However, it’s not just in the sunshine state where marketing bargains can be sniffed out by start-ups. Ongoing consumer conservatism across Australia has seen rates for media space drop as big brands trim their marketing budgets.
Ben Willee, managing director of media buying firm Ikon Melbourne, says that savvy small businesses can land very attractive deals.
“It’s a very difficult time in the media marketplace because consumer sentiment is so crap, so a lot of advertisers are standing aside,” he says.
“The market is soft but a lot of small businesses make the mistake that volume is more important than quality, All airtime isn’t equal – you need to see where your audience is and what media they are consuming.”
Getting your targets right
If you want to hone in on a particular demographic, the way TV is split up and sold can suit you. In Victoria, for example, the state is split into five different TV markets, which are aggregated and then sold off, meaning that SMEs can get an ad for $100 in a small sub-market.
Willee contends that Google Search is the best bet for cost-conscious start-ups, but more traditional media can help build your brand, rather than just sales.
Newspapers, for example, can prove a fertile hunting ground for start-ups. A half-page weekday ad in a section of The Age, for example, costs $8,825, while a quarter page of the Daily Telegraph’s magazine is about the same.
While these rates may seem a bit steep, small businesses can take advantage of ‘distressed’ rates, where publishers try to shift unsold space at a last-minute, discounted rate. The savings can be as much as 80%.
However, as Willee points out, these offers aren’t open to everyone. “You need a relationship with the sales reps and be spending in the market for a long period before getting those deals,” he says. “You need to be fair dinkum, not a tyre kicker.”
Aside from working the phones with the sales reps, you need a solid marketing strategy. There’s not much point picking up a bargain if it doesn’t reach your target market.
“You need the mindset of ‘what is it going to take to get exposure in front of my target market?’,” says marketing consultant Michael Halligan. “Once you think like that, opportunities will open up. Businesses that get deals are constantly badgering people for exposure. They are like bulldogs.
“There’s not one person you can go to get exposure. You need dogged determination and quickly identify opportunities that come up.”
Thinking creatively
Halligan recommends using Twitter as a tool to unearth good deals. By following the key figures in the local media market, you should be able to get a sense of discounted rates or events that you can capitalise upon.
You can also get decent PR exposure from following outlets such as Sourcebottle, which is regularly used by journalists seeking small businesses to cover in stories.
Don’t be afraid to fashion marketing opportunities out of nothing. Halligan says a great example is a small food brand that parked its heavily-logoed van outside the MCG during the two AFL grand finals last year. For a $20 parking fee, the brand was exposed to a large chunk of the 100,000 crowd.
“Develop a checklist of the key characteristics of your customers – such as geographic location, age, sex and habits,” says Halligan. “Then think about where these people are and what media they consume.
“Try and do something creative and different. When an SME goes above and beyond, people have a better reaction than a large company with lots of money. You can gain a lot of respect and amplify your message far beyond the original campaign if you are creative.”
