2024: The FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulations, Part 30
Media buying tamio 2015
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. MEDIA BUYING 101
Lauren Baker, Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
Advertising Marketing Manager
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. TARGET MARKET
• Who are you trying to reach? Hint: it’s 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. 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. PLAN YOUR STRATEGY
• What is your budget and timeframe?
• Allocate the budget across mediums
– Don’t 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, don’t dabble
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. 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. 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. STRATEGY: BUDGETING TV, SQAD
• SQAD will forecast CPPs by quarter/daypart/market
• This is useful negotiation tool
Primetime
11. STRATEGY: BUDGETING TV, SQAD
• In order to place effective and efficient media buys, it’s 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. STRATEGY: BUDGET ALLOCATION
• Sometimes, it’s easier to work backwards when
determining budget allocation for each medium
13. EXECUTE YOUR PLAN
• Now that you have your plan, start negotiations
• Reach out to publications to let them know
you’re interested and have them put together a
proposal
– If you’re 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 year’s ad buys early to lock in
rates
18. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY?
Anthony Wilson, City of San Angelo Public Information Officer
19. WHY HIRE AN AGENCY?
Expertise
• What’s the best way to reach the target
audience?
• What’s the right mix of media?
• Which media/outlets are most effective?
• Which media/outlets offer the best value?
• What’s a good rate?
• What extras can we get added on at low to no
cost?
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. 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. 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 year’s needs.
• Agency works directly with departments. PIO
serves as liaison and facilitator.
• Departments have final approval of all
advertising campaigns and materials.
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.
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. EXAMPLES
• HOT – Funds specifically used for promotion and
advertising.
– Texas Highways, Bird Watcher’s 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. 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
You must create market segments. For example: Nike could target everyone with feet, but that’s much too broad.
Visit association web sites that are aligned with your industry. A great resource that you won't want to miss is the U.S. Census Bureau or PEW research. Google Analytics! If you work with an ad agency, ask them to pull Scarborough Research or MRI research for you too. Keep in mind that secondary research is not done for you, so some of the information and answers may not be applicable to you.
Are you looking to create general awareness? Or is your goal to achieve sign-ups for a newsletter or sales? This all affects the best way to spend your money.
Spread thin, don’t win.
Television and Digital are the most important mediums we work with. Television takes a huge chunk of our budget, so that is backed out first. Then, digital is determinded
Many public info offices, particularly two-man operations such as ours, lack the expertise that Lauren has. For instance, I worked 20 years in newspapers and have no idea what a good rate is. McLaughlin Advertising knows the business, knows the market and the media. COSA lacks that very specific expertise.
I liken buying advertising to buying a car; everyone thinks they’re getting a great deal … because a charming salesman tells them they are. The truth is likely that you’re being taken advantage of. Our agency is our insider into that world, and protects our interests. Many private businesses recognize the value of hiring an agency; why shouldn’t cities?
McLaughlin Advertising places $250K in media buys each month. Because he buys in bulk, he’s always going to get a better rate. Not so with us. There’s value in hitching our wagon to his hoss.
We fought initial resistance among directors who were sure they were getting a great deal and were concerned they’d be paying more if they worked through an agency. But under our contract, we pay only the cost of the advertising and production, should we choose to have McLaughlin produce an ad. (We often do that in-house.) The media pays his 15% commission (the industry standard).
The media needs McLaughlin and his business. So it curries favor with him. Radio stations will often throw in remotes and other perks. The newspaper will add an online component at no more cost. The media is more willing to sponsor events in a trade for advertising. We always get more than we pay for, owing to McLaughlin’s relationships … and knowing what to ask for.
We’re gaining greater value from our advertising dollars because they are being invested more effectively. And when we ask McLaughlin to design ads for us, those are more effective, too, which makes the work worth the cost. Neither Brian nor I are graphic designers, and we realize that. Not so with everyone in our organization. Some think because they can manipulate Microsoft Publisher that they’re a designer. Those are also the folks who like to include 20 postage-stamp size images on a flyer. (I liken design to singing. Everyone thinks they are much better at it than they actually are. Few actually have the skill.) Sometimes you have to spend money on production to make money (or get citizens engaged).
Because our agency is involved in all of our advertising, it ensures a consistent approach in look, message, professionalism, use of outlets, etc.
In excess of 20 people selling media advertising in San Angelo. They seek to meet with media decision makers on a monthly basis, keeping them updated on opportunities and trying to convince them to advertise. As with small business owners, PIO’s and department heads don’t have time to field phone calls, respond to emails and take meetings with those folks regularly. That would represent a waste of man-hours.
Sales rep often contact city officials directly. We direct them to our agency, who then tells them no. We can avoid being the bad guy for once.
We knew McLaughlin because already had done some work for SAPD. But we sent the RFP to every local ad agency.
Want our contract? Tweet us your email address @CityofSanAngelo. We’ll send you a copy.
PIO serves as facilitator and liaison. Often, my job is convincing them that less is more in production.
BONUS: Some agencies view this sort of work as a public service. That’s certainly the case with Stephen McLaughlin. Lord knows we’ve given him more than his share of headaches. But he enjoys working with the City, viewing it as one of the ways he contributes to the community where he was born and raised, where he works and where he’s raising his family.
See if you can share the ads with other departments/funds – HOT funds, EDC funds, etc.
Share ad spare with others, can get cheaper rate
Make sure to split your budget up so you are not spending all of you money on print
Get creative on you track results, QR codes, Custom URLs (Visual Lead)
Some publications will comp the design expense
HOT fund examples
EDC fund examples
Saturate market