Tag Archives: Advertising

Dominate-Consistency-Frequency

#3, #4, & #5 in the 7 Criteria to Effective Advertising

This is the 3rd installment in the 7 Criteria to Effective Advertising series.  Click here to read the original issue. To read Criteria #1, “Strategy” and Criteria #2, “The Message”, feel free to go to our website at www.ensmediausa.com/ens-sales/.

The reason we are including these three criteria together is they all have to do with budgets and scheduling.

Criteria #3 “Dominate” – In other words, wherever you are advertising – Be There! As Roy Williams suggests, “It’s better to reach 100 people 10 times than it is to reach 1000 people 1 time”.

All too often business owners want to run too few ads on several stations, thinking they are reaching more people. The truth is, they may reach more people, but they won’t affect anyone. This holds true especially in direct response or event-driven advertising.

Criteria #4 “Consistency” – This represents how many weeks per month and months per year you are advertising to the same audience. Starting and stopping a campaign is no way to build a brand.

You have probably heard a business owner or two, or twenty, say, “I have been on this station for 3 months now. I think I should try and reach another audience.” No! No! No! If they only talk to an audience for a limited time and then stop, the majority of that audience will have forgotten about the advertiser long before they will need the client’s product or service.

One of the biggest mistakes that business owners make is starting and stopping.  It’s also a HUGE waste of money! Talk to them about the importance of being consistent!

Criteria #5 “Frequency” -This speaks to how many ads you run per day, per week or per month.

You might also refer to this as “Share of Voice”. If you’re talking to an automotive dealer and they want to run three ads per day, in most markets it won’t be enough frequency. In fact, they might only be whispering. You must have enough frequency to penetrate the minds and hearts of your listeners. However, if you are a roofing company, or a less advertised category, 3 ads per day or 20 ads per week might be like shouting from a mountain top!

The key is having enough ads per week to make an impact in your category!  Both Consistency and Frequency are determined by your client’s budget.

Next week we will discuss why “Media Rep” and “Medium” are at the bottom of the list!  Until then…

“Message”

#2 in the 7 Criteria for Successful Advertising

Again, as a reminder, this week’s ENS on Sales is part of a series of articles started two weeks ago. The original article was titled, “7 Criteria for Effective Marketing”. In the next few weeks, we will be discussing each of the seven criteria. To catch up, click here to read the original issue, and to read last week’s issue “Strategy Criteria #1”, click here.

To start, let’s be upfront about one thing, and that is… No one, and I mean no one, (other than media people), intentionally listen to your radio or TV station(s) for the ads.

I know that statement will offend a few but as I often say, sometimes the truth hurts. The fact is, when the commercial breaks come on, listeners don’t lean forward, and they never turn up the volume. There is only one time a year people intentionally want to hear and see ads. You got it, during the Super Bowl.

The key to successful advertising is getting people to hear and absorb the ads, whether they are intentionally listening or not. The only way to do this is to write and create better ads. Better Ads = Better Results!

Some might suggest that “Message”, the #2 criteria, is more important than the #1 criteria, “Strategy”! To be honest, you won’t get much push back from me. The main reason strategy is #1 is because strategy, communicated in a great message, is better than a great message that doesn’t communicate the strategy!

Strategy is also #1 because if you understand strategy and you can help create strategy, it will position you as a far more knowledgeable media rep.

After all, this is what our “7 Criteria for Successful Advertising” form is all about. Ultimately, it’s something you can share with your prospects and clients, and by doing so, it will help position yourself as a “media expert”.

How to create great ads or great message is a subject of its own and one we will discuss in future issues.

Today, we simply want you to understand that when you’re visiting with your prospects and clients, the topic of “the Message” should be a primary focus. Get them to understand that the message, or great ads that are produced well, will get your clients great results, nearly every time.

Next week, Criteria #3 “Dominate”.

7 Criteria for Effective Marketing

Years ago I was asked to speak to a Marketing and Advertising class at a local university. On this occasion, the professor asked me to speak on “what makes advertising work”. It was for that lecture/workshop that I created a handout for the students that I titled ”7 Criteria for Effective Advertising”.

Since then, I have used this piece hundreds of times with clients and when training reps to explain how to get a better return on their advertising investment and to build trust with prospects and clients.

Today, I am sharing the 7 criteria with you, and over the next coming weeks, we will dive into each individual criterion and discuss them on their own merit.

After reading the criteria, you may have a good idea of how you can use this piece when presenting. If not, you’ll get a better idea in the coming weeks.

My hope is that you will begin to use this in your own presentations and training.

ENS Media’s 7 Criteria for Effective Advertising

1)   Strategy: What do you want your business to be “known for”?

2)   Message/Ads: A GREAT message will get GREAT results nearly every time, regardless of the medium or station. A mediocre message will get mediocre results every time.

3)   Dominate: Wherever you are, BE there! Don’t try to reach everyone.

4)   Consistency: How often you advertise. Starting and stopping is no way to build a brand.

5)   Frequency: How much you advertise.

(Budget will determine both Consistency and Frequency)

6)   Media Rep: Find a rep that is genuinely interested in helping you and not just selling you.

7) Medium: Every advertising medium works. You must work the medium correctly.

When I finish explaining the 7 criteria to prospects and clients, I wrap it up with one powerful point that is intended to position the media rep and your stations in a very positive light. I will share that secret at the conclusion of this series of ENS on Sales.

I hope that you will join us each of the next few weeks as we discuss the merits of each criterion and how to use them to position yourself and your reps as marketing professionals.

If you would like to receive the “7 Criteria for Effective Advertising” in presentation form that you can use in training or with clients/prospects, click here and we will be happy to send it to you.

I look forward to next week as we discuss “Strategy”; what it really is and why it’s #1 on the list!

You’re a Genius, but Wait to Prove It

Here’s a scenario. You’re in a meeting with a potential client, and like magic, you come up with a “BIG IDEA” that you know is the answer to helping the client make a ton of money, no less yourself. In your enthusiasm to show the client how smart you are as a marketing and advertising professional, you blurt out your “BIG IDEA”!

You’re a genius, right? Wrong!

If you do have a good idea, as in this situation, and you throw it out spontaneously, the chances of it being excepted are greatly diminished.  There’s a much better time to reveal you’re a real genius. It’s when you make your presentation!

Ask yourself this question. Do you think your client would put more value on a great idea that someone came up with on the fly, or one that took a week or two to come up with after much consideration and brainstorming? The client will think, “Wow, they really put some time and thought into this idea!”

Instead of blurting out your “BIG IDEA” during the first meeting, say something like, “I think I may have some good ideas, but I want to do some additional research and give some extra thought to these ideas before deciding and making our recommendations”.

While most good ideas take time to develop, we also know that occasionally we get lucky and come up with that GREAT idea on the spot.

It’ll take discipline, bite your lip, but whatever you do, WAIT, and don’t give away that “BIG IDEA” so quickly!

Never Stop Learning – Get Better Every Day”

INCREASE YOUR SALES IN 2019 AND BEYOND!

Our local TOMA Surveys prove what you already know….Radio Works!

  • Are your sales executives finding it more difficult to capture new business appointments?
  • Do you need a strategic system to capture new high-quality leads?
  • Are your prospects claiming great results from digital?
  • Are local advertisers in your market questioning radio’s continuing relevance?
  • Do you need more new business in 2019 and beyond?
  • Do your salespeople need a tried and proven system of developing more 52-week business?

Finish 2019 off with a BANG and get a GREAT head start on 2020!

While the digital media world seems to receive all the limelight today, ENS Media’s TOMA Surveys are helping broadcasters across North America to capture increased local advertising revenues.

The front half of our 2019 seminars is filled but we still have room for 4 or 5 more local market TOMA Surveys and Seminars in the last half of 2019 (mid-August through early November). As a special offer to the first five ENS on Sales subscribers who take advantage, we will start your entire sales team immediately on our SoundADvice program FREE for the first three months. We can then launch your TOMA Survey this summer and conduct your Advertiser Seminar this fall so your team can finish out 2019 strong and have a huge head start on 2020. No payments required until after July 1st.

Contact [email protected] or call 605-310-2062 to arrange an online overview of TOMA for your market.

Here are 4 of the Top 12 Things Your TOMA Survey Can Tell You…

1. Your surveys will always prove that the best way to ensure consumers click on a business when they search online is to create a pre-need awareness and preference for the business with intrusive broadcast advertising.

2. It’s much more powerful to make an appointment to talk about your prospects’ ratings, and their competitors’ ratings, than trying to get an appointment to talk about your ratings.

3. The most important findings will be uncovering “open” categories. Categories with no strong Share-of-Mind leader are very easy, and very inexpensive, for new radio advertisers to capture the dominant Share-of-Mind and Share-of-Market.

4. Your survey will also prove that the only SURE way to be found online is when prospects search for a business by name because many businesses have fierce online SEO competition for first-page positioning if consumers search the category generically.

If you’d like to read all 12 Things Your TOMA Surveys Can Tell You, click here.

ENS Media’s TOMA selling system will help you sell more in 2019 and beyond. To arrange an online overview of what TOMA Research and Training can do for you, contact [email protected] or call 605-310-2062.