How to Save Big on Advertising with a Winning Remnant Media Strategy

Got Remnant?

In a weird way, media inventory and milk share something in common — they both have an expiration date. Ideally a publisher will sell every one of its available ad impressions directly to advertisers at premium CPMs (cost per one thousand impressions) before that date.  As the expiration date approaches, unsold inventory  is offered to advertisers for pennies on the dollar to avoid total loss.

Remnant media (or remainder media) is another name for this deep discounted ad space – and its a term you should get familiar with if you have your hand in your company’s marketing and advertising efforts.

How Remnant Media Supercharges Your Ad Strategy

• Because remnant ad space is heavily discounted, it’s a clever media buying strategy for advertisers looking to maximize their advertising budget.

• Remnant allows advertisers to reach new markets and audiences you might otherwise not be able to afford. Ever thought of buying “the big Game” remnant?

• For broadcast advertisers, remnant can be used to determine the best performing stations, programs and dayparts with minimum investment and risk. 

• Want to test media channels without blowing your budget? Look no further than remnant media. Remnant offers a great way to split test media and creative at a low cost.

• Last minute remnant media can be purchased to help stimulate sales during a slow period of the year.

• Remnant ad space can be used to target specific audience segments in the market.

• Think only the big brands can afford TV advertising? Cost is a barrier to entry for some advertisers interested in television, and remnant is a great way to overcome that barrier. Remnant television creates an opportunity to enter the TV ad space at an affordable price.

• Remnant allows advertisers to buy premium spots for a fraction of the cost. 

How to Make Remnant Work For Your Business

Know Your Audience

The value of remnant inventory should be based on its ability to reach and engage your unique audience while keeping costs low. The problem is that media buyers often use market ratings to determine the value of media. Market ratings use broad demographics like age range and gender to determine the size and composition of an audience.  

How do you target your most relevant audiences? By applying a people-based marketing approach to your targeting strategy. With a people-based approach, media is purchased based on data from your actual customers (e.g. household-level television viewership data). 

Wingman doesn’t buy remnant just for the sake of getting cheap media. Our process starts with planning. First we use our Audience Management Platform,  haloAMP™  to understand what we want to buy. haloAMP™ helps us determine the best media channels, markets, shows, hours, stations, etc. to reach specific audience segments. Then we make a decision.  

When we look at media consumption of custom audiences, we have found that our data does not always reflect the broader market ratings. Buying media based solely on ratings could mean thousands of dollars wasted because they do not provide a true representation of your real audience.

Focus on Engagement

For advertisers who can’t afford to waste precious media dollars on low engagement inventory, identifying the eCPM (cost per 1,000 engaged impressions) can mean the difference between money wasted and money yielding high returns. Again, the key to leveraging audience insights is digging deeper than market ratings. Why? Because a program may have great ratings on a broader market level, let’s say adults ages 25-54. However, a deeper look into the viewership data of your custom audience will often reveal different engagement. 

 To maximize your return on investment, focus your media buys on the shows, programs and hours where your target audience  – people actively in the market for your product – is paying attention. Then purchase remnant inventory based on CPM goals rather than on rates. 

Use Remnant as a Piece of the Whole Strategy

Remnant should never be your whole media buying strategy. Why not? Because there are no guarantees on media clearance. Instead,  it should be used to enhance your current plan. Carve out a budget when building your annual media plan that’s set aside specifically for remnant inventory. 

Be Prepared Ahead of Time

Because remnant is a last minute opportunity, companies that want to take advantage must make it easy for the media publisher to work with them and use their ads. That means you’ll need to be informed about how the company’s remnant advertising works beforehand. 

Remnant avails come out Mondays the week prior to airing. With this in mind, understand what your plan is ahead of time – don’t wait until Thursday to buy inventory. Being ready right when avails come out will ensure better spot placement and higher clearance. Also, have your creative ready to go ahead of time and with correct ad specs. You may need several versions of creative in different sizes and formats. 

Bid Wisely

Remember that remnant media is preemptible. Preemptible rates can cause competition between advertisers when bidding for remnant advertising space. Whoever bids the higher amount with the media company wins the surplus inventory. With this in mind, it is important to stick to a budget and not overbid. 

Hire a Media Agency that Buys Remnant

While a DIY media buying strategy is certainly possible, some things are best left to the experts. Seasoned media buyers already have established relationships with media outlets, giving you a foot in the door from the start. And don’t forget, great negotiating skills are a must, especially when it comes to remnant. Because remnant is preemptable, expect competition from other bidders who already know the nuances of media buying. Experienced buyers have access into live rates and they understand what remnant inventory is currently  clearing at. They also know the the floor price by network or station. If you choose to wear the hat of a media buyer and put your negotiation skills to the test, remember to stick to your CPM goals.

Conclusion

Although remnant is purchased at a steep discount, not all remnant media is created equal. The key to unlocking the real value of remnant is knowing what inventory to buy in order to achieve your marketing goals. The greatest efficiencies are gained when your media buys accurately target your most valuable audiences. This can be achieved by understanding where your potential customers are paying the most attention and then finding opportunities to buy those spots at the lowest rates. Buying remnant isn’t just about winning the bid; the real win is the money saved on inventory that is valuable to your business.