Tag Archives: Sales

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”.

Can You HELP Me?

We’ve all been there before. You’re out prospecting, walk into a business and there sits the “Office Gatekeeper”. Your job is to find out who the decision maker is and if possible, meet them! Part of the Gatekeeper’s job description is to “protect” the decision maker.

Let the game begin!

You have three strategic alternatives to getting past these sales preventers:

1.) Go around them.

2.) Wait until they die or leave the company.

3.) Win them over.

In reality, option three, winning them over, is your only viable option. The process of winning over the Gatekeeper begins with respect.

Before you even introduce yourself, say these words…“I’m hopeful that you can help me”, then pause … and wait for them to reply. Once they commit to helping, you’re halfway there. See, people love to help other people, and if you ask for their help, chances are they will do what they can.

The Gatekeeper can actually be a great supporter of you. Depending upon how well you treat them, they can play a major factor in determining if you get to see the decision maker. They can also answer many questions for you, and you are more apt to get an answer if you ask for their help.

Show them respect, ask their opinion, and above all ask … “Can you help me?”

…and on your way out, ALWAYS say to the Gatekeeper, “Thank You for your HELP”!

Be a Part of the Solution, Not the Problem!

Starting this Friday (now Thursday), the biggest shopping days of the year begin and your clients, particularly your retail clients, are scared to death. It’s not J.C. Penny, Best Buy or Walmart that scares them. Today, it’s Amazon and the many thousands of other online minions that are trying to gobble up their customers and rain on their holiday shopping parade.

Is there anything you can do about it? Yes, in fact, there is!

First, DO NOT buy on-line yourself, unless you cannot buy it at a “brick and mortar” store. Lead by example and share this with your team. We should never tell our employees where to buy, but you can encourage them and show them the impact it can and will cause. In advertising sales, we rely on the “brick and mortar” stores to make our living. If we personally don’t “walk the talk” and support them, how can we honestly ask those clients to spend with us?

Secondly, one of the most powerful things I have ever heard came from my lifelong mentor, Don Jacobs. Don ran what he referred to as TOMA Branding Ads for his group of radio stations which covered topics on advertising, business, and life. The most powerful one he ever wrote was titled “Buy Local”, and he ran it during the holiday shopping period. In a nutshell, the ad asked the listeners of his stations to buy local instead of buying online. He outlined why it’s important to our community and our local businesses.

Do you think the local business owners appreciated him and his stations for this message? They didn’t just appreciate it…they absolutely LOVED it!  Finally, someone (this group of radio stations) was standing up for them and asking people NOT to buy online, but instead, support their local businesses.

It’s not too late to write and produce this powerful message and run it in your market. Like Don, you too will be a Hero!

Don has graciously offered to give you a free sample of one of his “Buy Local” ads. If you’d like to take advantage of this, click here and we’ll get you a copy ASAP.

Just Fishing or Trying to Land the BIG ONE?

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.

Happy Fishing – Happy Training!