I hope everyone had a great holiday, but it is time to get back to work on our sand castle. Our previous blogs: Playing Together and Planning and Communication all have one goal in common, and that is to become a TEAM that brings a dynamic product to the client. Now, another important tip is working together to figure out and manage your budgets. If the brick manager takes all of the money for bricks, how is the mortar manager going to afford the mortar to put the walls together?

For a campaign that includes, TV, search, display and print, it is so important that all parties come together to talk about how budgets should be spent. No one is more important than the other. The bricks are no more important than the mortar, the water or the labor involved in construction. I could go on here, but you get the idea. Any one specific aspect of a campaign is just as vital as the other.

So here is where our learnings from our other posts kick in: communicate, plan and play together. Share those shovels and wheel barrows so that everyone comes out ahead. Talk about what budget your campaign needs to succeed, but listen to what others are asking for at the same time and learn to compromise for the benefit of the client.

The key is to focus on the synergy that is created when the different arms of advertising are integrated into one plan.  Recent advertising studies show a direct correlation between TV and online – specifically search.  Traditional advertising draws awareness to your product, prompting searches to get additional information/offers online.  Home page takeovers and banners can often lead to a growth in the search campaign.  It is important to incorporate as many advertising formats as your budget can hold.

Testing each medium also provides insight into how to allocate the budget.  It may take longer to find the right mix, but the benefits of working together to find that mix will be well received by the client and go a long way to showing the client how well all of our teams work together.

To get an initial budget, we suggest putting together a 3-tiered estimate that includes all ad venues.  The first is the efficiency plan – the bare minimum required to start the campaign. Secondly, a mid-range plan – which shows a more optimal budget.  Finally, an opportunity plus plan – this represents a budget that includes additional funding opportunities that may come up over the course of the campaign.  By presenting three levels, the client can better see what the dollars from each medium will provide.

Budgeting may be the hardest area to work through in your design plan.  Keep your mind open and try not to build so many walls that you don’t have an open floor plan. Be sure to remember that each medium benefits from the other! Above all else, remember teamwork to meet client goals is the focus – we’re still trying to build the ultimate sand castle together.

Next time, we will tackle the next stage of our castle – picking paint colors and fixtures, or in layman terms ­­– setting our campaign goals.