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Selling is merely transference of confidence. When you are firm in the knowledge of the benefits of what you are selling, that confidence in what you are selling is transferred to your prospect.
Are you confident in the benefits Radio delivers to advertisers?
You are being asked "Is Radio still relevant?" or "Does Radio still work?" or "Do people still listen to local radio now that Pandora, YouTube, and Sirius are available?"
Many of us have let the dreaded "still" word creep into our presentations, putting Radio on the defensive and trying to prove Radio "still works," instead of asserting the preeminent need for more proactive Radio to drive more web traffic.
It seems Radio has always suffered an inferiority complex. In the 70s, when newspapers were the media of choice for local advertisers, radio told the story of how we could be the "backup medium" for newspapers.
In the 80s ,when coupons became the rage, many stations actually developed and sold their own coupon envelopes, "backed up" by a Radio campaign.
In the 90s, some stations actually bought local magazine "franchises" that focused on certain formats. A Country station I managed, for example, distributed a magazine on country music that was formatted to insert our call letters and local advertisers' ads to make it look like ours?and it too was "backed up" by Radio.
Now, I'm the first to admit the synergistic power of a good media mix, rather than relying on one medium alone. But why can't Radio be the premier or proactive medium, rather than the backup medium?
I position radio as "proactive" and the internet as "reactive." Radio proactively reaches and influences customers not yet in the market for a product or service in a way that reactive medium cannot.
Once consumers have a need for a product or service, they react by searching for a supplier online.
Our local Share Of Mind surveys of more than 10,000 consumers prove that the most successful advertisers proactively create a pre-search awareness and preference for their business with radio, and back up their proactive media campaigns with the Internet for more details, or location and contact information.
With every business clamouring for a top-of-page search engine position, the pre-search brand and awareness created by a proactive Radio campaign can indeed be the tie-breaker that persuades shoppers to search for the sites of businesses they have heard of.
Internet guru Seth Godin also says: "It's better to be sought online than to be found."
In a strategy of Radio to inspire and Internet to inform, the Internet becomes the back-up medium.
By the way, I've spelled Radio with a capital here because proper names always begin with a capital letter. Radio is the proper name for a medium that works! The tv guys have positioned their brand with capitals for years, and it's time we gave Radio the respect it deserves.
Wayne Ens is president of ENS Media Inc, a pro-radio consulting firm. Contact wayne@wensmedia.com to inquiry about facilitating a survey and seminar in your market.
(5/8/2015 10:14:58 AM)
Wayne- The answer lies in your own comments: "I'm the first to admit the synergistic power of a good media mix..."
Do you think TV or print would ever make a comment like that? You and others like you are the problem.
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