Advertising Costs And Budgets I don’t know what it is, but as a Johannesburg advertising agency, it seems that every second enquiry I receive these days is from companies with advertising budgets exceeding no more than R40 000 or R50 000 per month. Maybe this is due to my positioning of this country’s smallest ad agency where I’m perceived to focus on smallish marketing budgets: I don’t actually – a number of my clients have much larger marketing budgets to work with.
Whilst a marketing budget of R40 000 or R50 000 per month is not to be sneezed at, it certainly makes us advertising-types don our thinking caps as these are fairly restrictive marketing budgets given the cost of advertising in South Africa these days.
Typically, the questions I’m asked are: Will an advertising budget of R40 000 per month allow me to advertise on TV? (The answer is no – not effectively). Will an advertising budget of R40 000 per month allow me to advertise nationally? (The answer is no). Will an advertising budget of R40 000 per month be sufficient to advertise on radio? (The answer is, maybe, possibly). And will an advertising budget of R40 000 per month allow me to advertise on billboards around Johannesburg? (The answer is, not in a way that would make sense).
Today, advertising budgets are unquestionably under strain. Gone are the days when as an ad agency, you had the latitude to be experimental. Now, the marketing budget needs to perform the best it can within the parameters set. And this puts enormous pressure on advertising and communications agencies as well as marketers of brands.
We now need to critically analyse all media types and negotiate harder with media owners. We now need to be more imaginative – and think out-the-box where we can. But clients need to be realistic too.
If the SABC charges R140 000 excluding VAT for one thirty second flighting of a TV commercial on a program like Generations, then a R40 000 monthly advertising budget is simply not going to allow for advertising on Generations – as much as the client’s daughter might think it the best program ever and insist that her dad has his ad aired during it.
Advertising is costly and being so, advertising agencies have a responsibility to advise their clients correctly. Personally, I hate to see clients wasting money. Just yesterday, I met with a prospective new client who wanted to “test the waters” by running a small ad-once-off – in a newspaper or magazine. I’ve talked them out of it because I honestly do not think it’s the right thing to do.
My advice to clients is: either commit yourself to marketing over the medium or long-term, and invest the necessary funds required, or don’t advertise. “Testing the waters” by placing a small ad here or there in the hope that it will get the phone to ring will in all likelihood not work.
And to clients who cannot afford to spend more than R40 000 or R50 000 per month on advertising, I say: First, invest in a decent website and get it professionally optimised by search engines. The emphasis being on “professionally” because search engine optimisation is an art in itself and should be given to someone who specialises in the field, not to someone who “thinks” he can do SEO. Once the website is built correctly (I recommend WordPress) populated with the right content, and the right amount of content, and made live, a Goggle Adwords campaign should be set up – and managed on a monthly basis. The next step is to blog – and blog regularly.
Of course, social media is also important. But it’s of little use just setting up Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles. You need to assign someone to manage them and get them to work for you. There are some very good people out there who would be happy to take on this role.
Then there’s YouTube: get a professional to shoot a video and upload it for you.
Once your website is live and optimised for search engines, your Google Adwords campaigns are being managed, your social media strategy is in place, you’re blogging frequently and you can be found on Youtube, give thought as to what to do with your remaining marketing budget. Depending on the nature of the business, the nature of the product, and who it is aimed at, as a client you may want to look at advertising on street pole posters or on radio or on cinema. You may want to advertise strategically in trade publications or advertise by way of advertorials. A decent advertising agency should advise you in this regard.
But on a limited budget, your priority must be to have a good and professional online presence.
This is the most cost-effective way to advertise and your website has to work for you and deliver results.
