8-5-2013
When?s the best time to contact an advertiser? After you see their advertisement in the newspaper or hear them on a competitor?s station? Not anymore. It?s too late by then.
Countless local advertisers have complained to me that once their advertising campaign starts, their voicemail and email inbox fills up with advertising pitches from other local media reps. We?re like a bunch of sharks who smell blood in the water.
The old sales tactic of ?selling against other media? is worn out. It was once an indication that a business had money to spend on advertising and all you had to do was convince them to shift part of their marketing budget to your station.
In today?s fragmented local media landscape, that approach shows you don?t know much about that advertiser?s business other than they might have money to spend. The new and more effective sales tactic is ?insight selling.? You want to anticipate their advertising needs well in advance of all the other local media reps in your market.
The best time to call an advertiser is approximately three to four months in advance of the ?optimum moment? when they should be marketing their product or service. That optimum moment is different for every advertiser, so how can you find that information? Glad you asked.
Each year, the geek website Lifehacker.com releases their annual guide, ?The Best Time to Buy Anything During the Year.? They break down each month into all the products and services offering the best deals during that month or ones introducing new versions. Insights about how and when people are most likely or not likely to buy those products or services during that time are also included.
Sounds great for consumers, but how do you use this information in radio advertising sales? Another great question!
The ?best time to buy anything? moments identified by Lifehacker.com correspond with the ?optimum marketing? moment of advertisers. Either peak interest in the product or service of an advertiser or the moment when they have excess supply are both perfect moments for an advertiser to get the most bang for their marketing buck.
For example, according to Lifehacker.com?s guide, January is a great time to buy furniture on sale because furniture retailers are making room for their new lineup of furniture in February. There are two optimum marketing moments here for furniture retailers. One is promoting their sales in January and the second is promoting their new lineup of furniture in February.
Using this information, you should be calling furniture retailers in September or October. Even if you encounter a furniture retailer not ready to discuss their winter marketing plans, you are giving yourself time to build a relationship and to ingratiate yourself into their sales cycle.
You know what else I love about this insight sales approach? The pressure to close the advertising sale shifts from you toward your prospect. They know there is an optimum moment to spend their marketing dollars, which serves as a deadline for them to pull the trigger on your advertising proposal.
Now don?t get me wrong, I?m not saying advertisers should wait to spend all their marketing dollars during their optimum marketing moment, but this approach creates a great conversation starter and provides a path for you to gain their trust over the long term.
At the time of writing of this article it?s August, so that means you should be approaching advertisers with an optimum marketing moment in November. Here are some ideas. Good luck!
Stephen Warley is the founder of inboundarts.com, a research and training firm dedicated to helping radio broadcasters use digital tools to generate more qualified sales leads. He is also the founded of LocalBroadcastSales.com in 2008. Have a question for Stephen? Email him at stephen@inboundarts.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
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