Is There a Better Way to Utilize Added Value in Regional Media Buying?

Why ensuring a media buy includes the right added value in a mid-market media campaign will produce greater metrics and results.

Whether you call it added value, value add or bonus, getting additional exposure for a media buy should be an important piece of any media plan.

It can increase your brands exposure by increasing your number of media placements or extend your flight time. However, the first lesson to be learned is to make sure your added value is contractually guaranteed or don’t include it in your planning module, because often it will not be there in the end.

Whatever the added value is, a company should be able to plan for it and use it as a strategic opportunity in an advertising campaign. This may be a challenge for some mid-market, regional companies as their media is typically purchased through only one source on a broad scale. It’s normally handled through one media entity and most times added value isn’t provided or a priority in the negotiations but more of an afterthought. It’s much harder to be strategic with an afterthought.

If utilizing and including your added value in a more calculated manner seems like a better option for your next campaign, you need to demand that your agency place a micro market media buy on your behalf.

Through micro market media buys, a regional buy is broken down into each individual market within that region and negotiated with a local media entity. For example, rather than going to iHeart Media for stations across the entire state of Pennsylvania, each RFP (request for proposal) is sent to the specific stations or clusters of stations in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, etc. that are best suited to reach your target audience in each individual market. You will often find that the best station mix in one market are different than in the next.

By doing this, tougher local negotiations can include added value as a guaranteed portion of the contract. And, each of the local entities will usually offer more added value than by coming through their corporate channels to make a buy. Make sure your added value is as trackable as your paid portion or there is no way of holding the station accountable if it’s not delivered. This type of micro marketing is more tedious for your agency and can be done for almost any form of media. But be aware of the additional time and planning it takes on your part for them to accomplish this task.

The results will be worth it. In many cases, this will add 15% – 20%+ of additional media to your flight. By knowing that added value was carefully constructed as part of a media plan and holding the local media entity accountable, it will expand the media budget, increase your campaign’s reach and frequency and allow any advertiser to look larger for less.