The 80:20 Rule is Dead

There’s a better way to allocate your marketing budget.

You know the 80:20 rule? 80% of your marketing budget should go towards the media buy and 20% towards production. Well, for three reasons, that rule is dead. Very, very dead. Here’s why:

1. Earned Media

Earned media is exposure that you receive without paying for. You make something that people dig, and they’ll share it for all their friends to watch. That share is free for you. Except not really. Making content that gets people excited enough to share it ain’t easy. In fact, it’s pretty damn difficult and often costs more money (maybe the larger budget is going towards a famous person, a killer track, or a more complex concept). Regardless, it’s going to eat away from your media spend. This is where it becomes a beautiful balancing act.

Let’s say you have a $200k budget total (and are planning on putting $40k towards production and $160k towards the media buy). What if you decide to go for the kill and ditch the royalty-free music, opting instead to send $10k to Mr. Joey Ramone to use Blitzkrieg Bop? Well, you just gave up 6% of your media budget. Which means 6% fewer impressions, right? Not so fast. Because guess what. Blitzkrieg Bop started a fire with your audience and now consumers are sharing it like their lives depend on it. You’re spreading across social feeds faster than Covid.

1. Look at CPC, not CPM

Lots of times companies get held up on shooting for the most possible impressions. This may lead to suffocating the production budget in exchange for a broader reach. But who cares how many people see your ad if it’s forgettable? Your CPC (cost per click) is where you’ll more accurately measure the efficiency of your ad spend. There are several ways to cut this number, but today we’re talking about production, so that’s what we’re going to look at here.

Remember the ad you made earlier with Blitzkrieg Bop? Now, not only is your audience more likely to hook you up with earned media, but they’re also more likely to respond to your CTA (call to action). Instead of scrolling past your video, they’ll actually watch it. Instead of a message going in one ear and out the other, they’ll actually remember it. Instead of actively dismissing you, they’ll want to give you their support.

1. Brand Image

If everything we’ve talked about here seems odd and you’re tempted to cut your production budget to make sure you can get as large of a reach as possible, please hear me out. Your sweet, delicate brand image is so valuable. Don’t run your own name through the mud for a quick buck. The content that you put out there is all that most people know about you. So if you launch a campaign that looks like a gimmick, people will assume you’re a gimmick. But you’re not a gimmick. You’re a freaking peacock. And it’s time to show the world your feathers.

In Closing:

I don’t recommend overspending on production for the sake of overspending. But if there’s something brilliant, then go for it. The reach and response of a phenomenal video have no ceiling.