Freelance Media Buyer – Guest Post

As a freelance media buyer, the three top questions I get all the time are:

1. How do you like working for yourself?

2. Exactly what is it that you do, again?

3. Do you have goals to grow your freelancing business? If so, how do you do it?

 

So.. let’s start with the first question.

How do I like working for myself?

Well, to answer simply, I LOVE IT! But I really don’t work for myself, I work for other advertising agencies and businesses that need my help and expertise. I’m hired or contracted to plan and/or place media on their behalf. My work varies too! Sometimes it’s a short term 2-week job to help an agency get out of a pinch when they have a quick turnaround. Some ad agencies hire me to do media buying as needed for their clients. Other ad agencies may not offer my type of services at all but see the benefit to adding what I do to their roster. Lastly, I have a few of my own clients that have found me through various forms of networking and referrals. Following this explanation, I get panicked looks and questions about health insurance, business expenses, taxes, and what my schedule is like.  And because I know you’re going to wonder…I buy my own health insurance, have an amazing accountant, and just like working in an ad agency my schedule varies based on the workload.

 

Exactly what is it that you do, again?

I am a freelance media planner and media buyer. I am the reason why you see commercials on TV, Radio, Print, Billboards, etc.  I am an expert in knowing exactly what to do to generate awareness for a product, brand, or business. I spend my days diving deep into research such as Scarborough, Media Monitors, Nielsen, and ComScore to determine the target audience and what avenues would work best to reach that demographic. It is at this point after a few meetings and gathering research that I’ll come up with a strategy to support the objective or goal of the campaign. Personally, I like to clearly define the objective and goal of the campaign because I want it to be obvious what I’m trying to do. From there, I’ll create a media plan.  A media plan is where I put pen to paper and figure out exactly what types of media I can buy with the budget that I have. For instance, after I determine cost per point I can estimate how many gross rating points per week I can buy on TV or Radio which will in turn tell me what my weekly or monthly spend will be. After the plan is approved it’s time to create the media buys in BluHorn. BluHorn makes it so easy to create buys too. I create all my TV and Radio buys in BluHorn and I’m also able to create my all print, digital, and outdoor insertion orders as well.

Part of my expertise includes follow up. Life of a freelance media buyer doesn’t stop after the buys are negotiated and placed. While the buys are in flight I’m keeping an eye on how the orders are running and making sure when spots don’t run to get a makegood. Auditing the invoices makes sure that everything ran as ordered. In addition, we can determine if we got all the added value we requested and make sure that the traffic (advertisements) ran correctly.  Outside of that we are looking for feedback from the clients to determine return on investment (ROI) and/or success of the campaign.

 

Do you have goals to grow your freelancing business? If so, how do you do it?

Yes, like any business owner it is necessary to establish goals for how you would like to grow your business. While some may put less effort into growing their business and more into just working, others have a strategic plan to grow. For most freelancers, business funnels through either referrals or networking. Actually, networking and referrals work hand in hand. Once people get to know and respect you through networking, they will proudly refer business to you when they encounter someone that has a need. Another way that has also resulted in new clients is networking with people within my industry.  It’s a good way to gauge what is going on within the industry as well as who may have a need and how you can help.

Really, the more that I get out there and meet people the more my business has grown. But, there’s an aspect of time management to networking.  Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to attend all the networking events I’d like to because clients come first. So, I’ve learned how to manage this by only accepting a certain number of networking invites a week.  This helps me to be available when my clients need to meet as well as focus on getting work done.

Lastly, networking and referrals to grow your business is not a one-way street.  It’s important to thank and appreciate those that are referring business to you as well as refer business to others. You’re not the only one out there networking. Support in growing your business comes from all different places and often from where you least expect it. So, when someone refers business to you (regardless of if you retain the referral as a client or not), a thank you, hug, handshake, Starbucks gift card, or any sincere acknowledgement goes a long way. And, when possible, don’t hesitate to return the favor.

 

Freelance work isn’t for everyone. It can be scary and inconsistent at times but for me it is rewarding, enjoyable, and I love it. Like Steve Jobs said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

 

Guest post written by Adele M. George

See Your Ad in Lights?

Advertisers and media buyers have worked tirelessly over the decades to find a way to garner eyes-on impressions from a non-distracted consumer.  Professionals in every phase of the advertising game will argue for and against different medias. Radio listeners in their car have few audio distractions, but they are driving!  Which is an equal argument against billboard advertising as well. Television audiences are likely channel surfing, watching multiple screens, or streaming/viewing on-demand which negates the on-screen ad experience.  Print medias are losing subscribers and readership numbers. Digital sites are cluttered. Pre-roll is skippable. We’ve heard them all!

But there is one advertising form where consumers are in front of a GIANT screen. In the dark. With no other noise around them. They’re in a place where they went to escape and relax.  

This is movie theater advertising.  (Which falls in the outdoor/out-of-home advertising category).

Movie theater, or cinema, advertising can still produce viewers that are perusing their phones before the main attraction.  Or who are chatting with their seat mates. However, these factors are a vast contrast to the distractions of household living rooms or busy roads.  More than 3/4 of the US and Canadian population went to the movies at least once in 2017, contributing to ticket sales that raked in about $11 billion. Even though both numbers are down from the year prior, advertisers still see value in those numbers.

What is Movie Theater Advertising?

Movie theater advertising should not be confused with movie trailers – the “coming attractions” that immediately precede the feature film. Movie ads come before the trailers (sometimes interspersed), and they have been a presence in theaters since the first one opened in 1902. This means that your parents and maybe even your grandparents have fond memories of movie ads, too. Sometimes just for their comedic value.

In the early days, movie ad montages were put together quickly, sometimes with slides appearing upside down or with sketchy lines blocking an advertiser’s phone number. Some enterprising business owners tried to overcome this by engaging movie-goers with trivia questions that flashed on the screen. Some lobbied for better quality control. And others may have suffered in silence. Mostly local advertisers were the presence in the theaters, and that’s still true today. But digital technology has advanced so much that the production quality of the advertisements can rival the quality of the movie that the audience came to see. And some would argue that the consumers’ expectations have helped raise the bar.

Since those early years, Americans became accustomed to TV commercials – the length of cinema ads began to mirror the length that consumers were used to seeing in their living room. Today, movie theater advertisements usually run from between 15 and 30 seconds – long enough for a small business to make an impression.

What Are the Benefits of Movie Theater Advertising?

Media buyers these days have all been called on by cinema advertising salespeople.  If somehow you have not yet, you will soon. These individuals love to discuss how much Americans love movies and, perhaps even more intensely, the American movie-going experience.

These passionate folks have a point. Aside from newly released movies that you can see only in a theater, there is no doubt that watching a movie in a theater offers some very specific advantages over watching the same movie at home. A theater offers:

• A wall-to-wall screen
• Surround sound
• Darkness
• Emotion-filled peer viewing experience

Even a cynical small business owner would be hard-pressed to disagree with these realities. This list doesn’t speak for the ads themselves though, just the experience.

At this point, salespeople might transition to the fact that the advantages of a movie theater and the advantages of movie theater advertising are intrinsically linked. The relationship is similar to that of newspapers and magazines, in that people gravitate to these print medias because they can hold the paper in their hands, thumbing through the pages. Readers enjoy the experience that these medias provide.

One must also consider the other distinctive advantages of movie theater advertising:

• A movie theater supplies that highly-coveted captive audience. Patrons paid for their ticket and they want to be there. The videos and images on the screen don’t have to compete with society’s main distraction: cell phones. Most theaters ask customers to turn off their phones before the film’s ads even begin to roll.
  
• A movie theater is one of the “last frontiers” in terms of offering an advertiser an uncluttered media environment to present their message. Sitting in a movie theater may be one of the few times during the week when people are not working on a computer while looking at their phone and simultaneously viewing TV playing in the background. Even consumers who have grown impatient with commercials cannot fast-forward over movie theater ads either.
  
• “Silence is golden” in movie theaters, so noise tends to halt when the house lights go down and the ads start to roll. Talking over a commercial in a movie theater happens, but it’s not the same as the home experience.
• A movie theater offers small-business owners a targeted demographic group.  Geo-targeting is nearly inevitable (meaning people who live within a 10-mile radius of the theater). One can narrow the demographic group even further by realizing that most moviegoers are aged 16-44.
  
• Movie theaters also offer the ability to conduct crossover marketing or promotional activities. For example, you can hand out product samples or keepsakes in the lobby before the movie begins. Or you can say goodbye to movie-goers as they exit, handing them discounts or coupons for your business.

Do People Actually Pay Attention to Movie Theater Ads?

So what’s the verdict?  Do these ads work? And why wouldn’t the theaters be oversold if they were the end-all-be-all of the advertising world?  With so many other venues competing for advertising dollars, it seems all are a gamble. Advertising provides no guarantees, but an assurance that you can expect some return on investment (ROI) from movie theater advertising would help the media planners and advertisers feel better about an investment.

Researchers know that asking people if they watched movie theater ads is similar to asking people if they take the time to read the newspaper they have delivered every day. Since the consumer is paying for the product, they often feel compelled to say that yes indeed, they were captivated by the messaging. The results of any research study should be read with a grain of salt – which media buyers are famous for weeding through nonsense. One industry report, “The Bigger Picture,” is widely quoted. Conducted by Hall & Partners for Digital Cinema Media, it found that:

• “… cinema is working in a very different way to any other media, with ads watched in the cinema being processed by the brain more consciously, proving a much more powerful and emotionally engaging medium for brands.”

Marketing Director Zoe Jones said they arrived at this conclusion because:

• “Cinema advertising is eight times more effective at making your brand stand out from the crowd than television. If you show people an unbranded still from an ad, three times as many cinemagoers will actually recall which brand it is for,  when compared with TV viewers. Cinema audiences are four times more likely to be emotionally engaged than a television audience, and those exposed to ads in the cinema are twice as likely to recall a brand compared to TV.”

Jones also said: “You still can’t beat the big screen for sheer impact and scale.”

How Much Will Movie Theater Advertising Cost?

Media planners and buyers typically will compile a detailed analysis of how much it costs to advertise in all mediums that are matched to the target audience. A comparison with movie theater advertising rates will be more straightforward with these numbers in hand.

Like other forms of advertising, movie theater advertising rates vary based on:

• The duration of the ad: 15, 30 or 60 seconds.
• The number of theaters the ad will appear in.
• The number of screens within those theaters.
• The length of the advertising campaign.
• The time of year.

Getting in contact with a representative from a movie theater advertising company will provide interested companies with the best ballpark rates for budget estimating as well as possible impressions delivered.

What Is the Most Effective Type of Movie Theater Advertising?

This form of advertising may strike buyers as “out of the box” and so different from more conventional advertising methods, that creative teams may be tempted to create an ad that is equally outside of the norm. This would actually violate one of the main “rules” of advertising: be true to your brand and your image. Consistency is key.  If you want to create an effective movie theater ad, create one that is symmetrical with your other advertising initiatives. Symmetry will help build brand awareness among new customers, and still solidifying your image with consumers who already know the product. And if you help further that brand awareness, maybe they’ll notice that billboard when they’re driving down the highway next time, too.

 

BluHorn Video Review

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again.  BluHorn loves happy customers!

Our client Ann, who is a seasoned media buyer, provided this video testimonial of our product.  We are proud to provide a trusted media buying and planning platform for all our users!

 

Ann also provided a written review:

Working with BluHorn has been a fantastic experience. Their customer service is top notch.From the moment you sign up, you have a sense that you are a valued member of the BluHorn family.The team is quick to respond to questions, comments or concerns.They offer lots of training opportunities.From LIVE 2pm call-in training on Wednesday and Thursday to private one-on-one sessions, the team is more than accommodating.The videos offered on the BluHorn website are easy to follow and the system is very simple to navigate.With 5 plans to choose from, BluHorn has the perfect solution for any small to midsize agency looking for an affordable media buying system.

I found the TV buying process to be very easy.Setting up a vendor, creating a campaign and generating a worksheet took less than 5 minutes.Once in the worksheet, I was able to upload station avails or I could just type avails directly into the worksheet.I liked the “grid layout” for entering buys. All the information is saved in real time.There is a filter option which allows you to filter by daypart, station or length.The weekly spend level and GRPs are provided at the top of the worksheet and all the buy details are listed to the side for quick reference.Once the buy is complete, you can either print it out or send directly to the stations – which is a nice option.If you are working on an annual buy, I found the Copy Worksheet feature to be a big time saver.I really liked the Dashboard where you can view all of your recent campaigns and worksheets along with a calendar to show upcoming campaign information.

If you are looking for an affordable media buying software for TV, Cable, Radio, Outdoor, Print or Digital Media, BluHorn is that system.

 

Thank you Ann for being a part of our BluHorn family!

SEO vs PPC

The key difference between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) is that visitors coming from SEO (organic) are free, while traffic generated from PPC is not. Hence the name, you truly pay per click.

This is also the main reason you might occasionally see the terms “organic search engine listings” and “paid search engine listings” (or Paid Search Advertising — PSA).

SEO and PPC are both a part of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which is among the many tools you may utilize within your overall Internet Marketing campaign.

We will further explain this by examining the differences between the two using the following parameters: position, cost, traffic potential, conversion and simplicity of use.

 

Position:

In the screenshot to the left, you can expect to locate the PPC ads above, and the organic ads on the bottom.  Exactly where your advertisement will fall is dependent upon a number of factors (i.e. the keywords/phrases you target, keywords present in ad copy, keywords on a landing page and more).

Organic results can show up in the center of the page.  Whether your listing will appear in the top positions on the list will depend on how optimized your website is in terms of on site and off site SEO.

SEO: You are able to get first page ranking if your website is optimized for search engines

PPC: You can get your ad to appear on the first page by paying a higher cost per click (CPC)

 

Cost:

As a reminder, SEO traffic is free/no cost and PPC is all paid.  While this is accurate from a face value, it requires a great deal of work to acquire that “free” traffic from search engines. Competition is fierce for nearly every keyword you can think of and search, so you must have an excellent website and a great optimization strategy to get into the coveted top 5 positions.

There are not any shortcuts regardless of what a few “SEO” companies may be trying to sell you. If you are not familiar with how search engines operate, or do not understand the lingo of SEO, the best practice will be to employ a SEO expect to do the job for you.  It may cost more, but doing the job right will make all the difference.

On the flip side, PPC price is dependent upon a number of different factors.

For example, the cost per click of ads with the most popular PPC system available (Google AdWords) is dependent on the popularity of the keyword, the number of advertisers attempting to use that keyword, the amount of related websites that have advertising for those keywords, and many many more.

Sound confusing?  It probably is. Despite Google’s efforts to make the whole system easier to use.  The good news for PPC, is that a user will only pay for the clicks your advertisement receives rather than for the views that it garners. Additionally, you are able to determine your daily balance in advance, and pay no more than this.  You are able to calculate an estimate based on results to see what the average CPC (cost per click) is for those keywords that you are wanting to target.

The cost of SEO is indirect. It is impossible to just pay a flat rate for first page rankings.  An SEO service will give you ideas, manage all contributing factors and help you work your way to the position desired with a set plan.  This is why getting a professional involved in the process can be the key to success.

 

 

Traffic Potential:

Which strategy will bring more traffic/visitor to your site?  SEO or PPC?

SEO organic traffic is typically greater than PPC, so in the event that you can manage to rank your website for the keywords that you want, you will likely get much higher traffic stats than paying for all those keywords individually. The reasoning for this is because if your business is in one of the top 5 positions (based on statistics the vast majority of search traffic visits one of the top 5 sites) you can expect to have a constant stream of traffic 24×7 without having to pay anything (the true volume of traffic depends on how popular a keyword is).

Therefore, if you compare cost and traffic of first page rankings for PPC traffic and SEO traffic, organic traffic is much better. There are a few studies indicating that PPC ads get a higher number of clicks than organic, but this also translates to a larger cost.  

If on the other hand it’s extremely tricky to get first page rankings for a keyword, then paying for traffic/visitors might be your only choice, since second and third page positions will likely attract hardly any traffic.

SEO: Organic traffic is constant as long as you are ranking within a few of the highest positions.

PPC: PPC advertisements can get more clicks however this usually means that you pay more.

 

Conversion:

Which customer is more likely to convert (i.e. make a purchase, register for your newsletter, or generally respond to the call to action), someone coming from organic search or PPC?

If your ads are highly optimized and targeted then a visitor acquired from PPC is far more likely to convert than a visitor from a search.  The main reason is that the webpage can rank for differing keywords than those initially intended, so the search visitor may not be looking precisely for the content in that particular page.

On the other hand, if you run a PPC campaign that is successful then you’ll only get clicks from the people that are 100% interested in your content or products/merchandise.

SEO: SEO traffic is far better than other forms of traffic (i.e. social media) but in terms of conversion isn’t quite as fantastic as PPC traffic.

PPC: Highly optimized keywords will create more conversions but will cost more.

 

Simplicity of Use:

Neither PPC or SEO is easy to do if you do not have the necessary knowledge and expertise to accomplish your goals.

Search Engine Optimization is a process that takes a great deal of time and energy.  It might take months or even years to rank for certain keywords. However, in order to find some good results with PPC and Adwords you have to take a course/training, or employ a PPC expert that will assist you or you may lose a few hundred dollars while you meddle through learning how it works best.

So What To Choose?

The main point is that you need to utilize both SEO and PPC as part of your digital marketing campaigns.  PPC can deliver faster results, so you could conduct a PPC campaign and test which keywords convert. Then you can attempt, with SEO, to rank for those keywords.

Use PPC when you’ve got high converting merchandise and utilize SEO when you have a limited budget to invest in digital. SEO may take some time, but the outcomes are (under certain circumstances) long lasting, while PPC will only produce results while the spend lasts.

BluHorn Interviewed Regarding Data and Development

BluHorn’s head of development/web architect, Wes Benwick, and one of his colleagues were recently interviewed for a story about data usage and development.

This article can be accessed by clicking HERE

Wes talks a lot about how at BluHorn, we take our customer support requests very seriously.  We are a family and want our users to understand that we know their industry.  We get time is of the essence when putting together a media plan or trying to get a fully approved media buy out the door.  Support requests have some give and take, and this article and video may even give some of our current users a peek into how the data and development process operates for our platform.

Here’s a direct viewing of the video from within the article:

We are proud of Wes and our development team!

#bluhornlove

We love our customers.  We say it all the time.  BluHorn is a family and we treat our customers like they are just that.

No, not the family that you love to hate or squabbling siblings that can’t find common ground.  We’re talking bear-hugging, grandma’s chicken soup eating, smiles at DisneyWorld type of family love.

We love it when our customers share that love right back.  We recently received this video from our longtime customer Adele.  She was so nice to share why BluHorn works for her, and how it might work for YOU!

BluHorn was created BY media buyers, FOR media buyers.  We want the experience to be user-friendly and easy to understand.  In our nearly 8 years of software life, we have taken all our users’ feedback very seriously and worked to integrate the wonderful ideas and suggestions we receive into everyday use of the platform.

Our customers love that their ideas are heard and, more importantly, taken seriously. We love feedback.  We live for it.  Our goal is to take what works and continue to improve upon it to make BluHorn a literal one-stop shop for your buying and planning needs.

Have you had a great experience with BluHorn?  Share it with us!  Send to our email support@bluhorn.com.  Or better yet, spread the #bluhornlove on our Facebook page and use the hashtag!  We’d love to hear from you and let your story help others to understand why they should try BluHorn for themselves.

 

HOW TO GET ORGANIZED WITH THE GOOGLE TASKS APP

To-do apps are gaining people’s attention as a result of the amount of time people spend operating their mobile devices. Manual to-do lists are becoming a thing of the past, as paper and pencil are rarely carried with mobile devices available. Everything is going digital and in order to keep up, you need to flow with the trend to be more productive.

To-do apps help to keep your daily tasks in check. They provide you with a quick and convenient way to create, view and perform all the items on your to-do lists.

Google Tasks app is meant to simply provide you with easy and concise ways of tracking your tasks. Unlike other to-do apps, the Google Tasks app enables you to not only manage and create multiple tasks and sub-tasks, but to also set due dates and add details.

Having a Google account makes it possible for you to access your tasks on any device.

Here is how to get started with Google Tasks:

Download Google Tasks

For android users, the Google Tasks app can be downloaded from Google Play, and iOS users can access the app from the App Store. If you are an android user, the app will require your Google account to identify your location. You can simply accept or decline if you don’t want it.

The app is activated once you click on the get started option. If you use iOS, you will be asked which Google account you would like to use and need to click on the correct account. Your permission is needed to send you notifications, and allowing this will alert you whenever your tasks are due.

My Tasks

Tap the button at the My Tasks screen to add new tasks. Type the task you want to enter and click on the save button. All tasks you have previously entered are found in My Tasks.

Add More Information

To add more information to your task such as details, sub-tasks and due dates click the task which will bring up another screen. Click on the field you wish to add details you want to save. Click on the link to add date information, after which you will click the OK button to save the date. Also click on the link to add sub-tasks and by clicking done, your additional information has been saved.

Create Another Task

To return to My Task screen, click on the Back button. Click the Add new task to create another task. Repeat the process you completed with the first task. Click the + button and click the icon with the horizontal lines to add details to the task. Click the calendar icon to select the due date. To store the tasks click save.

Sort Tasks

When you are done with creating tasks, return to the My Tasks screen. Note that you can sort your tasks by due dates instead of the order they were created. To do this click on the ellipsis icon on the lower right of your My Tasks screen. You can choose to give your list a different name other than the My Tasks it is normally saved with. You can always choose to delete your completed tasks by clicking delete.

Complete a task

Click on the Complete Task circle to complete your task. The task will disappear from your list and appear in the list of completed tasks. You can click on Completed to if you wish to see the tasks you have completed. Tasks completed can be moved back to your active list by clicking on their checkmarks.

Create Multiple Lists

As earlier stated, Google Tasks app allows you to create multiple lists of tasks. To do so click on the hamburger icon on the lower left part of your screen. Click the create new list to type a name for the new list and then click Done. To add a new task click on the Add New Task button and save.

Switch Lists

You can view from a list to another by clicking on the Hamburger icon to select the list you want to view.

View Anywhere

One great thing about the Google Tasks app is that you can access your tasks lists on your computer or mobile devices. PC access can be via your web browser on the Google Tasks website.

WHY YOU WILL PREFER GOOGLE TASKS APP

There are many great reasons why you might prefer the Google Tasks app above other to-do apps:

1. If you currently use Google Calendar, Gmail and Google drive, it is very simple to use the Google Tasks app.
2. It is easy to add items to a general list. This will also allow you create separate lists for special topics.
3. If you are a Type-A kind of person, Google tasks is certainly what you need. It has a clear and a minimalist layout which will allow you to organize your tasks and streamline your to-do list.
4. It allows you add additional details and due dates by simply clicking on a task. The date feature helps you stay on top of tasks that need immediate attention.
5. Your list is arranged chronologically according to the due date each task was assigned.
6. Google Tasks allows editing and correction. You can easily move a task from one list to another.
7. When a task is completed, it can be moved to the “Completed” folder with one. You can either sort or delete any and all completed tasks.
8. With the new version of Google you can also access the app through your desktop.
9. Emails can be dragged and dropped into your tasks in order to quickly and easily create a new item in your list.
10. Google Tasks is free to download on either Andriod or iPhone devices.