Monthly Archives: February 2019

Talk the Talk

Why is it that Media Reps aren’t granted the same instant credibility as agencies? Primarily, it has to do with our reputation. I’m not referring to your personal reputation, but rather to our industry’s reputation. Much of it is well deserved!  The old method of training our sales teams was to have them watch a few Chris Lytle and Jason Jennings videos, hand them a phone book along with the latest “Packages” of the week, month and quarter, and send them out to the streets.

Business owners are on the receiving end of the process from the untrained, rabid, sale reps that are unleashed onto the city streets, each proclaiming they have the greatest radio stations and perfect listeners. Oh, and it’s cheap! All you have to do is sign here and, in a few days, people will start knocking down your doors!

Agencies are a little more subdued in their approach. They claim they are not biased towards any specific advertising medium. Some suggest they have buying power and can purchase the same products for less, and they claim they are the experts. To put a cherry on top, they’ll flash a few nice plaques and trophies to prove their points!

So, how do you combat this?  Start with not proclaiming that RADIO is the best advertising medium ever invented.  This won’t get you very far. Discuss the positives AND negatives of all the different advertising mediums and make recommendations for others when appropriate. Discuss why and how advertising works, talk strategy, help create ideas. Talk more about them, their wishes, their hopes and dreams and less, much less, about your stations. Put your own cherry on top and discuss your group’s success stories.  Talk like a Marketing Professional – You’ll earn more respect!

If you’re going to Walk the Walk, make sure you can Talk the Talk!

If you are looking for help with training your team to become more professional, more knowledgeable Media Reps, we would honor the opportunity to visit. Simply click here and let’s talk about how ENS Media can help!

Video Might Be Strong, But…

“Video” has been the hot word for some time now. Research reveals that having video on a website makes it 53 times more likely to be found on Google.

Statistics like this can have local advertisers lining up to spend more money on videos, which often become dated very quickly, at the expense of radio advertising.

There are tons of tricks to increase your SEO, but the tricks change every day. Google changes it’s algorithms 500 to 600 times a year. Try keeping up with that!

There’s little doubt about the effectiveness of videos online. However, our TOMA surveys of more than 15,000 consumers reveal that consumers are 444 times more likely to view the website of a business they have heard of versus viewing the site of a business they have not heard of.

Nothing beats Brand Identity or Top of Mind Awareness. Brad Smith said in a recent Search Engine Journal article, “Branding is the only way to do it, and it’s the most viable SEO strategy on the market today”.

And while video might make a website 53 times more likely to be found on Google, our research and advertiser seminars validate Seth Godin’s claim that “It’s better to be sought than found” online.

Step one is to establish a pre-need awareness and preference for a business with proactive radio. Step two is to use video and other online tactics when consumers search reactive media in reaction to their need.

As Bob Hoffman put it, “Traditional Media (Radio and TV) create demand, and Passive/Reactive Media (Digital) fulfills demand”.

If the advertiser can only afford one, creating Top of Mind Awareness will win every time!

Let’s tell the proactive radio story and not let advertisers put the cart before the horse.

If you would like to learn how our TOMA Surveys and Seminars prove how radio drives search and can help you generate revenue, click here.

“Never Stop Learning – Get Better Every Day”

Inspect What You Expect!

Regardless of whether you are a media rep or a manager, ask yourself these two questions… Are you setting expectations for yourself or those you manage? Are you holding yourself or those you manage accountable?

There are various quotes that refer to inspecting what you expect such as, “People don’t do what you expect, they do what you inspect”, or, “You get what you inspect, not what you expect”. It’s also been stated this way, “People respect what you inspect”.

I learned a long time ago, the best sales reps want, and even expect, to be inspected. They are no different than the best athletes. Overachievers, regardless of what they do, will tell you they set expectations of themselves and appreciate having their leaders or mentors set expectations for them, and then help hold them accountable.

For everything we do, we should set minimum and reasonable expectations; everything from the amount of time we put in each day, to the number of packages, asks, spec ads, prospects, and presentations you expect per week. If you don’t know what is expected of yourself, there is really no way to measure success.

You may want to look at the above-mentioned quotes from the opposite view, “If you don’t inspect them, can you expect them to respect you?” Again, the best employees, like the best athletes, expect to be inspected. And if done properly, they respect, and in most cases, highly respect, the persons that do the inspecting!

Setting expectations, then holding them accountable, is key to being a strong manager, key to running a good business, and key to success! Are you setting expectations? Are you holding yourself or those you manage accountable?

If you would like to discuss this topic or anything related to sales management, click here and send me an email, or simply pick up the phone and give me a call!

You Can Learn a Lot from Super Bowl Ads

There is only one time a year that people intentionally want to see or hear ads, and actually enjoy doing so. It’s coming up this weekend, Super Bowl LIII. In some ways, the ads have become nearly as exciting as the game.

Why is there so much interest in the “Super Bowl Ads”? Because they’re GOOD, some are even GREAT! They tell stories, make you laugh and touch your emotions!

The price of a 30-second ad this year is reported to be $5.3 million, and that doesn’t include the cost to produce the ad. You’ll also notice that nearly half of the ads aired will be 60-second ads. There is a reason for that.

Super Bowl ads typically have two things in common: 1) They tell a story and 2) They are different, in a good way. They will capture the hearts and minds of consumers. They aren’t about price and items, or about special deals or offers. Super Bowl ads are nearly always branding ads; ads that are designed to touch their prospective customers’ hearts and heads with emotions, all with the goal of making them feel good about purchasing and using their products.

In our “Eight Lessons Learned from Super Bowl Ads”, lesson number one is, “Don’t be afraid to be Edgy”. Advertising expert Roy Williams says, “In marketing, you must choose between shouting, boredom, and seduction. Which do you want?” Roy goes on to suggest, “The risk of insult is the price of clarity”.

This Sunday, enjoy the game with family and friends but make sure you’re within earshot during the commercial breaks. We just might learn something!

As a special offer to our ENS on Sales readers this week, we can send you all Eight Lessons. Just click here.

Information like this is received by our client stations who subscribe to SoundADvice each week. If you would like to learn more about our SoundADvice E-Marketing program, give me a call or email me at [email protected].