Value is the new Vanity buy

If you know me, you know that vanity buys, to me, are the devil!  I'm not shy about my lecture of buying media because so-and-so is doing that and I "heard" this works.  I'll tell anyone who will listen:  "Oh, you're just a Starbucks barista?  Did you know that buying without an oCPM is pretty dumb in today's media?!?"  Yeah, I know - preachy doesn't work.

But, get this!!!  Did you see the expose on Beats by Dre headphones?!?  Bottom line: celebrity crap.  Overpriced and a total vanity buy.  Actually, all headphones have proven to be very similar to each other, in quality.  Yeah, tell that to my teenagers!  The point is, though, the status buy is so tempting that no one even bothered checking out whether it was worth it or not until yeeeeeeeeeeeears later.

I do see more and more agencies offering better media choices for destinations - but still charging in the same old, "I'll spend your money" way.  If you aren't a communication professional or media buyer, you may not have all the information necessary to discern crap from treasure.  Here's a few ways, it's 2015 and if:  You're buying leads - crap.  You're buying big ads on traditional media sites - crap. 100% of your search buy is Google - crap. You do not know the top 10 sites your EXACT target audience visits on the reg - all you are buying is crap. You've bought remarketing, programmatic or another buzzword but have no idea what it does or a real strategy - you've turned something cool into crap.

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but it doesn't help you to fill your feed with meandering mediocre advice.  Let's add a little spin here and help you find value in your partners:

• There are clear business goals the vendor is willing to achieve, not just eyeballs
• There are no crazy promises
• You're not "paying for the privilege", nix the hourly vendor drains and agree to a value price in return for a specific impact

You're going to have so much more to brag about if you buy for value!  What do you think matters more to your board - "oh hey, i bought from Joe!", or "We have engaged XYZ for a plan to increase mid-week visitation 20% in 18 months"?

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http://jenniferbarbee.com/