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SaaS & B2B
Media Buying &
Paid Ads Services
As a startup or B2B brand, I am sure you will know by now that there are many ways to skin a cat in the world of media buying and paid advertising. It is more of a “how” as opposed to an “if.” The real question is, where do you start, and where do you stop? The answer to that, my friends, comes with experience, and plenty of it. Let’s break down the different paths in this wonderful, ever-changing landscape.
Traditional Media
Traditional media should never be overlooked. In fact, overlook it all you want; it gives our clients an advantage!
Like all things, traditional media s used on a case-by-case basis where our experience shows that it gets results.
Traditional media includes the following:
- Television
- Radio
- Outdoor
I know what you’re thinking, “this is old school,” and yes, it is, but that is also why we like it. Actually, we love traditional media as part of the solid funnel to complement digital media.
There is never a single best option when it comes to media buying or advertising, it is about creating a combination of complimentary moving parts to achieve the best possible result.
Let’s look at the world of Digital Media.
Digital Media
Ok, now this is where it gets super creative, edgy, measurable, real-time, and targeted.
Digital media is an ever-changing landscape of channels and options. We feel like there is a new advertising channel every other week at the moment.
The key is keeping up to date, measuring, and monitoring the performance of different digital channels.
Digital channels include the following:
- Social Media
- Web
- Apps
- Streaming Services
Within these channels, there are many options with different costs, efficacy, and targeting capabilities. Not to mention, each channel attracts a different type of person in a different way.
As an example, the CFO of a large retail firm can be on Instagram scrolling away for personal pleasure, yet also access his favorite trusted news website too.
Both places serve as an opportunity to grab his attention, but which do you choose and why?
This all comes back to data.
We spend anywhere between 250-500K a month on media buying, both traditional and digital, and have done for years. As I’ve mentioned before, we love data, we have a lot of it, and our data set increases daily; it is our secret weapon.
Using this data, we can easily determine which channels work best for which products or businesses.
But you need to remember this is a beautiful mix of art and science and a bespoke mix of traditional and digital media is key to your success.
So you understand the depth of our thinking, we’d like to throw a couple of examples for you.
Websites & Blogs
Getting your startup or B2B brand on the right website or blog can be insanely powerful, and the icing on the cake to your sales funnel.
Have a look at what we do here and why we do it.
1. Let’s Get Specific
We’ve seen it before; many people get excited about a specific site and say,” we need exposure on their site, their brand aligns, they get heaps of traffic, I see them everywhere, etc.” Hmm, it is not that straightforward.
At Growth Labz, we are data-driven in our decisions, period.
We get that many sites look great, but we need to determine if they actually are before buying media for a campaign.
How do we make sure that this will be a worthwhile investment? We drill down and look at the details, bringing out the fine tooth comb!
Before making ANY decision about whether or not to look to collaborate or purchase media on a website, we look at the following:
- Site Traffic: what country is the traffic coming from, sure the site might have volume, but we look for the relevance of your target market e.g., USA or European traffic, Asian traffic, etc. We also clarify whether the traffic is paid or organic and look for other sources, including social and referring domains.
- Top Performers: What does this site actually rank for, what are the top organic articles/subjects/niches driving the traffic, and does your startup or B2B brand actually relate to these? We want to target specific, relevant traffic for optimum results, always.
- Bounce Rate: This is super important; a bounce rate reflects how long people stay on the site/article/page. We need specifics to get you the best results.
These are three of the many metrics we consider before moving forward with any media buying campaign.
Ok, so now we know that the site is a right fit, what’s next? Location!
2. Show Me Where
There are nearly endless locations that can be chosen to place an ad. Sure there are different channels, but within those channels, there are different locations.
Take a blog or website, for example. Negotiating an ad on a specialist site with a specific focus or interest can be lucrative, but where does the ad sit?
It might be on the right side, with great relevant traffic and a low bounce rate, but the exact location of the ad is extremely important, and the exact placement of it can make or break a marketing funnel.
Ads can be placed in the site header, footer, sidebar, throughout a post, fixed, or sliding. The options are endless, and the results vary dramatically, which is why we test and track all the time.
Now, we measure.
3. Measurement & Management
Once things go live, we track statistics and performance in real time. We then compare this against historical data of similar campaigns, the goals we have set with you, and the campaign expectations.
We reassess the campaign performance and tweak the copy and design if needed.
Correct measurement is crucial to achieving ROI, especially in the world of social media, which brings us to our next point.
Social Media
The flavor of the month? The year? Our futures? Social media advertising can be a hugely successful source of traffic and leads. But it can also be a completely hyped-up waste of time and energy.
Before we do anything in the world of social media, we thoroughly investigate the alignment of your brand with a specific platform and a specific user.
With so many social media platforms and constant new features, social media is about staying ahead of the game with cross-platform performance analysis (CPPA, as we love a good acronym).
Only after diving into our CPPA and devising a solid plan based on past results, current market conditions, and many other variables, then and only then will we move forward.
At Growth Labz, our team believes that paid media in many forms can be hugely beneficial, but it is about knowing exactly what, how, and when to do it to gain the best ROI.Based on years of performance data, a 250-500k monthly ad spend and staying up to date with current market conditions, we gain an edge in the market to give your startup or B2B brand the ultimate ROI.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is media buying important?
Media buying is an integral component of any sales funnel. It gives your brand a targeted and relevant audience to expose your product to.
What is the goal of media buying?
The goal of media buying is to find the best source of media that attracts the most relevant traffic to your business.
What are you currently doing for clients?
We purchase anywhere between $250k - $500k a month on targeted websites/blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and for some clients, we have had incredible success in numerous print publications too.
What are some common mistakes that B2B brands in particular make when it comes to paid ads?
There are a few mistakes we see time and time again, which are particularly around the areas of lead quality, analytics tracking, personalisation and understanding of the customer journey. It's important for businesses to understand the whole CX journey of their customers/users, and prospects.
Can you train individuals and teams the process around media buying and ads?
Yes, absolutely we can do this. It's important for businesses to understand the process around acquisition, to nurturing. The great thing about training is that we can develop more sophisticated campaigns together overtime, which is great for scaling.