Media Mix- what it is and how to use it

Part 1 of a 4 part series

Media Mix, a definition:
The specific combination of various advertising media (including network television, local television, magazines, newspapers, specialty advertising, etc.) used by a particular advertiser and the advertising budget to be allocated to each medium. (American Marketing Association, http://cr.marketingpower.com/mg-dictionary-view1941.php)

A media mix is used in order to reach prospectives through multiple media channels. It is a known marketing fact that you must tell one prospective the same message 3 times before they even hear you. If you can reach that prospective using the media mix at least 3 times and then repeat your message to them until they act, that is an effective plan.

For marketers this is Marketing 101 but for many of our clients, it’s Greek. It is important for all marketers to explain to their clients the importance of the media mix and how it will impact all of their efforts. Without the right mix, we can fail in our efforts to drive prospectives (buyers, customers, clients, etc.) to our clients to maximize their profits. That is what marketing is about, building our clients business and in turn building our own.

When choosing the media mix for clients the starting point is knowing who our prospective are. There are multiple profile systems to differentiate clients into particular buyer groups/profiles by age, income, marital status, home ownership and many other categories. Depending on the product being offered, the status of these categories will vary.

When prospectives are identified we then need to determine where they live, what medias they use to make decisions, and what is the unique selling proposition for the product. These things will lead us in how best to move forward in choosing what media to buy and how much of the budget should be allocated to each.

The budget is always a difficult subject to discuss with clients. They want to know how much to spend and we want to know what they have to spend. There are industry standards but we all know that those standards do not always apply when our clients just don’t have money. The catch-22 for all business is in order to sell your product or service, your prospectives have to know you are there. Marketing and advertising is how you reach those prospectives and without it, you are doomed for failure. If you don’t have buyers and you are not making money, you can’t afford marketing/advertising. It is a cycle that many are all faced with. The key for our clients is, for us to work closely with them in determining what they can afford and how best to use that money to bring in propsectives and end the catch-22 cycle.

The media mix can be more difficult when extremely small budgets are involved. There may be times when grass roots marketing is the best start to generate cash flow. From there discussions with the client about available money need to be had.

In planning a media mix it is important to note that not all mediums have to be used. Maybe the clients budget doesn’t allow for broadcast or print which can be the most costly of all medias. In that case a delicate balance of Internet, targeted direct mail and various grass roots tactics can be utilized. The key is making sure that each media used expresses the same message to the same targets and is within the clients budget.

Part 2 of this 4 part series Measuring and evaluating- what is important to measure and how to evaluate those results

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the problem is I don’t know which half” – Lord Leverhulme (British founder of Unilever)