Paid media budgets are often some of the biggest chunk of our clients’ budgets. Whether it goes to Sky, Google, Facebook or someone else, you want to be sure you know what you’re buying. For those of you just getting involved in paid campaigns, this how to guide gives you a rough breakdown of what to expect.
Please bear in mind that figures change from industry to industry (Source). Because specialise in the placemaking, property & real-estate industry, these marketing budgets are based on these sectors. It’s also important to remember the actual breakdown will depend on a variety of factors, such as the advertising platform, target audience, ad format, and bidding strategy. That said, we know it’s important to have something that helps you make decisions and a starting point for discussions.
Paid Media Budgets Breakdown
As a rough guideline, the budget allocation for the campaign might look something like this:
- Strategy & Planning: 15-20%
- Project management: 5-10%
- Ad spend: 60-70%
- Creative production: 10-15%
- Testing and optimisation: 5-10%
Paid Media Planning Glossary
We also appreciate that agencies all use slightly different terms. So, here’s what we mean when we use these terms:
Strategy & Planning
This includes developing a comprehensive plan for the campaign, identifying the target audience, setting goals and objectives, selecting the appropriate ad platform, developing messaging, and determining the optimal budget and bidding strategy
Project management
It also involves ongoing project management to ensure the campaign is executed effectively and efficiently, including monitoring performance, making data-driven optimizations, and providing regular reporting and communication to stakeholders.
Ad spend
This is the actual cost of running your ads. It will depend on the bidding strategy you choose (e.g., cost per click, cost per impression, etc.) and the platform you’re using (e.g., Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.). If we are paying influencers directly, that cost will be in here too.
Creative production
This includes the cost of producing the ad creative using the videos and images supplied by you.
Landing page development
If you’re running a campaign that directs users to a landing page, you’ll need to factor in the cost of developing the landing page. We have not included that in this budget. We are able to provide that service, so let us know if you would like us to quote.
Testing and optimisation
It’s important to continually test and optimise your ads to improve performance. This can include A/B testing different ad creatives, testing different landing pages, and adjusting targeting parameters.
If you’re just getting started, and you’d like a hand, you can read more about creating content yourself or give us a call and we’ll be happy to help out.