Can Retailers Manage Their Own Advertising?
Go to: Previous Article Next Article
Next to the cost of merchandise and payroll, print media management is a retailers largest business expense. Managing that cost effectively is an absolute necessity to ensure that the goals for revenue, customer traffic and market share are met. It is a complex task and is typically outsourced to a firm specializing in print media management.
What should a retailer expect from an outsourced print media firm? What roll will the retailer have in the process. How much time will it take and whats the cost? A professional print media company should have the experience and resources to take a campaign from its inception and manage it to its conclusion. The retailers involvement, other than setting the original goals, is minimal.
Planning the campaign is the obvious important first step. Based on input from the retailer regarding objectives and budget, the print management firm has to develop a plan that is unique to the product or service and takes into account the time constraints that might apply. The retailers desired demographics, psychographics have to be integrated with media with appropriate readership, circulation, cost per thousand, reach and measurability.
Obviously the largest expense in print media is purchasing the media itself. A print management firm should have an extensive history dealing with a variety of media sources that they can use to leverage the buy. Just buying cheap does not insure a successful campaign. Each source needs to be evaluated against the objectives. If the metrics are right, then negotiating price is an exercise in horse trading.
If possible, the retailer should select a print management firm that has a policy not to accept commissions from the media providers. This makes the firm a true agent and will result in the best media prices. Unfortunately, most print media management firms do not operate on this model.
Analysis of the campaigns performance and the ability to make rapid informed adjustments is key to a successful campaign. The firm should have a geographic information service that will allow a quick evaluation of market location, customer location and store location and the efficiency of the campaign.
Accounting for the spend efficiently and having a strong auditing capability is also a desired trait for a print management firm. Monitoring the buys to insure they ran as agreed upon and matching Insertion Orders to media provider invoices is an important task and one that a professional firm should be able to offer.
Retailers evaluating print management firms should pay particular attention to their media buying history, available technologies and fee structure. After all, you are trusting this firm to manage your third largest expense. Best that they manage it wisely.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
- Credit Cards A big selection of Cards in all flavors: Bad Credit Cards, Secured Cards, Prepaid Cards, Credit Cards for Canada, Low Interest Cards, etc -
Word Count: 458
Reduce Your Debts Without Bankruptcy. See How Much You Can Save. Free Debt Analysis
