DRTV and teleweb marketing
Web, web, web. That is how our DRTV customers are placing their orders. Phones, tablets, laptops and desktops are the possible web portals. It used to be the backend was this sleepy backwater of live phone operators and the products were the only thing constantly changing. Today over half our orders come from the Internet and the format is in constant flux. It is not enough to just have the TV spot video running and an order screen on our inviting web pages. Our standard web pages come in a rainbow of looks, each customized to fit correctly the Apple iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxies and more. If not formatted properly it turns a beautiful money-making landing page into a jumbled non-productive mess.
Holiday cards are a waste of time and money
With Thanksgiving around the corner and Christmas quickly approaching, you may be planning an appropriate “thank you” for your clients and customers. Sadly, the hard, cold fact is – if you wait until December to thank your clients, a good competitor has beaten you at least 12 times!
Not your client’s problems
Unfortunately it is not your client’s problem. Commission structure change? Not their problem. Your problem, find more clients to make up for it. No new events this year? Not their problem. Your problem, create a new event to provide value for them. Need an increase in rate? Want their help to hit your budget? Etc Etc Etc!
Sales statistics or bust
Can statistics help you sell more? The answer is yes and no. To be clear, there is a distinct difference in my mind between ratings and statistics. Ratings are critical, statistics can be harmful if not used correctly. For example… “In morning drive we offer you access to more adult males than any other station. Here are the rating numbers to prove it”. A statistic is, “Dynamic Logic tells us that more people listen to radio than read magazines.” Ratings numbers are perceived as accurate and statistics can come from multiple sources with their own agenda.
Why Sports Radio
It’s a question that gets posed to me every day I go out and work with clients. Why should I use sports radio? Why should sports marketing take a prominent portion of my marketing and advertising budget?
Stop blowing up sales calls. Stop the POP!
My eleven-year-old son is blowing up a balloon. I can see what is going to happen. I know there is an explosion looming. I have heard balloons pop hundreds of times in my life yet, as the balloon nears the verge of popping, I cannot help but cringe at the thought of the inescapable pop. My eyes tighten a bit. I slightly turn my head and then…. POP! Don’t you hate it? I sure do. Think of this example when visualizing a sales call...
Benefits of the growth of the DRTV industry
The Direct Response Television industry’s success is good for America. It is one the few ways that a small entrepreneur can take an invention and fast track it to the Walmart shelf within a short span of six months. The American Dream is alive and well in DRTV. Stations generate advertising dollars. Design engineers create. Manufacturers employ people. Logistics people source and distribute. Telemarketers and web professionals take orders. And most importantly, customers have their important problems solved.
“93%”
It’s a number we’re all familiar with, it’s roughly the percentage of people in the US that listen to the radio each week. It’s an amazing number, and one we rightly should be very proud of. But it’s something else: Coincidentally it’s about the same percentage of marketing dollars that are NOT spent on radio. In my 24 years in the business (and I suspect before), we’ve garnered about 7% of the ad revenue. Which leaves the other 93%.
Making radio the main course
We recently worked with a media agency that was in the midst of deciding media allocations for the year 2014.
What’s in your tool box?
Open your briefcase—or your laptop…or your tablet. If your selling tools consist of antenna height, wattage, music playlist, personality line-up, bumper stickers and a rating book, you may need a new tool kit. Dig down to the bottom.
New Research, Same Results: Radio Still Going Strong
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. When comes to radio’s health, there are many unfounded “facts” that are taken as
Copy points no more
I’m in the radio business. More specifically I’m actually in the sports marketing business for a radio station. Having fresh content each and every day with a passionate listener base as enabled me to fortunately avoid the “radio recession” or digression perhaps.
Five steps to closing more ad sales
Closing sales is critical. So why do 90% of sales executives fail to ask for the sale at the end of a sales meeting or call? The answer for most of my clients is pretty simple; they are just not prepared to ask. During ad sales training I like to call this problem “prep lag,” meaning your time in the sales business has prepared you to a certain point, but you will lag in making the close if you are not prepared to present the close. Here are my five steps to fixing this issue.
Making something complicated sound simple
Are women better communicators than men? A recent study at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine found that girls have a higher level of Foxp2—a protein in the brain associated with language capabilities—than boys do.
Think Opposite Day
The only time we can truly learn is when we push ourselves into what we consider the unknown. The times when we can really stretch our minds to expand and explore new directions is when we dedicate the time to involve ourselves into an area where we don’t typically go.