PRACTICAL GUIDE / STREAMING TV BUDGET
How much should a small business
spend on streaming TV?
There is no responsible national price that fits every business. The useful question is whether a proposed budget can reach enough relevant people, often enough, to teach you something about demand.
Separate the costs.
Ask for three numbers: the media spend that buys ad delivery, the creative or commercial production cost, and any campaign management fee. A low advertised starting price may omit production, reporting, minimum terms, or the inventory you actually want. The quote should name the geography, audience, available services, campaign dates, and expected delivery.
Work backward from your market.
- Choose the customers and service area you can actually serve. A focused local test can make sense; a national campaign needs a much larger relevant audience and a different budget.
- Agree on the campaign goal and the customer action after seeing the ad. Decide how inquiries will be tracked.
- Ask for the estimated cost per thousand impressions (CPM), reach, and frequency for the specific proposed buy, plus any minimum commitment.
- Set a test long enough to observe a useful pattern, then compare real delivery and qualified inquiries with the original plan.
For illustration only, a $3,000 media budget at a quoted $30 CPM would buy about 100,000 impressions ($3,000 ÷ $30 × 1,000). That is not 100,000 different people, a promise of a certain streaming app, or a forecast of sales. The actual CPM, audience size, frequency, fees, and inventory must come from the proposal.
When might streaming be the wrong first move?
If you cannot answer new inquiries, your offer is unclear, or the website gives people no relevant next step, fix those issues before paying for more attention. If you already have a strong search-intent audience, SEO or other paid channels may deserve an earlier test. Andie can compare streaming with social, websites, podcasts, network TV, and radio through her media planning relationships; placement and pricing are confirmed for each campaign.