15 Tips for Your 2020 Media Strategy

Hard to believe there is a new year and a new decade around the corner.  As I looked back on our tips for media planning in 2010, I realized that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  This next decade will needless to say have more social media, but the role of traditional media will still have a role to play, almost as much as in the last decade.

These are the 15 tips for your 2020 Media Buying Strategy:

1. Target Audience – You have to know who you are targeting to know where to put your time, energy, budget, and message.  Identify (by demographics and psychographics) all of your target audience segments, so you can clearly define who they are.
2. Message – What are you saying that will cut the clutter and get their attention?  Make sure your message is clear and provides a reason for your target audience to care about you.
3. Emotional Connection – Don’t make your message full of logical justifications and rational information.  That isn’t very compelling.  Instead, be sure that your messages connect with your target audience on an emotional level.
4. Point of Differentiation – Illustrate in every way possible how you are different from your competition.  If you look and sound the same then you can be sure that they will choose someone else.
5. Relational v Transactional – Do you want to build a relationship for life or just get their attention when they are feeling cheap?  Even if you have the absolutely lowest price on the very best product, your target audience isn’t going to always choose you.  If it worked that way we would all drive a Kia.  Your audience isn’t really looking for the cheapest, they want the best – in the way they define it.  
6. Traditional Media is Alive – Depending on your target audience, traditional media might actually be the only way to still reach them.  So, don’t write that eulogy yet.  There is still a lot of power in old standards.
7. Content is King – Spend the time to create really good messages and then cross purpose them across multiple platforms.  You can turn them into scripts (white paper, ebook, blog posts) and produce them into a video (tv, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, website) and record audio (radio, hold message) and really leverage the content you create.
8. Google – Google is the center of the universe now and will continue to be even more so tomorrow.  So how are you leveraging your relationship with them?  Have you activated your Google Business Page?  Have you updated your location on Google Maps?  Do you check your listing in their search results?  
9. Search Engine Optimization – What does your target audience search on Google to find you and your competition?  Once you know this, then you can optimize your website to be at the top of those results.
10. Video – Be sure to harness the power of video.  It is estimated that by 2021, 80% of all internet traffic will be video.  Google and social media platforms are increasingly prioritizing video.  You should too. 
11. YouTube – Speaking of video, all of the video content that you create (tv commercial, product videos, Facebook videos) should live on your YouTube channel (which is owned by Google).  Google prioritizes video in search results so your videos need to live on their channel.
12. Quality over Quantity – It’s not about being in the most places, it’s about making the most of the places where you are.  Don’t let your media get spread too thin.  Select the most important (to your target audience) and be all in.
13. Calendar – Plan out your content based on what will be happening with your organization and how you can share that message with more people.  The more proactive you can be the less reactive you will become.
14. Budget – Your budget will vary greatly based on your industry, target audience, geographic location, and goals.  Know what is standard for your industry and then how you can best beat the odds to do more with less.
15. Results – Everything can be monitored and measured to know what kind of results you are getting.  Do more of what works well and less of what you can’t prove to be successful.

Media is in exciting and ever-changing times.  Be sure you are prepared to grow and change with it.  The best path to success is to be a life long learner and continue to adapt as the media landscape shifts.  Take advantage of these opportunities and go to brandrusso.com/brandbuilders to sign up for a class today.

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