New Multi-Sensory World

The New Multi-Sensory World

          New media are all the rage at the conferences your clients attend and in the trade publications they read. Not because they are necessarily better, but because new captures attention while old is, well……old. Most advertisers have used radio, been there, done that and still have the t-shirt.
          ‘New’ makes news. Consumers want to be the first to sample the newest restaurant in town and to buy the latest electronic devices. The newest restaurant may not be better than their favourite heritage restaurant; it’s just ‘new’. 
          New media, and particularly social media like MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube, are all the rage today.  But just as a great heritage restaurant continues to thrive during the onslaught of ‘new’ or trendy restaurants, heritage media like radio that provide a return on investment continue to play a major role in the new media mix.
          If radio were invented today it would be all the rage. We live in an on-the-go mobile society, and radio reaches active consumers wherever they are and whatever they are doing. In their cars, offices, homes and workshops, radio is the mobile, intrusive, affordable medium, proven to work for decades.
          Your job as an account executive is to teach marketers who are confused and intimidated by all of the new and ever-changing media choices, where radio fits in the new media mix. 
            Getting your clients to talk about radio can be difficult; getting them to talk about integrated campaigns, multi-platform marketing and multi-media strategies will almost certainly capture their attention.
          Do your homework, and learn the facts; facts like research conducted by Wilson Ellis Consulting reveals the new social media channels work best when integrated with traditional marketing channels.
          Over a three month period, Wilson Ellis studied a control group of consumers who were active exclusively on social media platforms. They discovered that customers who were active on social media channels spent 34% more than those not participating in social media.
          Very impressive. But customers who were exposed to a combination of social media and traditional media spent 52% more than the control group! Even more impressive. Of course, having traditional media in your mix ensures you will also capture the 54% of consumers who are not yet actively involved with social media.
          Another study, The Weiss McGrath Retention Study, reveals a 65% retention rate after 72 hours when the message is seen and heard, versus a 20% rate when the message is only seen.        
          While time spent with other traditional media is on the decline, radio still captures huge audiences. From establishing top of mind awareness and preference, to reaching consumers closest to the point of purchase, radio is the perfect new media companion today.

           
Randy’s What If:
What if you facilitated our New Media Mix in the New Media Economy advertiser seminar in your market to teach your clients and prospects how radio can be used as the anchor to an effective media mix? We guarantee attendees will learn the benefits of investing less in print and more in radio. For additional information contact me, [email protected].

A Friend in Need

A Friend in  Need…

          You find out who your real friends are when you’re in trouble or you need help.
          Radio has always tried to position itself as a friend; with personalities, entertainment, information, contests and more. But as I heard the heart warming stories about the lives radio stations saved during the Tsunami in Japan and more recently during last week’s tornados across Alabama, I had to wonder how many stations abandon their audience when they need them the most.
          With eyes on short-term profits and cutting costs, many stations have let their emergency or standby facilities and resources fall into a state of disrepair or have become completely dysfunctional.
          I personally think it should be a condition of license that you are able to serve the market you’re licensed to serve when those markets need you the most….during catastrophes and as a help line to connect people and services immediately following a natural disaster or terrorism strike.
          Let’s face it, there are lots of communications platforms out there today, from internet to TV to iphones and cable. But many disasters make it difficult for audiences to access computers or TV sets even if the transmitter or internet is functioning.
          But victims can always find a functioning battery-operated radio somewhere; in their car, in their workshop or at a neighbour’s. In Alabama, radio warned people of the immediate danger and saved lives. Radio also helped connect people and inform them following the disaster.
          If you don’t care enough about your audience to maintain your emergency capabilities, in terms of staff and equipment, think about it from a business perspective. Would helping your audience avoid disaster not help you build a more loyal, saleable, audience?
          During a disaster, people quickly realize who they can count on, and they remember them and are loyal to them for years. And even if there is no disaster, you can create an image and loyal audience by simply promoting that you’ve made the investment to be there for them when they need you. 
          Does your entire staff know what their role will be in a disaster and how to respond? Are you technically capable of hitting the airwaves regardless what Mother Nature throws at you? If anything, your signal should be stronger when your audience needs you, not weaker!

The New Selling

The New ‘Selling’

          For those of you whom I have consulted or who have participated in our training, you know all three of the media sales worlds have changed;
1.)   New media have certainly changed the advertising landscape.
2.)   Our traditional retail clients have come under enormous margin pressures from big box stores and online shopping.
3.)   The sales strategies that got us where we are today are now our industry’s benchmark rather than our competitive edge.
 
To differentiate our presentations from an increasing number of competitors, the old ways just won’t work any more.
One of the changes you’ve heard me speak about is how winners now prepare for every call. The old world of simply filling out a C.N.A. (customer needs analysis) to help us prepare a proposal, just doesn’t work anymore. Why?
          In part, because all of your competitors have been using the same C.N.A., and in part because busy multi-tasking business owners don’t have the time to undergo your examination for discovery any longer.
          Oh, and let’s not forget, that seldom is there a single decision maker in the new selling environment. The best managers have read or attended courses on decision-making and getting staff buy-in, and have learned to tap the resources they have on staff, among their suppliers, or online, to help them make well-informed decisions, and to capture staff input and buy-in on every major decision.
          One of the many ways you can get to the hearts of your clients is to understand who their key influencers are, on staff, or otherwise.
          If they follow a certain blog or marketing guru, for example, you need to uncover who that is, and what their words of wisdom are.
           If their guru or mentor is someone like a Roy Williams, for example, you can demonstrate how your proposals align perfectly with Roy’s teachings and strategies.
          On the other hand, if their key influencer is preaching that traditional media has died and online is the key to marketing success, you need to understand those teachings as well in order to craft a proposal which logically diffuses the objections you know you are about to face.
 
Randy’s What If:
What if you asked a different client or prospect every week whose blogs or books on marketing they follow, then researched those gurus yourself? You would certainly have a better understanding of where your client is coming from, but just as importantly, you might learn a few tricks and tips yourself!        

Focus for Success

Focus for Success

           In 1993, Ted Danson,the star of Cheers, had an audience of 80 million, and a salary of $500,000 per episode. In February of this year, Charlie Sheen, the star of the hit series Two and a Half Men, had a much smaller audience of 14 million, yet a whopping salary of $1.8 million per show!
          Welcome to the world of fragmenting audiences and higher costs. Your advertisers have more competitors today than ever and the number of media choices they have is literally bewildering.
          Legendary marketing strategist Al Reis says the only way they can succeed in this new environment is to ‘focus’.
          Advertisers can no longer be all things to all people, and they certainly can’t afford to ‘reach everybody’. Successful marketers do a few things well, rather than trying to be all things to all people or trying to reach everybody.
          If you can help your clients focus on these two marketing disciplines, you and your clients will be successful.
1.) Focus on the message. Help the advertiser understand what they do best, and what they can claim, that their competitors cannot. In the world of clutter and fragmentation, their prospects can only remember one thing about them. You can help your client discover and focus on that ‘one thing’.
2. Focus on Select Media. Capturing the dominant share of voice on a few strategically-selected media will always be more powerful than spreading budgets too thinly over a variety of media. Your advertisers can easily become lost in the shuffle trying to reach everybody via Radio, Facebook, TV, Twitter, newspapers, online directories, billboards, websites, printed directories, email, direct mail, Groupon, flyers, YouTube, cable and a growing list of digital media choices. 
          Teaching your clients to focus on a few radio stations and a few internet media will serve them well. In the Electronic Age, media strategy needs to be simplified. Simply put, radio inspires and internet informs. By the way, there is no need for print in ‘The Electronic Age’….only broadcast and digital qualify as ‘electronic.’
          Your job is to teach advertisers to focus;
a.)   on a few radio stations to inspire their prospects, and
b.) on a limited number of new digital media to make it easy for their prospects to find the information they are looking for once they are inspired.
          The choice and fragmentation your clients have today can actually be detrimental to their success if they do not elect to do a few things well, rather than trying to reach everyone in every new media flavor of the week.
 
Randy’s ‘What if’:
What if you could persuade 25% of your clients they no longer need print, and that the combination of radio to inspire and internet to inform, is the perfect solution in the new media mix?

Thank You Mr. Brooks

Thank You Mr. Brooks

           I want you to think back to a time in your life when someone recognized a talent in you that others may have overlooked.
          When I was in high school, that was my carpentry teacher, Mr. Brooks. Although I didn’t recognize it at the time, Mr. Brooks saw a talent in me that I, nor anyone else, had seen.
          I didn’t understand why he gave me expensive teak for my cabinet-making project, while my peers worked with less expensive pine.
          In fact, I resented him at the time, because the oily teak I had to work with was much more difficult than the soft pine the other kids destroyed. In hindsight, when I see the time and attention he gave me, not to mention the much more expensive lumber, Mr. Brooks believed I would make a better cabinet than the rest of my class.
          Mr. Brooks passed away recently, and I never did take the time to thank him for the faith he had in me. Don’t let that happen to you.
          Think of someone who had a profound impact on your life, find them, pick up the phone today, and thank them.
          I guarantee you’ll feel great, and probably have a big day!    
 
 
Randy’s What If:
What if you marked it in your calendar on the first of every month to reflect on a mentor who helped you along the way, and called them to say “thanks”?