Stop Selling Radio!
Now that I have your attention from the Radio World; I love radio as a medium on a number of fronts – in short, to build a brand memory, to have a call to action for in-market consumers and to engage the transition audience you all bring to the table.
Let me further explain – the transition audience are those consumers in the middle of a “Lead Funnel”. The top of the funnel are consumers out of market but we can start planting a brand memory (they’re our future, residual business). The end of the lead funnel are the people in-market for your product or service, but the middle of the funnel are the transition consumers. Those are the people who will be looking for your clients’ products or services shortly. But if you engage them with the right message (creatively), something compelling, you can in fact move some of them down the lead funnel to the in-market group.
Instead of selling radio, flights, etc., try identifying what goals your client wants to attain, including the type of people they want to attract. Now, here’s the tough part! Sit back and listen! Got it?
Now, do I have their attention? Are you ready to have them “buy into radio”?
No one wants to be sold anything, including all of you! But if you buy into radio as a “solution”, it opens up a whole new way of positioning radio as a viable medium to reach those goals.
Now, marry those features of your radio station with the benefits it brings to your client. Those features such as demographics and psychographics of your audience, except don’t use those terms. For direct business, talk in a language your client will understand. Don’t try to impress them with buzz words of our industry. Speak to them in their language so they can truly understand what you bring to the table, and how your radio’s format, listening audience, etc., can help attain the goals he/she is trying to accomplish. Combine this with your media’s web site and you now have the making of a strategic marketing plan for your client. It opens the door for you to begin talking about your online audience.
An example of this would be:
- How many unique people come to your site monthly?
- Where do they go on your site?
- How many pages do they go to?
- How much time do they spend on your site?
Why is all this important when you integrate your radio station’s web site with a media buy on your terrestrial station? Because it creates a “Long Tail”. Your most loyal audience on your terrestrial radio station will often times go to your radio station’s web site for numerous reasons. Maybe to stream, enter a contest, read about your DJs, events, concerts, news, and a host of other things.
So think about this – radio is a frequency medium. Talk to your client about frequency and why it’s important! Don’t assume they already know! We recommend that we would prefer to talk to 1,000 people ten times then 10,000 people once. Open up your clients eyes with this and they will start to “buy” into what radio truly brings to the table. Now you’re schedule will reflect frequency and not just reach, and get them off the idea they have to be on morning or afternoon drive. Remember, radio is the least expensive mass medium with the abiltiy to reach listeners everywhere!!
Am I connecting the dots for you yet?
Now, have them buy into your web site as well. That same audience he/she wants to reach on radio are also (some of them) going to your website. They will hear their commercial again when they stream, see their banner ads, possibly be part of your email blasts, etc. This creates additional frequency for your client.
Let’s review – your listening audience(terrestrial radio) hears your clients commercial, with frequency, hopefully at least 3 times if not more. Then, part of your audience that goes to your website now sees your clients banners, hears their streaming commercial, and may just be part of the audience that are included in your radio stations email blast that actually opens the email. Some of you have an open rate anywhere from 17-28%. If I am off, I apologize – but that will include most of the open rates of media web sites’ email blasts. How good is this for creating an integrated approach to achieving your client’s goal?!
Now you’re not selling radio… you’re having your client “buying” into radio as a solution with a measurable approach to achieving his or her goal!
The head of your “Long Tail” is the reach of your audience on your respective radio station. The tail, starts with your website, then streaming audio, video, banners, email blasts, SMS text messaging, and a host of other things. Connect the dots, it’s all there for you. During these challenging times, you need to reinvent yourselves and embrace the new technology that is out there which will only help accomplish your clients’ goals. Do this and you will create raving fans in your clients!
Neal,
I am sending it along to my staff. Thanks.
Nice article. You scared me at first but once I read it I felt much better.
Al Turner
Station Manager
890 ESPN Radio
I remember the funnel discussion vividly when you spoke to the sales staff at Clearchannel! This was one of my favorite sentences….
“and get them off the idea they have to be on morning or afternoon drive”.
Great article, thanks for sharing. I’ll foward it to the rest of the staff at Mix. Karen Geary
My question is why does it take a man outside of our business to understand the benifits and best practices of our own industry? Why do we not have leaders speaking like this? Don’t get me wrong, our business does face real challenges…but I think our biggest challenges have been our own doing. Neal, thank you for this and hopefully Radio can find some leaders that get it like you do.
Great read! One very big problem. Radio is full of poorly trained sales people and leaders who are doing nothing more than adding to the clutter of an already over cluttered medium. What you say is correct and the right way to create long term happy partners instead of churn. But and it is a big BUT, too many of the stations in this country are publicly held companies who have to hit big numbers quickly. Thus lots of insurance type sales people schlepping spots, contests, banners and now web-radio. The sales leadership all talks the big talk but will stop at nothing to make a sale. What value do 15 minute spot sets deliver?? I’m dreaming of the days of 6 minutes per hour of spots on FM… Thanks Neal!
The other side of the argument…Its not viral, radio, that is. Its a push that hopfully ends with a buy. Do a google search on “Herb Chambers” and then on “Chasing Classic Cars” to see what I mean. Advertising messages and branding need to spread on their own. Is traditional advertising dead, not yet, but viral advertising is a hell of a lot cheaper. Is it more effective? Beats me.
Neal. Great article. Refreshing to hear that the most important aspect of selling…..is listening. Will share with the rest of WODS.
Well put Neal. Thank you for sharing and I will pass it on to everyone at Entercom Boston.
Greg
Neal:
Good stuff. Simple approach but effective. I will send this out to the ZLX staff.
Thanks
Chris
Radio has historically been a push media, but, now that we have all of these great digital capabilities, we are able to utilize both push and pull marketing tactics to reach consumers on behalf of our stations and our clients. This opens up a whole new world of opportunity for clients who understand the true value of an impression. Furthermore, people who understand the different values for the different types of impressions being delivered (i.e. a brand memory or top of the funnel impression vs a buying or bottom of the funnel impression) have a tremendous opportunity to catapult ahead of the competition.
I agree with Tom. The radio industry has more than its share of poorly trained sales personnel. We do have big numbers to hit and Wall Street to answer to. That being said, any sales person or manager who disregards the sales cycle and the importance of a great customer needs analysis in favor of a shortcut to the sale does a disservice to himself, the client and the industry.
The customer needs analysis appointment is the most crucial step in the sales cycle. Anyone can fake his way through it, but to master the CNA and to get the valuable information necessary to create the integrated, results driven program Neal refers to above, takes real practice and dedication. It is at this point in the sales process that most sellers lose control. I tell my A.E.’s this constantly. As a result, we have a portfolio of success stories. We may not be at the top of every ranker when it comes to ratings, but we are right up there when it comes to having low attrition. That is because we meet our clients’ objectives by putting together “Longtail” solutions integrating all of our available assets.
If you do the Customer Needs Analysis right with just a slight subtlety, you’ll actually have the customer do the work for you. It’s a neat form of delegation.
It’s actually based on the idea that few people listen nowadays, even if we’re talking radio. I’ve been in situations where a client tells me nobody in his/her life listens to them, not their boss, not their direct reports, not their peers, not their spouse, not their kids. Yet I did. “For once in my life I have someone who needs me,” they say. It makes sales easier.
I like this. It’s important to find out what your clients’ needs are and what they are looking to accomplish.
afternoon Neal,
Great article…as a TV rep I love the title. looking at the feedback. I don’t know if I would say there are a lot of poorly trained reps out there though. Bad habits are easily formed in good times. Feeding the funnel is critical to our clients and our sales staffs and I am of the belief that the CNA is dead. Advertisers don’t want to teach us about their busines’s know the math…research. This is our time as solution providers….Remember, the business owner that was golfing and looking for a new toy 2 years ago is now trying to survive in a market down 30%. Give them a solution on how they can not only get by, but grow in this economy and they will be more than willing to give you 15 minutes IF you can provide the answer why THIER business and why TODAY.
Radio has cared more about their collective egos and closing the sale. Think about the teenager who would say anything just to get the girl in bed, that’s radio! ” having your client “buying” into radio as a solution with a measurable approach to achieving his or her goal!” Wow, what a concept, everything that’s old is new again…. Under the current leadership model, radio didn’t care about clients or relationships, they just wanted to hit budgets and get bonuses. Being number one was everything and they believed nothing could stop them..
The truth is, radio’s consolidator-club, never intended to run and own radio stations. They were looking for short-term profits and selling their creation to anyone with bucks.
We’ve all been thrown under the bus..by a bunch of fools..
Hey, cool tips. I’ll buy a bottle of beer to that man from that forum who told me to go to your site