Argyle Marketing Advertising Agency in Rockford, IL

Why Should I Buy Media Time from an Ad Agency?

On the surface it may seem like a good idea to buy your own media time for TV and radio commercials. You can put the 15% ad agency commission right back on the bottom line, or use it to buy more ads.

The fact is, unless your business is large enough for an in-house professional media buyer, buying your own media time on TV or radio is a huge mistake. Buying your own broadcast media time like serving as your own attorney, requiring experience, knowledge, resources and time the typical small business owner doesn’t have.

An advertising agency will research your competitor’s advertising in your market to determine which TV and radio stations, as well as other media, they may be advertising on. The advertising agency will look at how many commercials your competitor’s air each month, on which stations, and what they spend for each commercial, and will periodically review your competition. You may think you should advertise where there is less competition, but a good ad agency knows that you want to be where the competition is.

If you’ve worked with an advertising agency for creative services, to develop your business’s brand and other marketing materials like logos, brochures, or websites, they will have an advantage…an existing understanding your business’s marketing objectives. Your advertising agency also has the experience to choose the right mix of media, stations, TV shows and times of day to best achieve your advertising goals.

A good advertising agency will also do all of the scheduling work for a changing environment. Television programming, ratings and rates are constantly changing. Your agency will stay on top of your advertising scheduling and recommend any changes.

An advertising agency will monitor your advertising campaign and review your media bills from the TV stations to make sure that your spots are run when they are supposed to, and be your advocate to make good any commercials that may have been missed. Your ad agency knows your advertising goals and will analyze the results of your media schedule to determine if your expectations are being met and whether any changes need to be made.

If you choose to buy your own TV media time for your business, assuming you had the experience and knowledge, you would have to do all of this work yourself. Few small business owners have the extra time.

When you call a TV station directly, your account will be given to a salesperson whose job it is to sell you media time on only their station. The salesperson at a TV station will not provide you with advertising agency services, except to produce a cheap and ineffective TV commercial to get you on the air. It is not in the salesperson’s interest to recommend other media, like outdoor or online advertising, that may comprise a well-rounded advertising campaign.

When you call a TV station to purchase your own media time, you will be quoted a retail rate, while an advertising agency will often buy media time at wholesale. Any advertising agency should be able to purchase TV media time at least 15% less than you can. As a result, you will get many of the advertising agency’s services for free.

Interested in learning more about our creative marketing and advertising media buying services at Argyle Marketing? Contact Argyle Marketing Company at 815-272-2895.