Five tips for an optimal advertising budget

MEDIA AGENCY MANAGEMENT The end of the year is fast approaching and it's time to set the course for the year-end and the new year. With the following five tips, advertising clients can get more out of their advertising budget.This association article was published in the October issue of the trade magazine "Marketing & Kommunikation". Further association articles and current topics from the marketing industry? To the subscription.BY SANDRO PREZZI, MEDIAEXPERT (WWW.PREZZIMEDIA.CH) AND ROLAND EHRLER, DIRECTOR, SWA Many advertising clients today book their advertising through media agencies. This makes the management of these external partners all the more important. Often 70 percent or more of the advertising budget is invested in the media. The return in terms of advertising impact must be right, as well as optimal planning, implementation and billing by the media agency. Below are five tips on how companies can make optimum use of their advertising budget.Tip 1: Check and optimize the condition levels of your current annual contractsBased on the annual planning, you or your media agency have made sales agreements with media that need to be reviewed at the end of the third quarter and optimization measures for the fourth quarter need to be discussed and decided. Sometimes, at the end of the year, only a small amount is missing for a higher discount level to be applied to the entire investment or for a commitment to be kept and painful discount reclaims to be averted. Ask your agency to show you your current status and suggest optimization measures. A little can go a long way here.Tip 2: Check the degree of innovation of your media plansDo your media plans for 2016 look the same as in the previous year? Depending on your target groups, it is high time to react to the changes in media usage and make adjustments to your media strategy and planning. Check for yourself how your media mix has changed in recent years and ask your agency how you can reach your target group in the future. Special attention should be paid to the media category "trend media". New, trendy media and new offers are often used disproportionately in media plans. Make sure to keep the media mix in line with the target group and relevant to the impact. The latest digital innovations are not equally relevant for every target group.Tip 3: Get yourself and your team fitThe media landscape and people's communication behavior are constantly changing over time. Agencies are constantly adapting their service offerings, business models, functions and roles to the new circumstances. It can happen that a previously neutral media consultant mutates into a media marketer with vested interests. It is not easy for advertising clients to maintain an overview of the entire agency and media market. So make sure that you and your team always have sufficient media know-how. One way to do this is through individual workshops or training by external specialists.Tip 4: Hold a year-end meeting with your media agencyRegardless of whether your media agency is part of a global network and you were not allowed to select it yourself or you are the client in a direct contractual relationship: Ask for an annual site review, just like an employee appraisal. Both sides should prepare sufficiently for this. With feedback on the collaboration, but also concrete facts and figures when it comes to the agency's performance and incentives. You should also address a whole series of "sensitive" questions: Is a media audit planned for next year or even an agency evaluation? Have all reimbursements been put on the table and is the agency prepared to confirm this in writing? What percentage of agency income came from client fees last year? Has anything changed in the agency, group or special service organization? In addition to the ongoing campaign reports, do you receive an annual buying report that not only presents purchasing transparently and in detail, but also shows deviations from planning/purchasing/delivery as well as the qualitative and quantitative added value? Are all sales booked directly with the media or are third-party service providers commissioned? These are many questions and exciting discussions for clients and agencies! Finally, you should also talk about the quantitative and qualitative goals for the next year that your agency should achieve for you.Tip 5: Conduct annual negotiations with the major media providers and take part in them yourselfMany agencies conduct annual negotiations with media companies and marketers on behalf of their advertising clients. Unfortunately, only a few advertising clients get personally involved in these important discussions. Our recommendation: Take part in the talks yourself, get involved and get to know at least the biggest media players personally. This creates mutual understanding, knowledge of any added value and ultimately better conditions! It goes without saying that your agency should prepare the talks and make recommendations for negotiations.Good media management increases ROI: the SWA helps with thisMedia management involves a lot of money and the impact of your advertising measures. So make sure you take enough time for this. It will be worth it for you! If you have any questions about agency management for advertising and media agencies, the Swiss Advertising Client Association (SWA) offers its members various tools free of charge on its website.