In discussions with clients about their marketing budget allocation process, it is quite common to uncover the fact there is little strategy in their buying. This is due to all the common reasons we have historically battled: level spending compared to ROI and attribution tracking, and too many channels with too few mechanisms to really monitor with any level of confidence.

One way to help clients develop their mix can be to help them visualise how their most important audiences (their super-customer segments) are using the marketing options they have.

Define the client’s consumer segment to target, then test reach and frequency schedules of each medium against each other. This bubble chart can be used to help visualise how the media options do or don’t work together.

Using real schedules, this particular example shows the radio schedule the client is running only delivers a little over 3% exclusive audience. The audience being reached by the radio schedule is also being covered by cable and broadcast television. Perhaps using radio not as a reach vehicle but as a strategic complement could free up significant dollars for a new, large digital budget being formulated.

The next step is to consider how the digital tactics of these choices mix if they take the place of radio. Many options require a lot of homework. But once the work is done, there is more confidence in the mix for the budget allocation.

Clients don’t often get to view things like this, and they will appreciate your time and effort to help illustrate such concepts.

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