Author Archives: ensonsales

Broadcast Deserves 78% of Advertiser Budgets

 The Advertising Research Foundation released a study at last week’s Re!Think 

     Conference that makes the case for radio advertising.

     The ‘How Advertising Works Today’ study, hailed as “the most extensive industry study in more than a quarter century”, spanned 5000 campaigns for 1,000 advertisers in 41 countries.

     The study found, among other things, that advertisers can increase their ROI (Return on Investment) by not putting all of their eggs in the digital media basket.

     In fact, the study found that a budget with 78% placed on traditional media and 22% on digital worked best for audiences as a whole. For people aged 18-34, the most successful split was only slightly different, 71% to 29%.

     You know that the internet is replacing all things print, making this The Age of Electronic Media.  An electronic media mix of broadcast to inspire and internet to inform eliminates the need for advertisers to pay lumber jacks, pulp and paper mills, truck drivers, printing press operators and delivery people to produce and distribute their message.

     The bottom line? Broadcast (radio and TV) deserve the lion’s share of the recommended 78% traditional media spend.

     The How Advertising Works Today study also revealed that the cross platform message must have a common thread to be effective. In other words, their reactive digital campaign must deliver a message that is consistent with their proactive broadcast campaign.

     Our SoundADvice radio e-marketing system and our Radio Works advertiser seminars clearly position radio and TV as the strategically proactive media, creating a pre-need preference for an advertiser, and digital as the reactive media audiences turn to once they’ve discovered a need.

     The take away from this study, is we now can justify proactive broadcast media capturing 78% of the budget!

Research like this seldom convinces advertisers with stubborn opinions about the importance of print or digital to change their minds. But it can help over time.

     Where this research can really create a tipping point is with undecided advertisers… those advertisers confused and bewildered by all of the competing media claims. And that’s probably more than half of all local advertisers.

     Contact [email protected] to inquire about using Radio Works and SoundADvice to increase your local-direct revenues.

Telling Radio’s Story

Brian Russell, the COO of Media Distribution Solutions, shared some research about the power of video at the recent Local Online Advertising Conference in New York.

Their research revealed that having video on a website makes it 53 times more likely to be found on Google, and that emails with videos get 50% more clicks compared to emails without video.

I have no doubt about the effectiveness of videos online, and a recent trade article about the conference said “The takeaway is that video is clearly the new frontier in capturing attention in your marketing”.

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.

By the way, Media Distribution Solutions just happens to produce videos.

Our TOMA surveys of more than 10,000 consumers reveals 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.

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.

Being sought by name is the only sure way a business can be found online, and having established a pre-need preference for a business will always trump any SEO or other online tactics.

Radio is the proactive media, and online is the reactive media. Advertisers need both.
Establishing a pre-need preference for a business with proactive media will always trump putting all of your eggs in the reactive media basket.

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.

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

STOP THE MADNESS

Imagine you have never done business with me before, and I approach you with an exotic sports car I have for sale. I tell you the car is ‘valued at’ $100,000, but I’m only asking $50,000.

What are you thinking?

Probably one or more of the following;

1.) Who or what makes the car ‘valued at’ $100,000
2.) Why are you knocking $50,000 off of the alleged value?
3.) Is it stolen? Is it defective?
4.) If you are ‘asking’ $50,000 less than the value, I’m sure you’re open to a lower offer.
5.) If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.

We often see radio presentations claiming a value that is so far greater than the ‘asking’ price, that the offer is not credible.

Here is the thing; when you make a presentation, do you prove and validate the value you claim? And, when you offer your campaign at a price lower than the alleged value, do you justify that discount?

Or do you just leave your prospect thinking;

a.) You’re desperate
b.) You have misled them and inflated the value
c.) You have no confidence in your rate card or your value and you’ll do or say anything just to get an order.

Do you want to improve your closing ratios and the size of your average order? It’s all in the way you make your presentations. Click here to discuss how ENS Media can help you make bigger, better, and more believable presentations.

What You Say First Counts

Reporters know the most important part of their story is the headline. If your headline does not capture interest, the story won’t be read or listened to.

 And your creative writers know that same rule holds true for your commercials. The first three seconds will either capture your listeners’ interest or ambivalence.

 So, if what you say first is so important, why are the cover pages of your presentations so irrelevant and boring?

Most radio sales presentations begin with something like “A presentation for (Name client) from WKRP prepared by Herb Tarlic on April 1st‘

Wow, now there’s a cliff hanger that will have your prospect sitting on the edge of her seat in anticipation of what’s to follow.

Why not say what’s in it for the client right off the top? You know about the power of benefit statements, and if you’ve done your homework, you know what benefits will appeal to each prospect.

Beginning with something like “A Presentation for Name Client to Attract More New Business in 2016 prepared by Herb Tarlic, WKRP” or “A Presentation to Drive More Traffic to Your Website, from Herb Tarlic of WKRP” will surely attract more interest than a presentation that begins with name, rank, and serial number.

 Click here to arrange an online overview of how our new SoundADvice video series can help your account executives present presentations that sell.

Pricing

You know that consumers who don’t want Coca Cola, don’t buy it because they’ve received a 50% off coupon. Consumers who redeem those coupons were already in the market for Coca Cola.  They just paid less than they had planned to pay. So Coke not only took a hit on the profits, they also had the added expense of the coupon distribution. Huh?

You also know that buyers who buy based upon price alone, have no loyalty, and go to the cheapest vendor the next time they buy.

You also know that ‘winning’ by offering the lowest price is a never-ending downward spiral as competitors enter that race to the bottom. As Roy Williams says, “Discounting is the cocaine of marketing”.

So…why do you have one day sales and engage in expensive ‘key’ programs?

Why not train your salespeople to sell your product for what it’s worth, and help your advertisers get better results from their advertising?

In the long haul, it’s ROI that dictates what business decision makers are prepared to invest with you, not bottom feeding at the price trough.

 P.S. Sorry if this offended you. We didn’t target you specifically. All of our readers received this week’s ENS on Sales.

Again, to quote Roy Williams, “The risk of insult is the price of clarity.”
Sincerely,
Wayne Ens
705-484-9993