8 Ways to Get Your Media Budget Approved

1. Provide intelligence on the media movements of your direct competition: The results of such studies that you will conduct must be acutely interesting to any level of your organization.

Show a list of keywords your competitors are paying for. How much are they paying? Is the current figure more or less than historical averages?

If they've been buying a set of keywords for an extended period of time, it should mean they have proof enough to keep spending money in that direction. Should you spend money in that direction? Should you chase your competitor or break out in an entirely new direction?

Notice I said they "should" be doing well. You'd be surprised how many advertisers spend money on paid search and really don't know if their efforts are generating conversions that pay back over time. If your competitor is known as a smart operator, then you might assume he's getting payback.

You can track historical keyword analyses using Spyfu Kombat, a paid keyword-research service that continues to impress us since we reviewed it in a previous edition of Web Digest For Marketers. See resource list at the end of this article.

2. Demonstrate long-term value to the media budget spent now: I notice I'm still getting significant inbound traffic from a mention in someone else's blog that was posted well over a year ago.

3. The trend is your friend: If you are responsible for getting upper management to sign off on online media buys rather than traditional media buys, you are in the sweet spot.

Private-equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) has published its Communications Industry Forecast since 1986.

Their August 2009 study shows "alternative advertising is forecast to have a 12.3% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) from 2008-2013, compared to a 3.3% decline for traditional advertising."

Convincing upper management that the rest of the world is shifting quickly to online ad spending should be pretty easy now. The VSS Forecast also noted that email marketing is a cheaper alternative to traditional direct mail campaigns.

This weighty report, available as a digital download, costs roughly $3,400. Take a look at the press release, which also serves as an abstract. This press release was more interesting and relevant than many email newsletters I've seen. In this document, you'll find beaucoup supporting data to make your case. See resource list at the end of this article.

4. Quick, do a mobile campaign: You know Mobile Marketing is the next big thing. But because it doesn't have a long history, there's not a lot of historical proof of what works. So many advertisers (including some or all of your competitors) have not taken the plunge into these new waters.

If you keep it real, you can get good results and word-of-mouth chatter about a smart early mobile campaign.

We covered a regional Subway sandwich campaign that simply texted local subscribers with offers for lunchtime specials. Some of these offers got more than a 40% response rate. Many recipients actually asked Subway to send them offers like these even more frequently.

5. Invest in a content campaign: When you hire a research firm or internal staff to do a proper study, you can dine out on that content for a long time.

Pick something of interest internally to your organization and to your target audience. Excerpt it in your press releases and offer it as a download on your site.

If the press release is really meaty and gets posted in the right distribution points, you can get "take-up" on high visibility venues like Yahoo News and Google News. Bloggers and Twitterers in your sphere also might find it good grist for the mill.

Remember, it has to be something you and your target audience either want to know about or should know about.

Running paid ads in well targeted venues will help amplify and extend the life of this content campaign.

It's worth it to have someone in your organization invest the time needed to identify the leading bloggers and Twitterers in your industry and develop productive relationships with them. Part of this relationship building can include providing these people with high-quality content periodically.

6. Build up your house email list: Plain old email doesn't have the "wow" factor of Twitter, YouTube or Facebook. But it does work. According to a Direct Marketing Association study, it is the second most efficient marketing channel for ROI, behind telemarketing.

Your email house list is one of the most valuable assets in your marketing department. It often gets overlooked or abused. But if you send out good honest value through this channel, it can clear out inventory, bring in consulting business or result in other predictable and unpredictable good consequences.

I've had people subscribed to Web Digest For Marketers for more than 10 years before they requested my consulting or speaker services or bought ads in the newsletter itself.

Be careful to solicit quality subscribers to your email house list. If you get a deal that's too good to be true for adding new subscribers, you can damage this core asset by polluting the list. Be picky, very picky, about where you promote and with whom you partner.

7. Cause-and-effect advertising: Direct Marketing Guru Ruth Stevens once said advertising got disconnected from sales somewhere back in the '70s. Because you can track most online sales whence they came, you have a solid argument for spending more money on online ads.

Accountable advertising is where more and more money is going. In tough economic times, the bean counters have every right to demand accountability for money invested in advertising. This makes some squeamish because, well, it leaves them accountable. What happens if a given campaign bombs again and again? Does someone lose a job? Does the agency lose the account?

The personality-driven, madcap days of advertising are long gone. If you can't make the sales needle move, your days could be numbered. Better to embrace the accountability and lead the charge for your firm.

8. Get some "gimmies:" There's the rate card, and there's reality. I've been selling ads in Web Digest For Marketers since 1995. I always throw in closer bonuses, even in the best of times. I also put a few pleasant surprises in the actual insertion order that go above and beyond what was agreed to for that extra "delight factor."

Showing upper management how much extra you got over what the rate cards offered is a no-brainer. If your ad network or publisher isn't offering such value-adds, don't be shy about asking. Tell them you need it to sell upper management.

Resources

Spyfu Kombat: A great resource for keyword intelligence. This is the paid, upgraded version of SpyFu. Read our recent review (fourth review from the top).

Veronis Suhler Stevenson invests in media, communications, information and education companies. It has published its annual report, Communications Industry Forecast, since 1986. The full 18-chapter report plus Executive Summary, available as a PDF, is $3,395. Individual chapters are $695 each.

Ruth Stevens is a well-known Direct Marketing consultant and heads her own consulting service, eMarketing Strategy.