2 Lights Media proudly welcomed Angela Cousens to our media buying team in November 2008. Recently we sat down with Angela for a quick Q&A session about media buying.
Q: How long have you been buying long form radio?
A: I have been buying long form radio for almost nine years. I have worked at in house agencies as well as brokered time for long form radio agencies.
Q: What makes you continue to buy long form radio?
A: I enjoy both working with the clients to make their campaigns successful and building relationships with our media partners.
Q: What do you as a buyer look for when purchasing time for your clients?
A: When I first contact a station about purchasing time I inquire about who is currently running blocks on their station. If the regular long form suspects are airing on that station I know that it is a good station. I then like to see the AQH rating for the open avail as well as the cume audience. This helps me determine if the pricing on this time is in line with my clients needs.
Q: How do you know if the station has been a success for your client?
A: My clients measure success in two ways either MER (media efficiency ratio) or CPC (Cost per call). The clients that measure MER are looking to make back a specific amount based on the cost of the avail. For instance if a client is paying $100.00 for the half hour they may want to see a 2:1 ratio meaning they bring back $200.00 in revenue for the $100.00 buy. Other clients like to see 1.5:1 meaning for the $100.00 buy the need to see revenue of $150.00. The clients that measure success by CPC are looking to spend a certain amount for each call generated. An example of this would be a CPC of $20.00. To get this on a $100.00 avail the client would need to get 5 calls which work out to a $20.00 for each phone call received. We would say that the station is a success if it meets either MER or CPC depending on the client.
Q: What would you do if the station does not meet these requirements?
A: We always like to go back to the station and see what we can get for help for our clients. This could mean reducing the rate to meet the requirement or having the station bonus the client another half hour to try to generate more response. We always try to work with both the client and the station so that we can meet the needs of both. We understand both sides that the station needs a certain amount for the time and that the client needs certain response and we are the bridge that makes that come together.
Q: Where do you purchase half hours for your clients?
A: I place my clients on radio stations from Maine to California in all markets and on all station formats. My clients have very different products so there is no such thing as a uniform buy. We look at the time that is available to us and try to place the best client that will fit the format.
Q: How do you find open times for your stations?
A: I have been doing this for a long time so I know many stations that offer half hour programming but that only gets us so far. We then have to cold call stations to find out if they offer half hours or try find stations that we can work with to open up times for our clients. We like to look at all stations and times.
If your station has avails they are looking to fill, please don’t hesitate to give Angela a call at (207) 591-6079.
2 comments ↓
I have sold half hour blocks to Angela and her clients now for three years. She is one of my favorite media buyers. Very outgoing and a real pleasure to deal with. She gets results…
Thanks Michael! She’s our favorite, too!