In the world of marketing every dollar counts. How do you know if you are getting a proper return on investment? In this article we discuss the importance of having a firm grasp on your ad spend, and revenue generated as a result.

There are several things to know about advertising and marketing that will greatly impact your success. Seemingly trivial things can cost you thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the size of your budget.

Media Planning and Buying is an extraordinarily important part of your advertising campaign. Surprisingly this is the most commonly flawed part of the process. Agencies tend to let junior members with 2-3 years of experience handle the media buy who usually make their decisions solely on flawed Nielsen & Arbitron ratings.

Media Buying decisions must be based with an intimate knowledge of that particular market and a no-nonsense tracking system in place to verify real results. Furthermore it is also important for media to be handled by a tough, seasoned member of an organization (agency or otherwise) who has the experience and insight to go beyond the ratings and a salesman’s pitch.

Tracking results from TV, Radio and Print are critical in helping to map your future marketing and advertising campaigns. If a talk radio station is responsible for 20% of your new business and you are able to track this, then that talk radio station will probably continue to be on your flight for a long time to come.

If however, a local Television affiliate is burning up your budget without any measurable results, then dropping that station will allow you to spend additional money on your more effective media outlets.

Without tracking you will never know where your results are coming from. You can try to poll your customers to see where or how they found your company but this is the least reliable form of tracking your marketing efforts.

When you buy spots to air on TV & Radio, how do you know when and if they aired? How do you know if your competitor aired a spot right before yours? Media Auditing is another very important piece of the puzzle.

It’s estimated that 10-15% of all Spots purchased on broadcast media either air in the wrong time slot, air in the same commercial break as one of your competitors, or are simply bumped and not run at all. It’s up to you to catch these errors and demand a credit yourself. Having an advertising agency that aggressively monitors your flight, all spots and their run times will save you a lot of headache and money.

Imagine if you could increase your revenue by 10, 25 or even 50% by making one simple phone call; increasing your marketing effectiveness and creative edge. A lot of agencies make claims but the bottom line is that marketing is a result-driven industry. Accountability and measurable results are the name of the game.

If your Agency isn’t leveraging media credits, auditing your flight to ensure the media you purchased is actually running (and in its proper time slot), and tracking your media results, then it’s time to change gears.