Yearly Archives: 2017

What Digital Experts Don’t Tell You

Do you have an advertiser who is infatuated with their digital ‘expert’ or agency?

We suggest you ask your client to ask their digital consultant or advisor, “What is the most common word internet searchers use to find your business?”

If they’re honest, the answer won’t be a key word or other SEO tactic. They’ll have to admit that the most common word used for consumers to find them through search is their name or their business name.

You can bet that until they were asked, they did not tell your advertisers about the role of branding & creating pre-search name awareness in driving more online traffic.

There is no substitute for name recognition when consumers search for a business online. And there is no disputing the intrusive power of broadcast advertising in creating top of mind awareness and name recognition.

That’s not to say there is no value to some of the online tactics implemented to capture more leads. But if the advertiser’s marketing has been effective, nothing will trump name recognition.

Our local TOMA (Top-of-Mind Awareness) Surveys consistently validate the power of broadcast advertising to create top of mind awareness and drive more online traffic, leads, and sales.

In his Monday Morning Memo, Roy Williams wrote, “I’ve long suggested that radio stations fund a TOMA study every two years. Few things are as valuable in the eyes of advertisers as these revealing market snapshots.”

         Click here to arrange an online meeting to discuss how conducting a TOMA study in your market will increase your local revenues.

Sales and Coupons

This morning I saw a trade article headline that read ‘Sales and Coupons Most Influential in Driving Consumers to Shop.’

I’m fed up with number crunchers and the pursuit of instant gratification. And frankly, I’m also fed up with amateur radio reps taking the easy route of cutting rates and selling short-term packages.

Radio’s strength is in building brands. And radio’s future lies in our ability to sell the power of Top-of-Mind awareness and branding.

Let’s dig deeper into the ‘Sales and Coupons’ headline.

The author of that article referenced a consumer survey where respondents said they were driven by sales and coupons….price cutting.

Can you imagine a survey where participants would say ‘I don’t care about discounts, I want to pay as much as I possibly can.”  Roy Williams has made a successful career out of learning why people do the things they do.

Roy asserts that often we don’t really know why we do the things we do.

We’ll often default to the price motive, without understanding the role branding played in our purchase decisions.

If Coca-Cola offered a 10% off coupon while an unheard of ‘A.B.C. Cola’ offered the same 10% off, which do you think would receive the most coupon redemptions?

One of the early pioneers in retail branding, Morris Saffer said, “It doesn’t take a genius to increase your sales. Simply cut your prices in half and you’ll line customers up around the block. The genius” said Saffer, ” is in increasing sales at a profit.”

Do your salespeople know how to sell the power of branding with radio in the marketing funnel to create top of mind awareness and in creating a brand preference for your advertisers?

         Click here to arrange an online meeting to discuss how the SoundADvice radio e-marketing system and TOMA research can educate your salespeople and your clients, about the power of radio advertising in the Electronic Media Marketing Funnel.

Your Toughest Selling Job in 2017

Your toughest selling job in 2017 is not selling your advertisers. Your toughest selling job is selling your sellers.

They are beat up on the street every day being told radio doesn’t work, no one listens to radio in the digital age, your rates are too high, the economy is tough and so on and so on.

You know that repetition sells, and over time the repeated arguments your prospects throw at your salespeople, take their toll on their attitudes and perceptions.

What are you doing to sell your sellers in 2017?

Is selling radio, your events, sponsorships, digital products and promotions still fun?

Do your salespeople know how to sell radio’s strengths in a rapidly changing media world?

Is your remuneration package competitive with other business-to-business sales organizations in your market?

Have your salespeople been taught how to sell reach versus frequency as your reach remains consistent but your hours-tuned become eroded?

These are questions that must be answered daily as you compete in 2017.

Our SoundADvice radio e-marketing system can answer all of these questions, for your sellers and your advertisers.

Click here to find out how SoundADvice can help you answer your clients questions

When Fair Isn’t Fair

Good in-bound leads today are hard to come by. When you do get leads, distributing them equally or in turn, does not always equal the best results.

 

You have some account executives who, when told the new lead’s budget is $10,000, come back with a $10,000 order. You have others who turn a $10,000 budget into a $20,000 order. You’ll even have some who will come back without an order!

 

Some sales managers distribute their leads equally among their account executives, in part, because it’s easier than doing some research to fit the right rep to each lead. Some also distribute leads ‘in turn’ under the guise of appearing to be fair to all.

 

Giving a lead to a rep because it’s “their turn” certainly isn’t ‘fair’ to the client, or the account executive, if there isn’t a style and strategic fit.

 

Last but not least, not managing leads with a view to a strategic fit isn’t fair to your station!

Beyond Average

Do you know what the average invoice for each of your stations is?

Knowing how much your station’s average invoice is, can be a great management tool.

First, your average invoice tells you what the market believes your advertising to be worth.

Reviewing your average invoice per account executive can also tell you what each account executive thinks your stations are worth.

Some other uses for average invoice:

  1. Every account executive should be required to present a minimum of one 52-week average invoice or greater proposal per week. Based upon a 10% closing ratio, they’ll have 5 good long term clients by year’s end. (By the way, if their closing ratio is higher than 20%, they’re not super-stars; they’re merely picking the low hanging fruit.)
  2. If you’re creating sales ‘packages’, they should always be above or at average invoice. Average invoice has told you what your account execs and your clients have told you what you’re worth. If your ‘package’ is really outstanding, shouldn’t it be perceived to be worth more than the average?
  3. A focus on even the slightest improvement in average invoice each month, over time, will produce huge results.

Averages can be deceiving, but understanding your average invoice and managing your average invoice, will yield revenue results.