I learned a long time ago and have preached for many years that one of the most important elements in successful advertising is the “MESSAGE”! When teaching and preaching radio advertising, I start with these rules:
People don’t dislike ads, they dislike BAD ads! AND…..
NO ONE listens to your radio stations for the ads; we must make them “HEAR” the ads…
Why are most ads … BAD ads? The main reason is that the announcer is simply reading the scripts as they are written, Bland and BORING with a capital “B”!!!
Are your ads written in proper English, using perfect grammar and punctuation OR… do you write them (and produce them) like people really speak? I could talk for hours on how to write and produce ads that work, (it’s one of my favorite subjects) but today I am speaking directly to the elements (CAPS, Bold, !!! … —) of the script!
Nine times out of ten, scripts are written in normal script style with proper sentence format and near perfect grammar. Unfortunately, that is exactly how the announcer reads it. Again — BORING! STOP Doing This!!!
If you want a healthy or … pregnant pause, use … or —. If you want emphasis on a certain word …. use all CAPS and/or BOLD type and certainly use !’s. If the word needs EXTRA emphasis, !!! is better than ! or !! And, never… NEVER write a full script in ALL CAPS – but a single word HERE and there is O.K. !
These little tips will help announcers voice and produce BETTER ads! Your announcers will appreciate it – your listeners will like it – and…your CLIENTS will LOVE IT!!
Better ads get better RESULTS! Great Ads – Get GREAT RESULTS!!! And, Great Results nearly always equal – Longer Term Business and BIGGER $$$’s!
If you would like help training your team on how to write GREAT ADS, we provide half day and full day workshops on this exact subject!!! To visit about this workshop – CONTACT ME…—!!!
Let me first say, I am not opposed to Digital Media or Social Media! They both have a place in our “marketing world” and I encourage you to embrace them. I recommend digital for clients, but let’s speak freely, the hype about it may be bigger than anything we have seen since __________???
What are the facts? When it comes to the REAL numbers, how big is it? How many people use it? How do they use it? And, how often do they use it? Oh, and one more thing, how much of it is FRAUD?
If you read the publications that I read, you know that upwards of 25% (minimum) is fraud. If you are talking video, up to 75% can be fraud (this was taken from e Marketer, Aug 8th Edition, titled Ad Fraud Still Plagues Digital Media’s Supply Chain: “Of the video ad inventory purchased without validation, 72% was fraudulent).
Again, I am not opposed to digital, but the question I ask is this. As Broadcast Media Reps, how would your clients react if you sold them 200 ads, but you only delivered or aired 150 of them…or LESS? But, you still charged them for all 200 ads! It wouldn’t be pretty! This isn’t happening in Radio or TV, not even in Print or Billboards, but it’s happening every minute, every day in digital!
To learn more about digital fraud, and I encourage you do so, simply google “statistics on digital ad fraud”. You can read for days. If you would like me to send you a few articles, email me at [email protected].
We’re in the GREAT medium of Radio, so hold your heads high. People spend more time with us, radio (and TV) provide the best ROIs, and we have very little to NO fraud!
I recommend we all take some aspirin for the digital headache and keep telling the positive story of Radio!
I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on digital media, whether you agree with me or not. Call or email me and let me know.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will tell you that there are approximately 60 registered businesses for every 1000 population within a city. Of these 60 registered businesses, we suspect approximately 50 of them are viable prospects that have the ability to advertise on some level. So, in a city of 50,000 people you have approximately 2,500 viable prospects!
If you have been to one of our workshops or seminars in the past five years, you’ve heard us say that Main Street is shrinking, and that the best places to prospect today are in the service and professional business categories. But regardless of the business category, there is one important quality to look for when prospecting. That quality is… an owner who has “PASSION” for their business!
If you read last week’s ENS on Sales, Just Fishing or Trying to Land the Big One, you’ll recall I stated that nearly every six-figure account my sales team landed took three to six months to land, and some even longer. What I didn’t say was that these same accounts started out spending small and grew from there. But ultimately these business owners all had one major thing in common! You guessed it… they ALL had PASSION for what they did.
There is no secret to identifying those who have it. You’ll feel the passion once you meet them. They get excited, even “gitty” when they talk about what their company has to offer. They share more exciting stories, have more love for their employees and customers, are more open to your ideas and have bigger dreams for their business.
When prospecting, look for the business owners who have passion. Then have the patience and knowledge to help them get where it is they want to go! All they need is someone like YOU, who has nearly as much passion about their business as they do and knows how to make advertising work.
Are your Advertising Reps trained properly to handle these and other accounts? If you have the passion to help your reps be all they can be, click here and let’ s discuss how ENS Media can help train and brand your sales team as marketing professionals.
Fishing is very much like advertising sales. First, we must prospect or fish in the right spots, use the right bait and equipment, and then we must know what we are fishing for. Are you fishing just to catch some fish, or are you trying to land the BIG ONE? And, how do you know when it’s a BIG ONE?
We know that furniture stores, car dealers, and grocery stores all have great potential, but they are not always the big fish. In fact, sometimes you would just as soon throw some of these back!
If and when you hook onto what you believe is a big one, there are a few lessons that we can learn from the fishermen.
First, you need to let them nibble a bit, don’t try and set the hook too quickly. Secondly, take your time reeling them in. Just like setting the hook, if you reel too hard and too fast your chances of losing them increases.
If you know you have a prospect with great potential (A BIG ONE), take your time, educate them on how you can help them, ask more questions, have additional meetings to make sure you have all the bases covered, and don’t try to get them in the boat before they are ready. A longer sales cycle typically reaps better success.
The biggest fish, like the biggest prospects, need to be handled with great care. I can tell you that nearly every six-figure account that my sales teams landed took 3 to 6 months to get on the air, and in some cases, even longer.
Patience is a virtue! Once you have the hook set, guide them in with due diligence, but be prepared for sudden changes so you can adjust accordingly. If they should decide to swim up stream one more time, give them some line (more information) and then steer them back towards the boat. Your chances of getting them in the boat will greatly increase.
If you would like your team to become better prospectors and learn how to land the BIG ONES, click here and we can visit on how ENS Media can help train and motivate your team to have more success in 2019 and beyond.
Your prospects and customers prefer to do business with people they feel they can trust and that can bring value to their business. But, how do you gain the credibility to be known as the expert?
There are several different ways to build “Cred”, but here are a few ideas:
One – Testimonials. It’s one thing for you to tell a prospective client that you know what you’re talking about; it’s another thing to have someone else tell them. If you have testimonials, use them! You should do what you ask clients and prospects to do every day, and that is to market yourself. Put a portfolio together that talks about you, who you have worked with, what you have done, what you do to get better, and include testimonials. Then hand them out as a resume. After all, you are applying for a job to handle their advertising!
Two – Start writing and get published. There are hundreds of magazines, blogs, E-zines that are starving for good material. Contact them and offer to write articles. Or, you could write your very own weekly or monthly newsletter/blog and send it to your customers and prospects. It doesn’t have to be long, just good! Write it and they will read it!
Lastly, and this one might scare the “Glossophobia” out of you (Fear of Public Speaking), but it’s very powerful and will establish your credentials as an expert. It’s public speaking!!!
The most important thing to remember about public speaking… it’s easier when you are speaking on something you are passionate about. What part of what you do are you the most passionate about? Speak to that and it’ll be much easier.
Becoming known as an “expert” takes extra effort, hard work, and moving outside of your comfort zone. If this weren’t true, everyone would be an “expert”.
If you would like help with becoming known as an expert, contact us to learn more about ENS Media’s SoundADvice program which is designed to brand your marketing reps and your station as advertising experts!
P.S. Rick will be at Radio Show in Orlando this week, so if you’re there, give him a call at 605-310-2062 and let him know. He’d love to meet as many readers of ENS on Sales as possible.
