People don’t talk about media much, it’s a lot of numbers and acronyms and let’s face it – flowcharts are not quite as cool as whipping out a beautifully crafted ad. But having a media strategy is extremely important. And just as much time and effort goes into media planning as a creative strategy. Without well thought-out direction on how to best spend your hard-earned dollars, a marketing plan could all go to waste when no one sees the message.

 

With that, here are some reasons you should use a media professional to grow your business.

SO Many Vendors

When sales reps get wind that you might even consider purchasing media, they all come out of the woodwork. They are skilled in making you feel like you are their only client and will treat you as such. But don’t be fooled, you’re not. Media professionals are used to various sales tactics and handling multiple reps at one time.

Impartial Perspective

Media planners/buyers are working for YOU, the client, and not for a particular media source. Recommendations to you will be based on unique needs and goals for your business and media opportunities will be evaluated on an impartial basis. In the end, the goal is to get the best result for the client, not the best deal for the vendors.

Experience/Negotiation

Media professionals bring experience to your negotiation table. They have seen it all! They know when a deal is either too good to be true, or not good enough. They are negotiating on your behalf. And while they stick to their guns with vendors, relationships built over time can help cement any prospective deal that might be beneficial for the client.

Paperwork

A necessary and very time-consuming evil, even in a digital age. Contracts, insertion orders, creative trafficking, invoice reconciliation, metrics and post reports – just to name a few. They are exceptionally skilled at keeping detailed records so if there is any question about any agreed upon negotiated deals, you can be sure, they will have the records in line to prove it!

Follow up

It is necessary to evaluate and discuss media strategy from one period to the next and have an open discussion together about what worked and what might have fallen flat. Learn, make adjustments, and move forward to keep your business goals on track and improve results. Each media plan should improve upon the last.

Technology

Media is constantly changing. In the past 20 years, it has gone from a handful of media types from which to choose, to countless options that are ever-changing. Your media professional should be keeping up on trends and be open to implementing new media if it makes sense for your business strategy.

There is a lot that goes into the day to day with strategizing and negotiating/placing media. Celtic can act as an extension of your marketing team and help by picking up any of the pieces that your marketing team may need help with.