Ad agencies to advertisers: Go away!
As a broadcaster, your job is to make your properties a welcome place for ad agencies. That’s why it may surprise you to learn that one of the primary obstacles to your ad revenue growth may be that at the same time you are saying, “come on in!”, the message that many ad agencies are saying to the many thousands of small to medium-sized businesses that want to broaden their media buying to broadcast television or radio but don’t have mega-budgets is: “Go Away!”
Call volume vs. relationships: Who wins?
I think we all agree that media sales is a game of relationships. Meaning, it is almost always easier to close a deal when we know our client. I think we all would further agree that sales is a game of math. Meaning, that if we have a lot of activity in our pipeline we are usually going to see better success. The point of argument with management comes when sales people think they shouldn't have to make a ton of calls because the media business is all about relationships. I like to coach my clients on a gentle combination of math skills and relationship skills. Being able to understand that you need both to be a successful media sales person. If you rely solely on building relationships to make your goal, the time required to close the deal grows significantly.
Need help seeing things a little differently?
Recently, I attended my first Techonomy Conference. Beyond the awesome venue, Dove Mountain outside of Tucson, Arizona
Collecting Unicorns
Unicorns are rare and magical creatures. In the European folklore of the Middle Ages a Unicorn was depicted as a white horse or goat-like creature with a long golden horn imbued with magical properties located in the middle of its head. They were commonly described as wild creatures and symbols of purity and grace that could only be captured by an innocent soul. But, I have another way to describe them…
“The Reality”
2014 is almost here and everyone is scurrying around concerned with how they will grow their shares, hit their budgets, and bill as many dollars as they possibly can. But first we need to step back and accept reality. The reality is that TV, Radio, Print, and even Digital (digital is still traditional media if you are just selling by CPM or with banner ads) are in even greater danger and will be challenged more than ever before. Pandora, podcasts, Netflix, Hulu, etc will be brought to the forefront more than ever before.
Radio Listeners: the ultimate mobile audience
It’s safe to say we are living in the era of the smartphone. Listeners are tuning in on-the-go more than ever before and Mobile has become too big for any advertiser or broadcaster to ignore. This is a good thing for both stations, advertisers and audiences; there is now the ability to tune in with audiences wherever and whenever in a powerful, relevant way.
Using Your Benefits
One of the underused keys in radio sales is to really use your benefits of your medium and show them to your client or prospect in a way that will impact their business. I received a stat last week that jumped out at me: The use of radio in a company’s marketing campaign results in a 7.7% higher ROI than when the same companies have done a similar campaign without radio as part of their media mix.
Not that many hot Senate races shaping up
Two things are clear when looking at the 2014 US Senate election map: Democrats have their work cut out for them; but at the same time, there aren’t all that many hot contests a year out from Election Day.
Sharing the Voice
Triggering an industry paradigm shift is not a task for the faint of heart, at least, that's been my experience. Over the last decade, I have engineered an infrastructure for the brave new world of voice procurement online, with all roads and search queries leading to Voices.com. From my vantage point, I see infinite possibilities on the horizon to serve using spoken word recordings to share important messages via radio and television and to communicate stories that change lives.
On the job with your younger television audience
An important insight into the nature of your audience is knowledge of how much money they make, and how
Six Questions with Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs is one of the key executives making it happen for Spanish Broadcasting Systems, a company which just reported a nice surge in Q3 revenue. He discusses what SBS has in the works, the particular challenges it faces as an Hispanic group and the challenges it shares with all broadcasters.
Motivating ad sales teams, 4 tips for success
Clearly, sales are an important part of any media business's success, and effective sales begin with skilled and motivated sales team. The first step for motivating your sales team—and ultimately achieving sales success—is to get their perspective on what drives them. One phrase to consider involves the three Ps: People are more Passionate when they are involved in the Process.
On the job with your younger radio audience
On the job with your younger radio audience
An important insight into the nature of your audience is knowledge of how much money they make, and how they make it. Thanks to the research experts at Prosper Research and Analytics, we can tell you that and more. Today, we look at the younger half of the radio audience.
Biding Your Time – Station Operation Prior to Closing
The sale of a normal business, say a convenience store, is straight-forward. The buyer pays up, signs all the necessary documents and moves in. But a broadcast transaction must await FCC approval, which usually takes about 90 days or more during which the station must be kept in good operating order. Communications contract expert John Pelkey explains the four key considerations for the seller during this time of limbo.
Building Relationships
Building relationships is the way we are supposed to thrive and not just survive in media sales. “You need to build better relationships.”—Boss to Radio Sales Person…“We have to key in on growing our relationships.”—TV Sales Manager to Marketing Director…“At the end of the day all we have to keep our business alive is our relationships so we better have the best ones.”—Owner of company with a bad product.