How to S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Broadcast Advertising Budget in a Recession

[Jason Lee]

Every challenge holds opportunity:

A recession is a great time to gain market share. If you’re struggling, chances are your competitors are too. Now more than ever, it’s critical to stay in the minds of your customers. For most advertisers this means finding ways to stretch their advertising budget. The following tips can be applied anytime but they are particularly helpful these days. The tips focus on electronic media and radio advertising in particular. Like with all things, there are exceptions. So seek consultation before implementing any of the tips.

Stretch the scheduling:

Reduce frequency – You should take a look at your average per week, per station, frequency. For radio, each station should run enough spots to create a minimum of a 3.0 frequency per week. If some stations are at 4.0 or higher, this tip alone could make a huge impact.

Reduce the flight – Continuity in advertising is important but in many cases it’s not necessary to be on the air four weeks per month or every month of the year. You probably know your business well enough to determine which weeks and months are critical. It’s safe to reduce week/months because your advertising creates momentum in the marketplace. You are not forfeiting your entire equity position just because you took a week or two off. If you can shave a week or two per month it will dramatically stretch your media budget.

Reduce reach – Advertising works because you reach a targeted group of potential customers with a persuasive message enough times per week. Nothing says you have to reach all of your potential customers. Maybe it’s a good idea to influence a few less potential customers in lue of influencing none of them. Take a look at the total number of gross rating points or target rating points you’re receiving per week. A longtime industry minimum is 100 points per week. If you’re spending enough to get 200 or 300 points, you can probably scale back without jeopardizing the entire campaign. Reducing reach can typically be done by reducing the number of stations purchased, reducing the number of dayparts/shows used, or reducing geography.

Ad length – You may be tempted to use shorter messages to save money and increase frequency. If you do this, only do it in moderation. Don’t switch your entire media schedule to a shorter ad length. The shorter lengths simply can’t generate the same response in most cases. In radio, it’s important to “tell a customer focused story” during the advertisement. It’s much easier to accomplish this with 60 seconds versus 30 or 10.

Stretch your Ad Copy:

It’s a good time to take a hard look at your ad copy. Now more than ever it must be persuasive and it must influence two customers for the price of one. By that I mean your spots should speak to “now buyers” and “future buyers”. In a recession it’s probably a good idea to focus more heavily on influencing future buyers. Your copy should help you gain mental equity in the form of top of mind awareness. This way when the recession is over and people are spending again you’re poised to claim market share. If they’ve heard your brand and message frequently, perhaps you’ll be the only provider they can recall by name. Sensational short term offers are tempting because they’re designed to create immediate sales but shouting offers does little to gain mental equity. Good ad copy will do both.


Stretch your negotiations:

Now might be a good time to revisit the negotiating table. If you’re going to hang in there through the recession, the reps may provide a life line in the form of lower rates. With the majority of advertisers reducing their media budgets (or canceling altogether), stations have lots of unsold inventory. Chances are that rates are lower now than when you originally negotiated the deal. Here are the basic dos and don’ts of negotiating with media reps. Don’t give them power. If they know your budget or the target audience they will have more power so don’t reveal either to them. Don’t become buddies with station reps; it makes it harder to stay firm when negotiating. Keep the relationship polite but strictly professional. Remember, they are trained to sell their inventory, not yours. Given the choice, all media reps want all your money to be on their station. Radio in particular is full of added value opportunities. Ask about free traffic, weather, and news sponsorships. Ask about free bonus spots. Ask about free live remotes where the DJ comes to your place of business. Ask about trading your products and services for air time. Ask about what the station is doing to promote itself and how your products/services can tie-in. Ask for free web exposure. Ask for free ad production. Notice a theme? Ask, ask, and ask!


There are many other tweaks that can be done to squeeze more value out of your media budget. If you would like to learn more or just have a question, feel free to ring me at 812-418-0550.


Best,


Jason Lee
JL Media Services