Get Noticed in the Media: Media Buying for the Beginner

Whether your advertising budget affords you the luxury of hiring a media buyer to place your ads or you are charged with handling the task yourself, a basic understanding of the media buying business is necessary when positioning your company, product or services within your target audience’s scope. The most important objective when buying media is to be noticed by the largest segment of your target market as cheaply but as effectively as possible. Below are media buying suggestions which can afford you with the best buys for your buck.

• List and review as many possibilities as you can for reaching your target audience.
• Get a media kit from each potential medium and study it.
• Form relationships with your advertising sales reps.
• Assess the frequency and exposure you’ll need.
• Evaluate the costs of each advertising option.
• Choose a combination of media with the right impact.

The five major media available to the typical buyer includes newspaper, magazine, radio, Internet and television. Each media has its advantages along with advertising disadvantages accentuating the importance of varying your media saturation to include at least two different medias and a variety of sources.

• Newspapers provide advertisers with speed of reaching their target market with ad packages that can meet almost everyone’s budget. However, newspapers have a short shelf life. Consider increasing the frequency of running ads in order to be most effective.
• Magazines offer the advertiser long shelf life as some issues are kept for years. Magazines also provide the advertiser with versatility of ad layout and great production quality. Remember that magazines require a long lead time for advertisements to reach your markets.
• Radio is an excellent value for reaching large segments of your target market quickly and easily with a variety of formats to match any market. Radio, too, has its advertising disadvantages including no shelf life requiring increased frequency for effectiveness. Radio does not provide the consumer with visuals so you will need expert wordsmithing in order to create an image of your product or service to entice the listener.
• Internet advertising offers the advantage of providing a direct link to your website. You are also able to target your market by advertising on sites that your customers and potential customers frequent. The click-throughs can be tracked and analyzed. Cost varies widely so ask questions to determine value.
• Television is the most powerful means of reaching mass numbers of your market quickly but, in many cases, is the most expensive.

It is important to arm yourself with enough information when buying media so as to create efficient and cost-effective advertising packages aimed at reaching a large segment of your target market.

If you are in need of media buying services, contact ProMoter Inc. Marketing Communications at 502.562.1969.

Source: Getting the Best Buys for the Buck by Tom Egelhoff

Seven News Elements to Get Your Story Covered

Garnering press for a client or event often proves to be a challenging task for many public relations professionals especially when the client or event is new or relatively unknown amongst the community. While you may think your news release is worthy of a breaking news report or front page headline, those at the news desk may view it as one in the hundreds of news releases received daily and headed for the recycle bin.

When covering an event, journalists use seven basic news elements to angle their stories into newsworthy articles. Therefore, keep these elements in mind when penning a news release and the media will be sure to take notice!

Proximity: This refers to the location of the event. Events booked in Louisville are more likely to gain local media coverage than if they are located in Indianapolis, IN or Cincinnati, OH.

Prominence: This refers to how well known your client or those involved in your event are to the public. Do you have a famous guest speaker attending your event or a well-known sponsor? Publicize their participation in your event in order to make your release newsworthy.

Timeliness: You will need to send your news release out in a timely manner in order to gain the media’s attention and coverage. Sending your release out too early may lead to the media overlooking your event, while sending it out too late could prove problematic as well as the media may have filled all space with other events and news. And remember that monthly or weekly publications have longer lead times than daily media.

Oddity: Unusual and unique events make news. If your event has a strange angle to it, publicize it in your news release. The public is always intrigued by the odd.
Consequence: Events having major and/or direct impacts on the media’s audience often are considered newsworthy.

Conflict: Arguments, fights, rivalries, wars all make newsworthy items. Hopefully your event will not fit into this category!

Human Interest: News invoking the emotions of the reader is often the most popular coverage with the public. By angling your release to appeal to the emotions of readers, your event takes on a newsworthy element.

Feel free to take multiple angles with your news release. Angling a release with more than one news element can only help your efforts in getting media coverage for your event!

Source: www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/6763

Ring in the New Year with New Business Resolutions

As we ring in yet another new year, it is important to reflect on the past year in business and focus on means to increase productivity, efficiency and overall success. Consider what worked well, what failed and what could bring about new success. Think of it as your business resolutions; it is an important part of re-establishing your strategic business plans and getting the year off to a fresh and productive start.

•Secure your records and data: Computers crash, don’t leave your business to chance – back up, back up, back up! It is imperative to the security and vitality of your business to back up important information including business proposals, financial records and invoices, management data, client profiles, etc. Make a point to back up any new information weekly for added safety.

•Jump start your marketing efforts: Think that the slow economy is a good excuse to cut your advertising budget or nix your yearly marketing campaign? Think again! A slow economy is the perfect time to jump start marketing efforts as it keeps you top of mind with your consumers while your competition takes a back seat.

•Join a new business organization or networking group: Networking is key to establishing your name and business among the community and generating new clients. By joining a business organization, you will meet other industry professionals who can inspire new ideas, polish old ones and assist in meeting contacts.

•Work with ideal customers and tend to your best customers: Part of generating new clientele is ensuring these new clients are reliable, consistent and cooperative. You do not need additional stress by working with less-than-ideal clients. Furthermore, give your best clients extra attention. They are your best customers for a reason so you should treat them as such. Additionally, ask them for client referrals. Most likely they will refer you to clients like them, ideal!

•Learn something new: Research what your industry peers are doing to make their businesses grow and prosper. Learn of any new trade secrets or industry practices not currently in use by your business. By staying on top of the industry, you will most likely stay ahead of the competition. Additionally, look into social media as an avenue to promote your business. It is the latest trend that actually has traction.

Looking for ways to enact your New Year’s Business Resolutions in a cost effective and efficient way? ProMoter Inc. can help. Contact us at 502-562-1969 or promoterinc@promoterinc.com.