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Why You Shouldn't Chase Brand Budgets (Until You're Ready)

Brand budget sounds glamorous. Big numbers, splashy names, less performance scrutiny. But here's what you're really signing up for.

❤️ The Good: Why Everyone Wants Brand Money

You're selling affinity, not CAC. Brand campaigns care about reach, values alignment, and audience quality. No one's asking for $23 cost-per-lead metrics or 3.2x ROAS targets.

Brands want vibes, values, and reach. "We love your audience and what you stand for" beats "Show me your conversion data" every time. It's a more human way to sell.

Renewals are easier. As long as the campaign runs smoothly and the brand feels good about the partnership, you're likely in the next cycle. Brand budgets think in quarters and annual plans, not one-off tests.

The creative freedom is real too. Brand campaigns let you maintain editorial integrity while making money. No affiliate links, no hard CTAs, just good content that happens to mention a sponsor.

🤮 The Hard: What Nobody Tells You

Agencies. Decks. Internal buy-in. Welcome to committee decision-making. Your contact loves you, but they need to convince their boss, the brand team, the agency, and sometimes a procurement department.

It's impossibly hard to get your foot in the door. Performance advertisers will test your $5,000 newsletter placement tomorrow. Brand buyers want to see you everywhere first, other campaigns, industry recognition, proven scale, before they'll consider you.

The relationship requirements are intense. Brand budgets can require in-person meetings, agency introductions, and industry event presence. If you're bootstrapping from your kitchen table, this is a tough world to crack.

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👀 The Trap

Performance Brands Masquerading As Brand Buyers.

This has happend to me a number of times. SMBs that say "We're focused on brand awareness" but still demand UTM tracking and conversion reports.

They want the prestige of brand marketing with performance marketing accountability. "We need to build our brand, but each campaign still needs to drive measurable impact."

This is (I think) a result of well-meaning strategy, without the established budget/margin/safety net to afford marketing with zero direct response.

Sometimes their asks are reasonable. Often, they want everything for half the price.

If you don't screen these properly, you'll waste months on impossible briefs. The worst version: "We love brand partnerships, but we need to see 2x ROAS to justify continued spend."

That's not brand marketing, that's performance marketing with fluffier messaging.

Red flags to watch for: Brand language in the brief but performance KPIs in the contract. "Awareness goals" but insistence on detailed attribution. "Long-term partnership" talks but single campaign budgets.

“Awareness with impact” is the most common one I’ve encountered.

🧳The Other Trap

Hiring for Brand Relationships

I've seen at least four media companies hire experienced media sales people specifically for their "brand relationships." I've seen it work zero times.

Those relationships are personal and contextual. A sales rep's Conde Nast contacts don't automatically transfer to your newsletter about productivity. Agency relationships are built on mutual value creation over time, not imported through hiring.

Plus, experienced media sales people are expensive and often come from different media formats. The newsletter seller who crushed it at traditional publishers might struggle with your audience and format.

The Real Timeline

If your main strategy is "let's get brand dollars early," you'll likely fail. Yes, performance campaigns can be a real pain. But there are trade-offs.

Brand budgets are amazing when you can access them. Chase brand budgets when your audience is big enough and you've broken through into wider industry consciousness.

Until then, performance pays the bills.

P.S. Need help selling more sponsorships? My agency Ad Sales as a Service helps media companies do just that.