Sales & Marketing

From job growth picking up and income lagging behind to weak housing investments and the current political climate, consumers are being bombarded with a slew of mixed indicators that are making them less willing to open their wallets and spend. That's the important takeaway for broadcast media sales executives and the C-Suite from a newly released study from IRI.

"Premium, personality-based podcasts" and other on-demand audio content is growing in popularity among advertisers and consumers, in particular digitally savvy audio listeners who don't consider themselves "radio listeners." Perhaps that's one reason why Entercom Communications has just acquired a 45% stake in a big podcast creator.

Borrell Associates on Tuesday will release its annual outlook on automotive advertising. As a "sneak peek" of the latest research from the firm led by Gordon Borrell, the local media industry's leading analyst provided a snapshot of how car dealers allocate their advertising dollars. What does the portrait look like? It's not so great for TV, and it's downright lousy for radio.

Sales training can be highly effective. It can also fail to provide the ROI you expect. Here are 10 reasons why sales training doesn’t work, according to professional selling expert Barrett Riddlebeger, and the solutions he's drafted to help your broadcast media stations implement a successful sales training program.

RBR+TVBR featured columnist Barrett Riddleberger too often hears stories about good companies who lose their top sales reps. "In most cases, this can be avoided," he says. Here are some helpful tips on how to accomplish this task.

Yes, we know you're just back to the office from the Independence Day holiday ... maybe. Even so, parents and members of Gen Z are already budgeting for their back-to-school shopping. In Hawaii, school starts at the end of the month. Not long after that, students will be back to school in California, Florida, and other states. Are retailers set to see a bump in sales? Yes, says eMarketer.

Consumers of personal care businesses ranging from fitness clubs, salons, massage clinics, spas, beauty products and nutritionals prefer TV and direct mail over other media. That bit of sour news for the radio industry C-Suite comes courtesy of a new public opinion poll conceived and commissioned by LAVIDGE and Mosaic Multicultural. Here's some words of wisdom from our Editor-in-Chief to the radio industry C-Suites: Don't be defeated, as this is a great opportunity for you to prove these consumers wrong.

Local businesses are increasingly turning to digital media to participate in what they believe are cost-effective solutions. Our Editor-in-Chief on Friday morning logged on to one e-mail account that features an ad window, and can easily refute this notion based on the "irrelevant" ads that popped up — including one for a hotel thousands of miles away that can only be explained in a way that makes online advertising "inane" and a waste of money.

In this latest Media Information Bureau column from expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger, the concept of "qualifying" is discussed in detail. "Without question, qualifying is one of the most critical steps of the sales process," Riddleberger says. Here are eight reasons why this is so crucial to your sales team's ultimate success.

While evidence exists in support of the benefit of contextually relevant advertising in aggregate, its benefits on return on ad spend (ROAS) for digital campaigns and unaided ad recall for TV ads is uncertain. Those are the findings of original research presented today by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) at its 2017 Audience Measurement forum, “Modern Measurement: Media, Models & Methods.” Is that good news for broadcast media?

The iconic marketer died Sunday in Greenwich, Conn., at the age of 82. Trout worked for nearly three decades with business partner Al Reis, and did much to establish the concept of positioning as integral to marketing a product. Without Trout & Reis, perhaps the radio industry would look, and act, a bit differently today, RBR + TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson notes in this remembrance of Trout.

Here's a question that every radio and TV sales professional should ask not only potential clients, but also those who have used traditional media — a.k.a. "old media" — for years. You may get a blank stare, or a giggle. But, RBR+TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson believes it's an important question that illustrates a point the TVB and RAB may want to elucidate on: About 20% of connected adults always use an ad blocker, new research finds.

Hiring salespeople is difficult. In this latest installment in a series of columns from expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger, he identifies once again a group of sales candidates who, when hired, fail to meet expectations. Yet, they all have one thing on common: they interview well.

Now in their seventh year, the digital upfronts continue to shake up the media and advertising industries. But, the relatively novel concept of online TV audiences is still uncharted territory for most buyers. Many still have questions about how to most effectively allocate dollars across TV and digital media. A June 2012 report from comScore remains relevant, and we've traveled into the RBR+TVBR archives to present it once again for our members.

In a continuing series from expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger, a group of sales candidates who you might hire, but fail to meet expectations, are identified. These candidates all have one thing on common: they interview well. "You struggle to hire good salespeople but experience frustration when they fail to achieve their sales goals," Riddleberger says. Here is another example of a type of sales candidate you’ll want to avoid.