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Audited Media Is Safe, Unaudited Media Isn’t. Audited media means the publisher’s circulation is verified by an independent third-party organization, using objective audit procedures. Insist on audited media, and be safe. |
Are You At Risk?
Insist On Audited Media And Be Safe
The Boss at ACME Widgets has just found out that buying unaudited media is unsafe business practice. And he blames Johnson.
Johnson is the poor guy from Sales & Marketing the Boss picked to buy ads.
The problem is, no one taught Johnson the value of buying audited media. He’s just another victim of publications that can’t independently verify their circulation.
Don’t be a Johnson.
Are You At Risk?
If your company buys unaudited media, you’ll never really know …
• If you’ve made a good media buy, or if you’ve just rolled the dice
• How many qualified people you’ve reached with your campaign
• Why the campaign succeeded … or why it failed
• If your company can truly account for its marketing expenses, just like other departments account for their purchases
Is this a risk you can afford to take? These days, fiscal accountability and sound purchasing policies must apply to all facets of a business. Buying advertising is no exception.
Audited Media Is Safe, Unaudited Media Isn’t
Audited media means the publisher’s circulation is verified by an independent third-party organization, using objective audit procedures.
An Audited Circulation Statement Provides Verified Data
• Circulation activity and quality (where the names came from, how old the names are, whether they are paid or non-paid subscriptions, whether they fit the intended audience for the media)
• Circulation breakdowns by job titles, industry type, geographic location
When a media supplier provides its own data as evidence of its circulation, it can be hard to know if it’s either objective or accurate. A media owner can have everything to gain, or lose, by the contents of their own circulation figures or sworn statements. Circulation reports, event attendance reports and any kind of ‘sworn statement’ that have been verified by an independent third party may be out of date, inaccurate or missing the detail you should expect in order to make informed media buying decisions.
Having only one publication in a market does not justify denying you the accountability an audit provides. Seizing an opportunity to reach specific business contacts through reputable industry associations that publish unaudited publications may expose you to risk. Sometimes there might be substantial differences in total numbers and demographics between an association’s/company’s contact list and their publication’s targeted distribution.
However, it is recognized that unaudited media is sometimes the only option when purchasing media space. For example, the publication may have contracted for an audit but not completed the process yet. Or it could be new and not yet established enough to warrant an audit process. Or advertising page rates may not generate sufficient revenue to justify an independent audit. Outside of these kinds of case-specific exceptions, it is generally considered a best practice to use audited media where it is available.
Top 10 Challenges Facing Chief Marketing Officers
In the 2007 Chief Marketing Officers Council survey, CMOs ranked “quantify and measure the value of marketing programs and investments” as their top challenge and this continues to be a challenge in 2008. See www.cmocouncil.org for their Marketing Outlook 2007.
If you can’t be sure who the unaudited media reached, you can’t properly analyze or report on the financial results of the program.
And as Bob Felsenthal, publisher of Media Business, points out, “It’s no secret there are many ways to underdeliver ad expectations — and provide inaccurate or out-of-date numbers—when a publication is unaudited.”
Insist on audited media, and be safe.
Need more information?
BPA Worldwide
Two Corporate Drive, 9th Floor
Shelton, CT 06484
203-447-2800
Fax: 203-447-2900
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