Tag Archives: Radio

Useless Words

Proper Grammar is Out When it Comes to Copywriting

“Joe’s Shoe Shop – Located at the corner of 10th and Main in Downtown River City”.

This sentence has a total of 15 words, 6 of which are useless and not needed. It should read, “Joe’s Shoe Shop, 10th and Main, Downtown River City”.

 The words “located at the corner of” and “in” have no bearing on the message you are trying to get across. The only reason we write them into a script is that we assume we should use proper grammar while writing radio ads.

 When it comes to writing ads for radio, using proper grammar can, and often times will make the ads too “wordy”. Taking the connecting words out, and instead using a pregnant pause, will have a more dramatic effect and will grab the listeners’ attention.

 “It’s the biggest dress sale of the season, you will find hundreds of dresses inall sizes and colors at drastically reduced prices. The sale ends this Saturday,so hurry in today while the selection is at its best”.

 ”The biggest dress sale of the season… find hundreds of dresses – all sizes and colors – drastically reduced prices! Sale ends Saturday – hurry in today while the selection is best”.

 In this example, it’s 10 words less than the original, and that’s only two sentences. If you do this with three or four of the sentences of a typical 30-second ad, you could find an additional 10 to 20 words that can be used to say something more profound to grab someone’s attention.

 Keep in mind, it’s always easier to fix an ad than it is to write one from scratch. I encourage you to look at your future scripts and eliminate the “useless words”. You’ll ultimately come up with better ads!

 If you would like me to constructively critique a script or two for you, just send it to me and I will give you my thoughts.

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”

Farewell – Wayne’s Gone Fishing!

Wayne Ens sold his first ad over 50 years ago. It was shortly thereafter that he prepared and conducted a seminar to teach local advertisers how to use advertising more effectively. From that moment, he “caught the bug” and always wanted to help others; radio and TV stations, newspapers and especially business owners, learn how to use advertising more effectively so that everyone would get better results.

Throughout his career, Wayne worked in the newspaper, TV, and radio industries, and also started and ran a successful advertising agency. However, it was the training and teaching bug that lead him to start his own consulting company. So, 21 years ago ENS Media Inc. began working with media groups all across North America. Since that day, Wayne has spanned the globe from Alaska to Trinidad conducting seminars in every state in the U.S. except Wyoming and Hawaii and nearly every market in Canada.

Wayne has a unique ability to not only understand the “do’s and don’ts” of selling and advertising, but he has an even greater talent for teaching it. It all comes down to, “do what’s right for the advertiser/customer”.

The radio industry especially, is better off today because of Wayne Ens. His relentless work ethic and his thirst for learning and sharing his knowledge have touched and literally helped thousands of media reps, managers and business owners.

Now it’s time for Wayne and Angela to spend more time on their pride and joy, their boat, that they proudly refer to as “ENSanity”.

Wayne, may your fish continue to be bigger, and may your stories always be happy!

Here are Wayne’s parting thoughts:

From the time I began selling advertising until the time I began helping others sell more successful advertising, I always said, “There can’t be a better way to make a living than to get paid for helping others to succeed.”

Through the tools and systems we developed at ENS Media, I’m proud to say we’ve helped generate literally millions upon millions of new local revenues over the years for radio and TV stations, and Angela and I have made hundreds of friends spanning the globe from Alaska to Trinidad. I am very proud to say that thousands of account executives successfully still use our strategies today.

It is on this backdrop that I’m pleased to announce that I’m passing the torch to my business partner of the last two years, Rick Fink. I am “retiring” at the end of this month, although I will stay on board behind the scenes to mentor and counsel Rick as he serves our clients. I had been searching for a successor for some time who I believed could continue the legacy we worked so hard to build. Rick is that successor.

Rick has the passion and the experience to not only carry on with ENS Media tools like TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness Research), SoundADvice, Guided Discovery Selling and more, but he will also be continuously improving our offerings as market conditions evolve.

Thanks to the many broadcasters who I’ve had the privilege of working with. I know I can enjoy my retirement firm in the knowledge that Rick and his partner, Belinda, will continue to deliver ENS Media’s promise of “helping broadcasters to increase their local revenues.”

I wish to express my deep gratitude to all of our clients, past and present, and wish you all continued success and happiness.

                                                             – Wayne Ens

If you would like to extend your well wishes and thoughts to Wayne, please contact him at [email protected].

My promise to each of our readers and clients is to do my very best to continue providing a level of knowledge, integrity, professionalism, and experience needed to deliver the ENS Media promise of “helping broadcasters to increase their local revenues”.

I appreciate you being a weekly reader, and I look forward to meeting each of you along the way!

What a Way to Make a Living!

Have you ever noticed how negatives seem to jump out at you and smack you in the forehead, and the positives can go unnoticed or taken for granted?

Your sales reps hear the negatives every day, “No one listens to radio anymore”, No one listens to your stations”, “Your prices are too high”, “I’m cutting my budget”, “I tried radio once and it didn’t work”. They get beat up every day on the streets.

Part of a Sales Manager’s job is to motivate the troops. At your next sales meeting, open a discussion about what it is that they like about their career. (Use the word “career”, not “job”.)

You’ll get an amazing array of answers like, “helping businesses succeed”, “the creative aspect”, “it’s different every day”, “working with a variety of different people and businesses”, “not having to sit behind a desk every day”.

This exercise will achieve three different objectives for you:

1)  It will remind them about the positives of their daily lives.

2)  Some of their peers will present positives others never thought of.

3)  You’ll gain valuable information into each individual’s motivation to help you in your coaching sessions.

Note: You may have to prime the well and start the conversation by sharing why you enjoy your career and/or company.