Ad Sales Blog

A booklet to shock your web laggards

WebTrends has issued a great little book built on content from e-Marketer called, “Engagement Marketing, the Essential Guide to Building Loyalty using Web 2.0 Best Practices.” The guide shows all the new digital ad media from mobile advertising, to Internet video advertising, to podcast advertising etc. Each new ad medium is given a concise evaluation and a revenue projection chart to the year 2011 or so. It is smart, simple, and brief.

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It is a Zagat-like guide to the new ad media that makes it simple to see things are moving ahead on many fronts. For your web laggard client struggling to place his first web banner, showing him this 55 page booklet will be a shock to the system.

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Use it on a sales call

Don’t be an arrogant Internet jerk, be a consultant. Show your client a copy of the booklet and explain what it is. Then move quickly to the page that shows the new medium your client is now considering.

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Ask for their reaction.

Now show him/her the growth curve out to the year 2010 etc.

Finally take a step back and show him the bigger picture by showing trend charts for a few other emerging media.

You are subtly making the case that your client is not just behind the power curve, the whole game is moving on and he’s not in it.

Download a FREE PDF at the WebTrends website (registration required).

Save yourself from poor client creative

Here is a bummer.

You sell an on target media program only to see your client, a small or mid-sized advertiser create bone-headed ad creative so self-serving and uncommunicative it will surely fail.

You can see the train wreck coming. When the ad campaign bombs in the pages of your magazine or web media you will loose the business, your fault or not. Speak up and you could be seen as ungrateful and critical.

Here is a great piece of research you can use to take the "consultative" path and save the day. This JWT/Ad Week survey is a perfect discussion starter, that shows how the average American sees advertising and describes the kind of advertising he or she likes and does not like.

Use it on a sales call

Show them the chart posted here and invite discussion.

The public actually likes some kinds of advertising. 74% say they like informative factual advertising and 80% say they like smart, entertaining advertising. There are also very big negatives against advertising in general.

Ask your client, in a nice way, if he or she thinks her ad creative is strong enough to overcome these general negatives. Ask your client if their ad creative is inline with what consumers find appealing.

You should have the whole study printed out and in your bag in case your client wants to see more. It's only a few pages long and has nice easy to read charts.

If your client's ad creative campaign succeeds you will have an easier time renewing the ad contract. Your time to act is before the bad creative goes to market.

Download a PDF of the full JWT survey

Repositioning print

"Repositioning Print for a Digital World" from this months Folio Magazine (September 07)
Download GordonColumn.pdf

Burgular! A funny lesson on trust

What do your clients think of when they think of you? Do they think of you as a salesperson or as a trusted adviser? A trusted adviser is consulted as marketing plans are formulated, kept in the loop as these plans develop, and have his or her stamp of influence as the plans go to market for bid. Trusted advisers are also tipped off to competitive threats before they can do harm. One of the best ways to win trust is to avoid "acting like a salesperson." Here is a funny sketch of someone doing just that... 

Selling digital editions of print magazines

Digital Magazines, or E-zines have the look, layout, and the feel of print magazines, but are distributed digitally. Selling advertising on them can be tricky if advertisers see your digital distribution as eroding your base of print readers.

A terrific study from Texterity Inc., certified by BPA Worldwide, can help you (1) sell the value of digital magazines and (2) overcome the "print erosion" objection.

First off, the survey has a bias; the 11,642 responses were taken from readers of digital magazines with no print magazine respondents included. That's OK. Accept the bias, you can still make both points.

1. Sell the value of digital magazines

A lot of media buyers are suspicious of digital versions of print magazines. They ask, "Are they just a cheap way to boost circulation?"

I find you can win over skeptical buyers by showing how digital magazines make sense in a personal way to readers. Show them  how and why readers like them by using the the first two slides posted here from the study. Using the slides, you can show the increased functionality of digital magazines you can make a case for usage on a personal level. Say, "Some of our readers like digital magazines because of the added functionality. Functionally leads to reader acceptance and our content leads them to be enthusiastic." By selling the readers point of view you sell the value of this new media as an advertising vehicle. 

2. Overcome the "print erosion" objection

The last two slides I have posted show digital magazine readers have little and declining use for print publications. Show this to a media buyer? Have I gone nuts!? No. There is a way to present them as a plus. To do it you have to take a step back. Here's how:

1. Take a step back and acknowledgment that print and online media are or should be a reality in every marketing program.

Come on, no one can ignore this. Need back up or convincing? Some recent posts:

Your online wake up call to the "inevitable correction"

Magazine advertising: Is On line hurting B-to-B more than Consumer? Yes.

Pessimistic media forecast for "traditional media"

2. Tell your client you have proof of the viability of both print and digital magazines existing together and attracting unique audiences. Instead of sugar coating the results by saying "it's not so bad for print," I say, go negative, and point out to what degree these readers prefer the digital editions. Here is the payoff: If you can make the point that each medium attracts a "unique audience," they should not compete but complement one another.

3. Before you preset these last two slides you MUST point out the bias of the survey I mentioned earlier. Again, this is not general survey of readers, it is a survey of ONLY readers of digital magazines. No print readers.

4. Now present the last two slides. OK, readers of digital magazines have little and declining interest in print publications. By doing this, you will prove that  digital magazines are the perfect print extender, increasing the coverage of the overall publication brand. If questions arise about the viability of your print edition show them your latest circulation audit as proof of continued viability. If your print circulation numbers are stable and digital magazine numbers are up that is a big plus for the overall publication brand.

5. Close with the idea that your digital edition makes your overall publication brand stronger by extending it to  individuals who might not participate in it (remember those last two slides). It is  an extension, not a replacement. In light of the advancement of digital, introducing a digital edition is a progressive step, not a negative.

6. Time to sell up. If digital magazines really do create unique audiences that extend a print brand, then it's time to consider buying both for total market coverage.

Download the complete study

Read a news release on the BPA site

View Texterity content on the Folio site

View Josh Gordon's two BPA webinars for free

Only one third of media salespeople "get it"

 

^{Ouch! A recent survey conducted on the Media Life website, read by media planners and buyers, gave the salespeople who call on them low marks. From the survey:}

What percentage of sales reps would you say really know their stuff and are helpful to you?

About one third.

Two years ago the same survey, about 50%.

Q1- How do you feel about the media reps who call on you?

• A- "A necessary evil. Most are okay, but there are a few really obnoxious ones I hate doing business with." 48.8%
• B- "No big deal. Sure, they’re annoying sometimes, but I’m sure they find me equally so. It’s how the industry is set up." 42.3%
• C- "They are put on earth to torture me. They never understand my client’s needs and dealing with them is always a hassle." 5.5%
• D- "A joy. They always help reach the best deal for me and my client." 3.4%

Q2- Biggest complaints:

• A- Calling too often, "I got your first six messages, I’ll get back to you when I have something to say." 55%
• B- Not knowing anything about the client. 45%
• C- The hard sell, "When we both know they’re ranked No. 4 in the market, they’ll find some obscure way to claim they’re really No. 1." 41%
• D- Going over the buyer's head. "I hate it when you ask to speak to a supervisor" 37%

Q3- Complaints about Sales Presentations:

• Sitting through a meeting when the matter could have been handled by a telephone call. 30%
• Reps showing up for a presentation without preparing beforehand. 26%.
• Annoying behavior comes lingering on things the buyer either already knows or does not care about. 19%
• Taking too long. 16%

And how long should a presentation run?

-Reps can't go wrong at holding it to 20 minutes. More than half the respondents, 55%, chose that as the ideal length.

-Shorter works, too. More than a quarter, 27%, chose 10 minutes.

-Thirty minutes is pushing it. Just 17%think that's the right length for a presentation.

Read about the study on Media Life

Your new competitive website stats...link counts?

The number of links your website has is a powerful metric used to determine its vitality.

Links??

Yes! If you have a stronger website over a competitor you can easily access comparative link tallies through  Google or Yahoo and make a competitive case.

To get the tallies go to Google or Yahoo and type in: "link: your website URL" ("link" followed by a colon,  then a space, followed your website address. i.e. "link: www.broadcastengineering.com".

Hit enter or search. The number of links that search service has associated with your website will appear. Now do the same for your competition.

On a call:

Before you present your comparative link numbers you will need to presell the idea of "links" as an important web metric.

"Big deal!" your advertiser might say. But on the web links ARE a big deal. Who you are linked to, and who those you are linked to are linked to is one of the top metrics search engines use to determine the ranking of a website. The more and better quality the links a website has the higher it will appear on a search result. Moving to the top of a Google or Yahoo search is a prime goal of every commercially viable website.

Need proof? Dan Crow is a well known “Search” expert and former director of “crawl” services at Google. He now travels the globe speaking to webmasters who are looking to increase their website ranking on search services. He tells his audiences to focus on four areas: having relevant content, building user involvement, actively involving the search engines, and having many and high quality links. 

Of the four, "links" offers the only hard measurement of the vitality of a website that is easily compared.

Read a review of a Dan Crow speech:

http://www.searchmatters.net/2007/08/06/seo-best-practices-from-a-google-engineer/

After you sell the idea that the link count of a website is a vital metric, preset your comparative numbers to make your case.

Go Google or Yahoo to get started

Thanks to Jon Chalon, Vice President, Entertainment Technology Division Group Publisher, Broadcast Engineering & Radio Magazine, for sending this one in.

If you know of any great websites or studies media sales people can use please send them in!