Ad Sales Blog

Become a marketing hero: talk about their web site

As more marketers see their website as the hub of their marketing efforts, reviewing that site before calling on them becomes essential. But you are not an expert on their business. What can you actually speak credibly about that a client will listen to? 

Simple. Talk about your readers, their site visitors. Look carefully at their home page and think about your magazine/brand's readers and how they would respond.

Never criticize your client’s website. The marketing manager you are calling on could be it's architect. But if you can engage your client in a dialog about trends effecting your readers and advocate prioritizing future content you can help advance their online marketing goals. 

 The sad truth is that many websites are not constructed with a company’s customers, your readers, in mind. Many websites first fulfill internal political goals, or are designed against the claims of competitors. Primary reader benefits can take a back seat. If you discover this sharing your readers point of view, in noncritical way by talking about future content, can make you a marketing hero.  

At the recent "Selling Online Subscriptions" conference put on by MarketingSherpa, Linda Ragano, from ThomasNet, shared this a piece of research that documented a disconnect between what manufacturers posted on their websites, versus what the targeted buyers actually wanted to see. 

On a call.

If you sense this kind of disconnect on your client's site use Linda's slide as a third party example to make the point in a noncritical way. Say, "In some industries (read: not yours) there is disconnect between what readers/visitors want to see on a web site and what gets posted. Show the chart. Then share insights you have about your readers/their site visitors might like to see in the future. Focusing on the future is a good way to share your knowledge without being critical of the present. Your client can then go to management and say, "Look what we can do to improve things in the future." Both you and your client become marketing heros.   

From the ThomasNet presentation at the Selling Online
Subscriptions Summit 2008:

Push vs. pull

As I enthusiastically pitched the latest, coolest, online marketing product my client cut me short, "I sell a dull product. Nobody will click on a banner to read more about it. People buy it because they need it, and when they don’t need it they don’t want to know anything more about it."
The core benefit on online media is engagement. But what happens when your client is selling a dull product and true engagement unlikely?

For many, there is another category of dull products getting a lot of attention these days, presidential candidates. With many contests extremely close it is often not the engaged, well informed voter who decides elections, rather the undecided, unengaged swing voter who might see all candidates as very dull.

That is why we see a curious pattern of media spending.  While all candidates are using the Internet to raise money and engage their base of voters, the vast bulk of the outgoing media spend is on television because it is a "push" media.

According to eMarketer on those undecided voters...

"Generally speaking these are the typical targets who are difficult to reach using the Internet. That’s why in this political season, 50-80% of ad budgets are going into television, whereas only 1-2% of political ad budgets are spent online. It’s not to say the candidates are not using the Internet to their huge advantage, Barack Obama’s amazing online funding machine has proved to be the key advantage to his success. But when it comes to reaching out towards the uninterested, the uninvolved, and the even bored participants, very often traditional media there’s a big advantage over the newer online ones.”

On a call.
If your advertiser’s product is very dull, put the  "engagement" talk on the back burner and talk about the virtues of “push” media. Push media succeeds in these situations because viewing the ads is not voluntary. When you are selling very dull products forget about "permission marketing" you need to recommend "push." Now share the story, stated above, about the presidential race. Now sell the push media you have, Print media, television, and radio are "push media." For online media sell e-blasts, which “push” a message to a target audience's inbox.  

Estimates as to how much has been spent so far this year online on political campaigns (not much):        

 

Why does your site exist?

Why does your site exist?

On a sales call, how do you answer this question? Many media reps jump into a canned pitch about the power of their print originated brand franchise and how their website extends the franchise online.

Baloney.

Media buyers, are driven by "What's in if it for me," and the best print brand does not guarantee online results.

The online word is results and measurement driven. You have to explain the functional benefit behind your online media first. Then go one to explain how this function can generate measurable results. Start with an explanation of what your website or online media DOES for it's visitors.

A great post on today's "Online Metrics Insider" lays out a guide for categorizing the functional benefit of a website for people who measure web performance. They need this as much as we do. If you can't functionally define a web visitor benefit you cannot evaluate a web sites result, nor can you explain the advertising benefit of that site to a media buyer.

From the post:

Your Web site exists for a purpose, perhaps multiple purposes, such as:

Providing information or data. Many sites entice people to visit for access to valuable, differentiated information or data. Traffic is then monetized primarily through site advertising. Many internal and external analytics packages will tell you where visitors come from and what they do on site, which, when combined with demographic information, can be used to qualify a specific audience to an advertiser.

Generating leads. A content asset is placed on a site and gated using a form. People fill out the form and download the asset. The information captured in the form is stored and used by the company that generated the leads or profitably sold to another company.

Selling products. The typical e-commerce model involves acquiring customers via some method or offer, providing a product catalog or landing page, and creating a strong call to action and funnel that persuades people to purchase a product.

Connecting people. The explosion of social networking sites where people connect to other people, interact with each other, and use widgets, apps, and data services, is a modern phenomenon in which many of us participate.

Read the entire post on the Media Post's "Online Metic Insider"

Media integration through contests

One of the best ways to monetize your online media is to integrate it with your print to hold a contest. The formula works because contests invite "reader response" which advertisers see as "customer response."

Both print and web work extremely well as contest announcement vehicles but after that their different strengths separate. Contest entry processing is handled on the web--the print contest entry forms of old are fading away. But print remains the preferred announcement vehicle for winners. Calling all egomaniacs...when you win don't you want something you can hold in your hands and show your friends at a party or frame and put on your wall?. Tough to do if the winners are just posted on a website.

Integrated media is also a great way to involve advertisers. Typically to tap for the prizes. But in so doing something creating value that you can you can charge for, Heres how; people who enter a contest to win a prize are interested in owning that prize. Everyone registers but not everyone wins. After you give away the prize what you have left is  database of people who still want the prize/product but don't own it. A dream database for any advertiser.

ON your next call consider if a contest might involve some of the advertisers you call on.

There are many ways to structure advertiser involvement into contests. Media Bistro has a great pile of them on them website, a link is below:

   See some creative media contests from Media Bistro's web site

 

Beyond the buzz words of new media

I lost a sales media training program last week. The publisher hiring the sales trainer insisted his print centric staff was failing at online sales because they did not know the new media semantics. He told me, "They know the brand and how to sell, they just need to know the new buzz words."

I didn't agree. Assuming his sales staff had graduated high school, learning a few new word definitions should not hold anyone back.

When moving from selling print to integrated or interactive selling the deeper issue is understating the shift going on in marketing itself and how it impacts your advertisers. After you understand this shift the "buzz words" take care of themselves.

Media sellers are not the  only ones discussing this shift. Yesterday, Kevin Downey, a writer at Media Life articulated it for media buyers in way that sellers should hear as well:

"How people use media is changing dramatically, and the era of force-fed commercials is nearing an end.

What's taking its place--and has been for several years at least--is a dialog between advertiser and consumer, and more and more the consumer is in charge.

Media buying agencies need to become part of that dialog. They need to learn how to spark that exchange. Those that fail to do so will face extinction. Or that's the clear warning in a new study from Forrester."

Kim then shares from the Forrester study he based much of his column on:

“Today’s agencies fail to help marketers engage with consumers, who, as a result, are becoming less brand loyal,” writes Peter Kim, a senior analyst at Forrester and author of the report.

“To turn the tide, marketers will move to the connected agency, one that shifts from making messages to nurturing consumer connections.”

The forces killing off the old system are twofold, and one is the explosion of media options that make no one medium a must-have experience. It's the end of mass media in which advertisers could push out their message and consumers were forced to accept that message as the price of admission.

Nobody’s a captive audience anymore, argues Kim. Expensive ad campaigns across mass media no longer work in this new media landscape."

On your next call.

You need to stop thinking about how the media you are selling will "expose a message to a target audience" and start thinking about how the media you are selling will elicit a reaction, interaction, or ongoing relationship with a group of individuals. Stop thinking exposure and start thinking interaction. Now remind the members of your staff who can't sell the online piece that with it there is no feedback loop or interaction. Oops.

FYI, I wrote more about this in my February Folio column.

Read Kevin Downey's column in Media Life

Buy the Forrester Study

Folio Column: Managing the "Interactive Shift"

Usually I post a link to my Folio columns their website but a link has not been posted yet.

I think of this as my most important "sales transition" column as it maps the underlying issue that is driving the whole transition. It's not about new technology. It's not about adding the latest cool on line product to your sales offerings. It's not even about keeping up with the future.

It is about the fundamental shift in what marketing is, as we move from marketing that presents messages to a targeted audience, to marketing that engages individuals in interactive experiences.

If you develop your media products, promote your media, and manage your sales staff with this fundamental shift in mind you will be successful in the future.

Digital media buyers want you to remember what business you are in

As media moves from being intangible to measured the details become more important, and lunch--the core tool of intangible sales-- less so. Along these lines, Ed Kelly executive vice president, digital media at KSL Media, offered sobering advice in a post last week on "Online Publishing Insider:"

"We're not in the lunch business. We're in the advertising business. The publishers that heed this charge will outrun their competitors every time, even if their sites aren't quite as robust."

Kelly offers these guidelines for reps wanting to make the most of the new sales environment:

Respond to the full RFP. This sounds a lot easier than many major publishers evidently find it. Publishers can't pick and choose which questions to answer; it's an all or nothing proposition. If you're not going to address an issue, you have to tell the agency why.

Take it to the top. Senior management involvement is always appreciated. RGM chief Kamran Razavi managed JustLuxe's response personally, and at one point he had us collaborating directly with the JustLuxe publisher.

Prove the numbers. RGM provided Media Metrix runs, site surveys and anecdotal information without being prompted. That might seem ordinary, but it's not. Far too many publishers either don't have audited audience breakouts or refuse to divulge them.

Weave a program, not a buy. RGM bested the competition in several areas: the number of travel packages, the robust content and functionality of the program micro site, the variety of high-impact ad units promoting the program, and pricing that was aggressive in light of the demonstrated value.

Make pricing simple. The more complex the program, the more important it is to have clear pricing guidelines for CPM-based, fixed-fee and value-add program elements. RGM actually provided rates and pricing for three scenarios, with clear rules on what was included in each. Just as important: All of the scenarios synced perfectly.

Sound advice. 

Read Kelly's entire post on Online Publishing Insider

Study: magazines lift brand favorability and purchase intent best

A study, just released by Dynamic Logic, found that adding magazines to a TV or TV and Internet media buy greatly increases the success of the measured campaigns. In some areas the contribution of magazines outweighed that of TV.

The researchers first isolated the impact of TV advertising. They then looked at what impact adding the Internet had. Last they looked at what adding magazines contributed to the mix.

As  advertisers use more mixed media in campaigns, understanding how the media work together becomes critical. This study found that the three media worked best when used together. Both online advertising and magazines added significantly to the impact of the advertising when used along with TV.

In a Media Life interview, Bill Havlena, vice president, research analytics for Dynamic Logic said, "Looking at the data shows that TV worked strongly in generating brand and advertising awareness. In those categories the other two media built strongly on the initial impact of TV.

In terms of advertising awareness, TV provided a bump of 9.8 percentage points. The Internet, which performed strongest in the same categories as TV, added another 4.4 points.

Surprisingly, magazines also performed strongly in building advertising awareness, adding 8.3 points.

We would not necessarily have expected that. It is clear that TV did a strong job in building awareness, but TV is thought of as an awareness-building medium, magazines, less so,” says Havlena.

But it was in the final two categories of the purchase funnel that magazines really excelled when used in combination with TV and Internet.

Said Havlena, "When it came to brand favorability and purchase intent, magazines added far more than TV and Internet combined. For instance, in the key area of purchase intent, TV added 4.6 percentage points; the Internet added 1.0 points; and magazines added 7.0 percentage points."

The study analyzed 32 cross-media campaigns from 10 different types of companies, including consumer goods, automotive, electronics, apparel and financial services. Most were U.S. campaigns but some were global as well.

Read a review of the study in MediaWeek

Why we can't e-mail Amsterdam

  It was a happy coincidence that should have advanced a budding new client relationship. My client had just shared the personal information that his wife was from Amsterdam. Also, I was about to take a business trip to Amsterdam, and, according to my history buff client, I lived in the City of New Amsterdam--sort of..after 1674 it was renamed "New York City" after the Brits kicked out the Dutch.

To build on this moment I sent my client an e-mail reviewing our Amsterdam coincidences with a link to a stunning historical map of old New Amsterdam. My clever subject line mentioned the Amsterdam references and offered the map.

I called in a few days expecting kudos for my thoughtfulness and cleverness.

Perhaps too clever. My email never arrived because of another coincidence, Amsterdam is the pornography capitol of Europe and my e-mail was hunted down and murdered by a porno killing spam filter. What would Peter Stuyvesant, say?   

What you put in your e-mail, and especially your subject line, will be scrutinized by spam filters. You need to be careful and maybe not so clever. The subject lines least effected by spam filters are very straightforward. 

If you want to know how a spam filter might view your e-mail have have a "content checker " review it. It's a simple free device to use. Just paste in your subject line and body copy into the web tool and press a button. Lyris provides a free content checker at this link: 

Lyris content checker for spam

It's a multiplatform media world after all

If you sell multiplatform B to B media this is for you!

A media consumption portrait top level American executives by Ipsos (ironically headquartered in  Paris) has documented some long suspected patterns.

These executives whose companies have 250 or more employees shared that they are huge media consumers of all kinds. The 2,390 sample shared that:

Nine in ten have read the last issue of any print media

• Seven in ten have watched any Network TV channel in the previous day

Just over half went online in the previous day

Seven in ten have received a daily email alert or newsletter in the last month

Nearly half have streamed or watched a broadband video from computer in the last month

A third have read a blog in the last month, but only 5% have actually contributed.

Nearly a quarter have downloaded a podcast in the last month

Websites also prove to be important for improving a business publication’s overall offering, even more so than websites for TV channels. Over three quarters claim a website is an important part of a business publication’s overall offering, while only a third claim that a website is an important part of a TV channel’s overall offering.

On a more personal note:

The survey shows the average American business leader is male, aged 51, earns $408,000 per year, and has a personal net worth of $1.7 million. And their attitude toward business is one of sound management with a willingness to take calculated risks if they feel they have good, trustworthy information.
In addition:

• Nine out of ten say they like to keep up with the news.

• Eight out of ten say they are not afraid to take business risks.
• Seven out of ten agree that return on investment is a key factor in their business decisions.
• Eight in ten claim their most senior managers play a major role in business purchasing decisions.
• Nine in ten will only do business with companies with a favorable brand image, with five out of ten claiming those brands need to be well known.
• Nine out of ten also say they are prepared to pay more for quality.
• Eight out of ten claim to have good relationships with suppliers but are cautious when engaging in a relationship with a new supplier.

Use it on a sales call:

This is great ammunition to prove the importance of reaching a target with multiple media. First , introduce the study and describe it's impressive scope. Then share the personal information found at the end of this post. 

Then, assuming your client starts nodding his head and saying things like, "Yeah that sounds like our target audience"  share the media consumption information emphasizing that these people are using a variety of media to satisfy their needs.

Now shift the conversation to the "variety of media" you have to offer.

Read the press release

More information on the study posted on the Ipsos web site