If you’re unsure of what media buying is, it’s when you buy ad space to promote your message.
It’s a way to reach your target market.
In other words, a business that wants media buying should look for the lowest cost that offers the best placement. You want to pay less for people to see it the most.
That’s the most basic concept of media buying. However, there’s a lot that goes into the strategy behind it. You need to know your target market, the placement of your ads, the conversion rate, brand awareness, and more.
The better your strategy, the more likely your conversion rate will improve and you’ll be able to generate sales. If you want a solid strategy, you need to know about the three stages of the media buying process.
This article discusses these three stages and how they can help your business.
Stage 1
Stage 1 is pre-launching.
That means figuring out all the nitty-gritty details before the launch. It’s the research behind the launch that will make it successful. Here’s all the research you should have compiled before you actually launch.
Know Your Target Market
Understanding who you’re targeting is key to any launch. You want to make sure the product or service is the perfect fit for the ideal customer.
When you do have a target market, you need to segment them based on interests, age, demographics, as well as other factors. When you segment your audience, it enables you to send a more specific message. You can send more targeted messages.
Here are some questions you should be asking about your target market:
- What problems do they have?
- Why would they shop at your business or use your services over others?
- What are they thinking about that you could help them solve?
- How do they book your services?
These are just some of the questions to consider when understanding your target market. Ultimately, the more you know about your target market, the more you can help them.
Who Are Your Competitors?
After you figure out your target market, you will need to figure out who your competitors are and why some of the target market chooses to hire them instead of you.
When you’re researching your competitors, you need to figure out if they are targeting a different group and how they are advertising differently. Are they offering a service that you don’t offer? What about a rebate or special coupon?
Choose Design and Figure Out Your Budget
Another key part of stage one of the media buying process is the actual design of your ad. You want to choose if your media will be on radio or television. You may decide to also do it on social media.
After you decide, you need to figure out how your message is specifically designed for that media outlet because every one of them requires a unique message.
You also want to set a specific budget to your marketing campaign. You will also have to prepare for unplanned expenses.
If you want to see how we help businesses with the media buying process and our work with past clients, can check it out on our website.
Stage 2
Stage 2 of the media buying process is the actual campaign launch.
This is when your business monitors the campaign and sees if there are adjustments that need to be made. Although you know everything about your target market at this point, you will still need to see how they react to your advertisements.
Worst case scenario, you may need to scrap the entire strategy if the conversion rate is horrible.
But stage 2 is really about how to optimize the campaign. It’s important to see how the consumers react and how you can change your campaign to reflect their behavior. That’s why it’s critical to continue monitoring any changes.
Another important piece here is what happens after customers contact your business after seeing your advertisement. The ads generate the leads, but the internal sales and service teams are what closes the deal. So you will also want to check in on how you are doing during the process as well. If you are finding that leads are not turning into sales, this is where you will want to check for any areas of improvement.
Call listening and call handling are important components of this step, especially in the home services and HVAC industry. In fact, they can make or break your bottom line. You can read our full guide on customer service call handling tips here.
Stage 3
Stage 3 of the media buying process is post-launch.
This is when you figure out what went wrong and right after adjustments were made during the launch. It’s a time for discussion and seeing what your conversion rate was.
You should also assess what your ROI was and if it was better than anticipated. You can also evaluate the daily ROI and why it was better on some days during the launch.
After you’ve done a thorough assessment of your campaign, you can have an idea of what to do better next time. You can figure out if you need to change your audience or change the campaign messaging.
In addition, don’t forget to look at the data. It can provide you insight on what part of your segmented list purchased the most. You can also look out for trends.
Overall, it’s important to evaluate each stage of the media buying process. You want to ensure that your campaign is set up for success. The more analysis and preparation you put into each state can determine how successful your campaign is.
Now You Know Everything About the Media Buying Process
Now you know everything about the three stages of the media buying process. These 3 stages can help you figure out how to be successful. It’s important to take a deep dive into the research and figuring out who you’re targeting.
You also want to ensure you choose the right medium to express your campaign to the right audience. You should also take a careful look at the data and see how you can improve your next campaign.
Now it’s your turn to succeed with media buying.
The media buying process is quite complex and can be a bit overwhelming, especially when you are just getting started. You can save a lot of time and money by hiring a professional who has this method down to a science. Contact Optic Marketing Group to get started with a mass media campaign for your HVAC or home services business.