Why Pay An Ad Agency 15%?

That is a fair question and every good owner should ask it The simple answer is you pay for someone’s expertise when you don’t have it. You hire a lawyer or an accountant to ensure you are protected. Advertising Agencies are very similar. We ensure that you get the best deal on your media budget. We also make sure your media runs correctly and looks and sounds professional. So a more specific question would be, “How does Hotspots earn that 15%?”

Below you will read our procedures and checks and balances to ensure that each of our clients are getting more then their 15%.

Media In Your Market:

Hotspots looks at all avenues of media in your market. We then narrow the media field to decide what is best for your business based on your brand, demographic and geographic needs. We then provide an in depth recommendation based on our 20 year history of buying media. Our plans will be specific to your business needs. Other factors we consider include determining whether an audio or visual message works best with your likely consumers. Sometimes, it could be both. After that, we look at the age, sex and geographic area your customers live in to help us target the most effective way to reach your customers.

Negotiations:

We negotiate the best rates available on any media… TV, Cable, Radio, Digital, Pandora, etc. Since we work with media outlets all over the country, we have a good understanding about what is reasonable based on the market size, competition in the market, and cost comparisons with like markets. We will also negotiate for added value on your behalf with each of the media outlets chosen for your business, giving you the most for your advertising budget.

Production:

We will do all the production you will need. From the writing of the scripts, to the production, music and talent of all spots. By using us as an asset, your spots will stand out from the local commercials. We use professional Union actors in all our productions. Not just the local radio DJ or in house production voices that are on every other commercial and blend in. We will tag and create graphics in Full HD, standard or web quality video editing based on the end use of your commercials. You will be a part of every step of the production process approving the script to approving the final mix of the commercial.

Traffic Spots:

Once we have determined where your spots will be best placed and have negotiated the best rates with the media outlets, we will then traffic your spots to the media outlets making sure that it is uploaded directly to the TV stations or radio stations per there specifications. Our in house editors ensure the correct compression rates and sizes and coordinate delivery with the stations. We also help keep you on deadline with the delivery to the stations and can move the schedule if challenges or changes arise. All you have to do is make ONE call to us to communicate your changes and we make all the calls to the media outlets. We will update the stations with flight changes and added flights with ONE call making your job seamless.

Audit Stations:

We have a full auditing team that will check and double check the invoices that we receive on your behalf from the media outlets. We ensure that the spots run as contracted and at the rate and price we negotiated. Each bill is line item audited for each and every spot contracted. No one is perfect and stations make mistakes, but we will hold them accountable when they do. When mistakes are found, we negotiate either a credit to you or additional spots at no charge. Once we are done with this process, we then share our work with you for your records.

Billing:

We do have to bill you. But, what makes us different is when and how we bill you. We don’t bill you until all the other processes are complete. The spots are made, delivered, played, and audited, prior to you being billed. We will bill you on a monthly basis and send along all the original bills from the media outlets with our notes from the auditing department. We send the original bills that show both the NET and GROSS billing and the difference between the two will be our commission. The net amount you will be responsible to pay directly to the media outlet and the agency commission listed on the billing will be due to Hotspots. We are pretty transparent that way. No hidden fees or surprises.

15% could save you a lot more than 15 minutes!

Having Hotspots as your media agency allows you to do what you do best, run your own business. Above you read all the things we do to earn your trust and hope you agree we work hard for that 15%. Researching, negotiating, buying, placing, script writing, production, editing, delivering, auditing, makegoods, added value, billing credits, promotions and follow up.

When you list what we do, you may ask yourself, “How would I have time to do all that and run my business?” Most business owners don’t… because they are busy running their business. Let us free up some time for you to do just that…run your business.