By Jill Klinedinst
If you’re lucky enough to work with a professional media buyer – someone who subscribes to, pays for and actually understands the ratings and demographic data in your market – then you don’t need the following advice. But, if you’re not fortunate enough to work with an agency that offers this service, BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL! It’s easy to get burned. The following advice will help you avoid those too-good-to-be-true media packages that I call “fire sales.”
Too many times I’ve seen clients get sucked into bad media purchases because they were fire sales. You know the salesperson drill: “We only have three more media packages left, and today is the last day! With this amazing deal, you’ll get all these spots at this great low price! Should I sign you up?”
Not so fast. Usually these types of sales are urgent appeals, generally meant to sell inventory that is unsellable. Sure, you’ll get three prime time spots, but you’ll also get twenty-three that run throughout the night… or worse yet, what’s called a Run of Schedule (ROS) spot (which they might as well call a WTH spot, because it means the station can run them Whenever the Heck they want). But what portion of your target audience is watching a ‘Rockin’ to the Oldies’ infomercial at 2am? That’s when the majority of your spots will air with a ROS agreement. The only legitimate reason to pay for a spot that will air overnight is if you’re selling mattresses to people who wish they were sleeping. If you’re not appealing to insomniacs, stay away from ROS media plans. They’re worth nothing to you.
When it comes to purchasing media time, don’t be fooled by the numbers. Remember, most of these fire sale packages are designed to sell you the air time that nobody else wants. Sure, 250 guaranteed spots during the second quarter of the year sounds great, but if only a percentage of your audience will see them, what good are they to you?
So how do you get the most bang for your buck with your media budget? Just put your money where your audience is. The best thing you can do to determine the value of a media package is to assess what shows are WORTH paying for, and then compare that total with the price of the package. Here’s what I mean: let’s say a media package offers a ‘reduced rate’ for primetime or access (the hour before primetime shows). To assess its true value to you, add up the individual costs of air time for each show that provides good ratings in your target demo. Do NOT add the costs of the shows in the prepared media package that are of no value to you. For example, if you don’t want to air during daytime court shows, don’t add the cost of those spots. Then compare that total with the actual price of the fire sale. Chances are, you’ll find that your money is better spent creating your own plan.
These last minute sales are called ‘fire sales’ for a reason. You guessed it – you might as well burn your money. So use caution the next time one crosses your desk. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Jill Klinedinst is a professional media planner at Big Idea Company, where all media ratings and demographic data in the northern Indiana/southwest Michigan region are used on a daily basis to build effective media plans for large and small clients throughout the region.
