Here are 5 things you can do to eliminate the continual barrage of rate increases for your media.
1. Add up the total dollars you have spent with a particular vendor over the past 5 years, and remind them how much money you have spent. If that amount of money is not worth a no-rate-increase renewal, then you may have the wrong media partner and one who is interested in his or her bottom line as opposed to your success. Tell the vendor you will need to take your business elsewhere.
2. Tell the vendor you look for media companies who want a long-term relationship, not a nickel-and-diming outfit trying to squeeze 5% or more out of you every year.
3. Tell the media vendor that frequency (the average number of times that the prospect will see or hear your ad) is a key component to your advertising results. It doesn’t matter what the rate is if frequency suffers because you won’t get results. Tell them you’ll have to go somewhere else where you are assured of frequency and success.
4. If the vendor still won’t budge (and you feel that you must have that vendor), tell them from now on you will need to book on a month-to-month basis. If they have a deal for a particular month, you’ll consider adding them to your buy. Most media vendors, however, prefer a long-term commitment where they can count on a certain revenue figure every month, so if they want the commitment, no rate increase is the deal!
5. Always present your no-rate-increase deal at least 30 days before the end of your current contract. This gives you plenty of time to negotiate and go elsewhere if your current vendor(s) insists on a rate increase.