may have an advertising agency that will take care of media planning and buying for you. But if you’re a smaller store and/or do business in a small town, you’ll probably have to do it yourself. And even if you work with an agency or media buyer, you need to walk in armed with your own goals and objectives. You also need to be able to oversee what they’re doing with some intelligence, so a grounding in the basics is always a good idea.
14 SleepSavvy • May/June 2006
F
urniture and bedding retailers are tempted to advertise in all available media – after all, everybody needs furniture and mattresses. But small businesses can seldom afford saturation advertising. You must be selective in the media that reaches your customers. So first figure out exactly who your target market is. You’ll want to be noticed by the largest segment of your target market with the limited dollars you have. Decide on your media objectives. For example: My ads should reach at least 75% of my primary target market an average of 20 times a week and at least 50% of my secondary market an average of twice a week. Once you know what you want your advertising to accomplish, you can start to make specific media decisions. Here are the steps I recommend: ● List and review as many possibilities as you can for reaching your target audience. Don’t be concerned about cost at this point; you want a list of as many ways to reach your market as possible. One of the best ways of finding out where your customers get their information is to ask them. Most people enjoy talking about themselves. They don’t need to know you’re doing research. Have them fill out a Satisfaction Report Card. ● Get a media kit from each potential medium and study it. A media kit will have all of the necessary information about the readers or audience. It should contain the