Auctioned Advertising Space
We live in an age of instant information provided to us by electronic means. The wide-spread use of the internet has opened some very interesting doors to all of us, but to the advertiser, it’s opened the door to buying auctioned advertising space .
Advertising space on auction services operate just as you’d think they would. Advertisers bid on packages offered for print, TV, radio, outdoor advertising or ambient advertising, in hopes of getting a better, and lower, price than they would by going directly to the media provider. This can be a great way to reach the desired audience, but at a fraction of the rate card price offered by the media.
Auction services sell advertising space they’ve negotiated with the media companies. In every form of advertising, account executives sell using a rate card, which offers pricing for all their products, just like other businesses. But it’s rare that all the available space is sold every day, 365 days a year. There are times of the year when it’s easier to sell space than other times, and there are absolutely times of the year when the media companies are willing to make deals and strike bargains just to fill this available space and be able to pay their bills to keep operating.
Today there are more forms of advertising available than ever before in history, and media companies want to try every means possible to them to sell their unsold ad space. High numbers of radio stations and cable television stations, along with increasing numbers of print advertising products, outdoor and ambient advertising products, as well as specialty magazines, all work to create serious fragmentation of markets. The increased competition in advertising media, because of the increasing number of businesses selling advertising, means the buyer can realize better prices than ever before in history.
Auctioned advertising space works for the buyer, who can get a better price, and the media company, who gets to sell their available space which would have gone unsold otherwise. This can be a win-win situation for all the players involved, and everyone gets to be happy with the result. If the media company can’t sell all the space for top dollar, it’s better to sell some of the space at a discount than not at all.
Internet searches yield companies who sell auctioned advertising space, just as other products and services are sold in on-line auctions. Buyers decide how much they can spend, decide the medium they’ll use (between radio, TV, print in newspapers or magazines, outdoor or ambient advertising), and begin bidding on the packages offered. The victory goes to the highest bidder who can realize great savings by using this type of service, while they experience the fun of participating in the auction to buy advertising. So if you’re looking to save a little money, and know what you’re doing about selecting the right medium to reach your target audience, check out auctioned advertising and get in the game!
