Galaxy Creates Sports Marketing Division

10-15-13

Galaxy Communications is launching a new sports marketing division. President and CEO Ed Levine (pictured) says the new group will focus on the sports franchises that Galaxy is a flagship for or has an affiliate relationship with, in Syracuse and Utica. Those teams are Syracuse University football, basketball, and lacrosse, as well as the Utica Comets, Syracuse Crunch, Utica College, the Buffalo Bills, and the New York Giants.

To oversee this new initiative, Galaxy Sports Marketing has hired Ken Elander as General Manager. Elander has held high-ranking positions at Time Warner Cable, Driver?s Village, and WTVH. Galaxy owns 14 radio stations in the Syracuse and Utica markets, and also has a division called Galaxy Events.

View the original article here

(MARKETING) When Godin Speaks People Listen

Seth Godin has a new book out called the Icarus Deception. It's sure to be a best-seller. What Seth Godin book isn't? According to Buzz Knight, who interviewed Godin about his book, The Icarus Deception is another in a long line of great motivating publications that pushes us to make some noise. Listen to Buzz Knight's interview with Seth Godin HERE

You can purchase Seth Godin's new book HERE

Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com. Knight was named among ?Best Programmers? by Radio Ink Magazine in 2007 and 2010. He has served on the programming subcommittee of the National Association of Broadcasters(NAB) and is currently a member of the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) COLRAM Committee.

Read more articles by Buzz Knight HERE

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

Radio Has Retreated From Marketing Itself

Download this show

10-16-2012

Bruce Mittman is in a unique position. Not only is he the CEO of a successful advertising firm in Boston, he owns radio stations in upstate New York. Mittman purchased the upstate New York (Watertown) stations with former Pilot Communications owner Jim Levin. His advertising agency bills over $30 million a year and includes prominent clients such as the Subaru Dealers of Boston. In his dual role, Mittman has to buy radio for his clients and sell radio  to local advertisers for his stations. He says there is a perspective, outside the industry, that radio is dead and satellite and digital now own the audio space. He also says radio salespeople do not sell radio, they respond to avails, and radio no longer markets itself the way it used to.

Take a listen to Buzz Knight's full interview with Bruce Mittman.

 Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com. Knight was named among ?Best Programmers? by Radio Ink Magazine in 2007 and 2010. He has served on the programming subcommittee of the National Association of Broadcasters(NAB) and is currently a member of the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) COLRAM Committee.

Read more articles by Buzz Knight HERE

(10/16/2012 5:03:39 PM)
Ever heard a station rep say "We aren't qualified or staffed to produce the kind of campaign you need, Mr. Advertiser. Maybe an agency or some other station is the way to go."...? Didn't think so.
(10/16/2012 11:28:38 AM)
Lets play Wack-A-Rep. Stop characterizing radio reps as spot schlepping vermin. agencies don't want radio's help. once in a while you might find an agency who is open to an idea but for the most part advertising agencies are closed minded and controlled centered. agencies always have to have a bad guy, that's the game they play. agencies need to realize the resources they are over-looking in radio.
(10/16/2012 10:52:49 AM)
From a Top 5 Market perspective, this is bogus. Top 5 Market sellers know there is no success without local direct accounts and nurturing that business. This may be true for the small brand, small market broadcast companies. Over here in the big leagues, this isn't a worry. If we only worked avails, we wouldn't have over 25% of our sellers making over 150k per year.
(10/16/2012 10:44:49 AM)
Agree fully, Tony. However, when the rep shows up with "Wanna buy some spots?" they do so because a.) they have no consulting expertise on which they can consult and, b.) they have no spots that will do the job.

As to marketing the station: We already have "Playing the best music of all time - forty minutes - commercial-free." I mean, that's a description of advertiser heaven... is it not? What more could they possibly want?

(10/16/2012 9:54:54 AM)
Someone once said that radio is in the business of moving products off our clients' shelves. Ratings and great content aside, that's 100% accurate.

Radio sellers are more concerned about submitting the order and getting to the next avail. Once the client is on the air, most AEs stop paying attention.

What they should be doing is worrying about the creativity and effectiveness of the campaign they just sold.

Consultative selling, not order taking, will reduce churn and increase revenue.

Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

(MARKETING) Fix Your Marketing. Part Three

10-2-2012

In parts 1 and 2 of this series, I examined a number of commonly held ideas, misguided tactics, and faulty notions that prevent radio marketers from attaining the results that their organizations need. I?ll now tie these thoughts together by examining the importance of strategy in the creation of "non-sucky" marketing solutions.

5. Is there an overall marketing strategy in place?
Many radio marketing chiefs make the mistake of thinking that implementing the right tactics ? such as the ones listed above ? will produce surefire success. Not true. What?s usually missing is a smart strategy that will guide a station?s marketing tactics toward a clearly defined goal.

"Strategy" is the big picture plan, while "tactics" are the moves that are used to carry out the strategy. As writer and consultant Seth Godin points out, ?The right strategy makes any tactic work better. The right strategy puts less pressure on you to execute your tactics perfectly.?

As an experiment, ask all the members of your marketing team to define the department?s overall strategy. Expect to receive a slew of ?well, um, uh?? responses. If anything more coherent is offered, don?t be surprised if everyone?s thoughts are not only completely different, but kinda sorta wrong.

SOLUTION
The director of marketing needs to create a clear and concise strategy statement that will be the roadmap for all of your department?s efforts. This statement should be built in conjunction with the general sales manager, because it?s his/her team that the strategy will be serving. It should also be vetted by the OM, GM, and PD so that everyone is aware of the plan and how it will benefit their respective departments. Finally, the strategy statement should then be shared with the entire marketing squad, so that all members understand the overall goal of their daily efforts.

When challenged by the observations and solutions presented in this series, it would be understandable for a radio marketer to be offended by the idea that his/her work may possibly, in any way, remotely suck. It would also make sense if he/she were defensive about the marketing approach that?s been taken: ?It?s how we?ve done it in the past, it?s how we?re doing it now, and it?s how we?re going to continue to do it!? Problem is, that kind of rigid thinking not only prevents desperately needed solutions from being pursued and delivered, it also puts an expiration date on one?s radio marketing career (not to mention a ?do not hire? warning on one?s resume if a marketing career outside of radio is ever sought).

Would Facebook have attained the success that it has by following the same marketing strategy year after year simply because it worked in the past? Or Apple? Or Starbucks? If constantly seeking new ways to improve strategy, refine tactics, gain better understanding of customers needs/tastes, and enhance support of the sales effort are part of these top brands? marketing DNA, then it should be part of yours too.

Radio station marketing that sucks isn?t terminal. With a determined effort, it can be successfully reversed. However, to make changes that will yield positive results and vigorous ROI, one must honestly acknowledge the suckage. Due diligence that examines the extent of the suck must be performed and a smart plan needs to be launched that will set your department ? and your station ? on a cost-effective path to superior ratings, better profits, and 100 percent suck-free marketing results.

Click for Part 1.

Click for Part 2.

Rafe Gomez is a marketing and business strategy consultant.  His work has been featured on Fox News Channel, MSNBC, PBS, ABC News Radio, WCBS-AM, FoxBusiness.com, BrandWeek.com, and more.  He?s also the host and producer of Rockmixx, an internationally syndicated classic rock mash-up feature.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

(MARKETING) Does Your Marketing Suck? -- Pt. 2

9-24-2012

Radio marketers need to re-examine familiar methodologies and question long-held assumptions in order to deliver results. We pick up where we left off in Pt. 1 with point No. 3.

3. Is there a belief that the station van builds the brand, attracts listeners, and is a crucial element in the marketing mix?
Before minivans, SUVs, and Hummers took over the streets, a radio station?s van stood out. When cruising around town or parked at a client?s place of business, the van ? emblazoned with a bright station logo and encircled by enthusiastic listeners trying to get their hands on a free station t-shirt ? attracted eyeballs and inspired excitement.

But with so many big vehicles now on the road, the novelty of a large station van is lost. On its own, its effectiveness as a creator of floor traffic for the client that hires it is questionable, and its ability to generate excitement among younger listeners is also suspect. As Hofstra University media professor John Mullen notes, ?With so many distractions that are competing for listeners? attention, you have to ask yourself:  Is 'sending the van' a 1970s idea that?s out of step in 2012? Not only that, aren?t there other creative things that stations can do to build business at a client?s location beyond sending a few staffers, a vehicle, and a box of t-shirts that always run out?"

SOLUTION
Simply sending the van to a client?s place of business isn?t enough to bring about the increase in customer traffic that your client is looking for. To augment the probability of attaining results, the van?s presence must have an irresistible WIIFM at its core in order to entice attendance. In other words, while the van?s presence may have been a compelling lure to attract a crowd in the past, it isn?t any longer: There needs to be more thought and planning involved so that the client isn?t just pleased by the customer turnout, he?s blown away.

One possibility would be to heavily promote a contest on-air with a very attractive prize. To be eligible to win, listeners would need to be at the client?s place of business at a designated hour when the drawing would take place (the prize, of course, would be the product or service that is sold by the client). A twist on this idea could also build up your listener database: The contest would be open solely to event attendees who are enrolled in your loyal listener program.

To truly make a van event eventful, and to create value for the existence of the van, you can?t just schedule it, send it, park it, and think that your job is over. The presence of the van at a client?s place of business or a local event must be strategically leveraged in order to attain the greatest benefits for your station and your client.

4. Is there a belief that social buzz around your station indicates the existence of a large and loyal listening audience?
When a station?s Facebook activity, Twitter conversations, and YouTube views start racking up big numbers, it?s pretty exciting. It seems like something big is happening, and it?s taking on an incredible life of its own. Many radio marketing chiefs interpret this attention as an indication that people love what their station is doing, that their marketing work is successful, and that their ratings are on the verge of going through the roof.

However, according to news site WND, a supposed correlation between social buzz and real world ratings is quite murky. The reason is simple: social buzz and social media metrics measure exchanges between your station (news, content, and brand) and your listeners, as well as the transmission of these exchanges with your listeners? social circles. It?s great for this heat to be emanating from your station, but in no way can it be interpreted as being an indication of anything other than your most ardent P1?s taking the time to pay attention to, interact with, and spread your content.

SOLUTION
Having an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. is an essential marketing tactic for a radio station to support and embrace. But misinterpreting a healthy social media buzz surrounding your station can create a sense of dangerous complacency and unfounded over-confidence.

In the past two years, dozens of stations across the country with robust social media traction have flipped formats due to low PPM measurements and disappointing profits. Each of these stations had followers, likes, re-pins, and re-tweets out the wazoo, but in the end, station success isn?t determined by social media metrics. It?s determined by the metrics that truly represent a station?s health or lack thereof: ratings and revenue.

Click for Part 1.

Rafe Gomez is a marketing and business strategy consultant.  His work has been featured on Fox News Channel, MSNBC, PBS, ABC News Radio, WCBS-AM, FoxBusiness.com, BrandWeek.com, and more.  He?s also the host and producer of Rockmixx, an internationally syndicated classic rock mash-up feature.

(9/25/2012 6:34:26 AM)
It is indeed unfortunate that station ownership and management have had this "online saddle" slapped on their backs - and all that comes with it including the social media elements.

But then, these new responsibilities may be accepted with some relief - anything to avoid attending to the very first priorities - those of a massive improvement in local programming and commercial production. Excellent and possibly unwelcome material, Rafe.

(9/24/2012 12:21:51 PM)
Smart stuff from a smart guy. Nice going, Rafe!

Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

MARKETING)Does Your Station's Marketing Suck?

9-18-2012

Radio marketers need to re-examine familiar methodologies and question long-held assumptions in order to deliver results. There are two customer bases that all commercial radio stations serve:  listeners and advertisers. A station may do a phenomenal job addressing the needs of the latter, but if it doesn?t also do a superior job attracting the former, the station won?t survive as a business entity.

In theory, it?s up to a station?s marketing team to lure and build their audience of listeners/customers in order for the sales pros to monetize them. Problem is, most stations are relying on a familiar set of marketing tactics that are obsolete, misguided, or ineffective in a PPM world.

With that in mind, it would be helpful to take a look at five questions, the answers to which could indicate that your station?s marketing might kind of, you know, SUCK:

1. Is there a Web content strategy in place?

Station websites aren?t just an extension of your brand, they?re also an extension of your business.According to a 2011 survey by BIA/Kelsey, online revenue will increase by 15.1 percent in 2012, while on-air revenue will grow by only 3.5 percent. If a marketing director isn?t taking his/her station?s website content as seriously as the program director takes the station?s on-air content, there are massive audience interaction opportunities ? and accompanying revenue opportunities ?that are being lost.

SOLUTION
To populate a station?s website with content that attracts listeners (and advertisers) and keeps them coming back for more, it?s imperative that your content SERFS.

It must be:
Short ? no long paragraphs or entries that require endless scrolling to read
Engaging ? the content should be fun, snappy, and interesting to your audience
Relevant ? the content should relate directly to, be a continuation of, or have a connection to your format and your on-air programming
Fresh ? if you want listeners to spend time at your site each day, you need to update your site each day with new content that addresses their unique needs and tastes
Shareable ? your content should be so appealing, valuable, and irresistible that your Web audience is compelled to forward it to their social circles on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

By keeping the SERFS acronym in mind when vetting your station?s Web content, you?ll have an effective benchmark to follow that will help to engage your current Web audience, build new audience, and ramp up your online ad revenues.

2. Is there an accepted notion that outdoor ads lure new listeners and/or increase audience TSL?

Radio stations buy outdoor billboard and truck ads because they believe that such measures are a worthwhile way to influence consumer behavior. The thought is that people will tune in or listen longer because they see a station logo on a huge roadside, building, or mobile placard.

The reality is that billboards are regarded in the ad world as being effective brand builders, not sales or audience builders. According to ad expert Stephen Rampur, outdoor ads ?create brand awareness and strong name recognition among passers-by.? If a station?s goal is to truly inspire listening, billboards ? especially those that feature a station logo/tagline/frequency/photo of an air personality - fall short: their results are impossible to measure, they?re expensive, and they?re a non-strategic Hail Mary pass that won?t improve the fortunes of a struggling station.

SOLUTION
In order for an outdoor radio station billboard ad to have a shot at influencing consumer behavior, it needs to pack a powerful and undeniable WIIFM punch (and by WIIFM, I don?t mean a misspelled version of the AC station in Elkin, NC).

WIIFM ? which stands for What?s In It For Me in sales jargon ? is the prime motivator to inspire a desired action. In the case of the radio station billboard, the WIIFM would need to offer information about key station-driven benefits that are attractive, rewarding, and exciting to a listener, such as:

-- an upcoming or in-progress contest (on-air or online)

-- the benefits of joining a loyal listener program with Web content that delivers immediate gratification, such as exclusive coupons or deals

Using bold graphics, tight and punchy copy, and ? most importantly ? an irresistible WIIFM message, a strategic billboard campaign can create the possibility for increased audience, improved Web traffic, and enhanced revenue opportunities.

Rafe Gomez is a marketing and business strategy consultant.  His work has been featured on BrandWeek.com, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, PBS, ABC News Radio, WCBS-AM, and FoxBusiness.com, and he?s also the host/producer of Rockmixx, an internationally syndicated classic rock mash-up feature.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

Legendary Marketing Guru: "Radio Playing Too Many Ads"

Download this show

It's something we've written about many times but seems to fall on deaf ears inside the radio beltway. Here's one person who hears it loud and clear and has some serious advice for broadcasters. Buzz Knight, on assignment to Radio Ink, picked up an interview with legendary marketing genius Al Ries, the author of "Focus" and "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding," among other best sellers. Ries, who is all about branding, tells Knight, "I am seriously concerned about radio." He says the number of ads radio plays is not good for advertisers. "I don't see how you can run so many commercials and expect to cut through. It doesn't make any sense." Ries ran an advertising agency in New York for nearly 30 years and now consults with his daughter Laura. Ries also tells Knight radio needs to do a better job getting its message out. Something we've heard many times before.

Listen or download the Buzz Knight/Al Ries interview HERE
Check out the Ries & Ries website HERE

Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com.

(6/25/2012 6:35:27 PM)
Maybe it does need to be said. A lot of these guys are not professionals. They are in it only for the money they can grab... today.
(6/25/2012 6:13:50 PM)
A lot of the problem comes from radio station owners/GMs who are business people, not "radio" people. They see every single commercial availability that goes by unfilled as money left on the table.

If they aren't filling 12 minutes per hour (or more) entirely with commercials, they liken it to a grocery store having to throw out fruit that has gone bad. They'd rather oversell the station at 25 cents a spot than risk a day with unsold inventory.

They don't care about "damaging the brand."

(6/25/2012 1:43:49 PM)
Over commercialization was not Al Ries' message! His only reference was to the extreme, i.e, the parade of lead-in spots to celebrity talk shows.

Besides, Cable TV is now stealing Network TV ad
$ despite "insufferable" over commercialization.

Bigger issue: Radio & print come into the discussion only as mediums advertisers can borrow money from to buy more Social Media.

In a forthcoming online RI story (RADIO 2012...
GIVE UP?) I explore Radio's #1 problem, and
what you can do to solve it.

(6/25/2012 1:40:39 PM)
Friends of radio remember when radio was more friendly so to speak. 8 or nine minutes of ads per hour. F R E S H programming whether in music or talk. Accessible DJs and Talk Show hosts that made up a FUN listening environment.
Can we recreate that? Probably, so let's make today's Radio just that....
(6/25/2012 1:34:48 PM)
But---there are hundreds of small and medium market stations who "get it" and do it well.

And, they also limit their commercial load to a reasonable amount----but what they do air is largely local in scope.

AND---although if you asked 100 listeners if they "liked commercials" they would all say NO---they'd miss them if they weren't there---at least in the 10 or so markets I have worked in at stations that "got it".

Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

Legendary Marketing Guru: "Radio Playing Too Many Ads"

Download this show

It's something we've written about many times but seems to fall on deaf ears inside the radio beltway. Here's one person who hears it loud and clear and has some serious advice for broadcasters. Buzz Knight, on assignment to Radio Ink, picked up an interview with legendary marketing genius Al Ries, the author of "Focus" and "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding," among other best sellers. Ries, who is all about branding, tells Knight, "I am seriously concerned about radio." He says the number of ads radio plays is not good for advertisers. "I don't see how you can run so many commercials and expect to cut through. It doesn't make any sense." Ries ran an advertising agency in New York for nearly 30 years and now consults with his daughter Laura. Ries also tells Knight radio needs to do a better job getting its message out. Something we've heard many times before.

Listen or download the Buzz Knight/Al Ries interview HERE
Check out the Ries & Ries website HERE

Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

(MOBILE) Are You A True Marketing Consultant?

(by Ivan Braiker) Picture this: a local restaurant chain in a small town is advertising on air and with display ads on their local radio station?s website. For a small business, they are doing a great job of marketing locally ? yet they are missing a huge piece of the puzzle: mobile availability. Your customers probably never thought they could conquer this channel with help from you, their radio station partner. But if you take the right steps to redefine your station?s role, they can.

For radio advertising, there is a divide between the large media conglomerates and the smaller radio companies. The larger players are successful because that is largely and precisely what customers want ? a plethora of on-air, offline and digital offerings that can be tailored to their company and their marketing campaigns. Local radio stations have known for awhile that they have to adapt in order to keep up, and mobile presents a new opportunity for them. Radio stations must continue to evolve their simple radio sales and be full-on marketing consultants, offering comprehensive packages that mimic the larger companies? offerings while being nimble and impactful to the small businesses in their markets.

To start, it?s important for stations to explore their partners? products and solutions, and leverage all resources available to them. For instance, radio stations have access to mobile service providers that can be scaled to the radio stations? customers, making mobile offerings available and affordable for smaller businesses, while increasing the overall solution set of the station.

It?s a win-win. Local businesses can now:

? Reach their customers on their mobile device, wherever they are.
? Offer a mobile-optimized experience and clear call-to-action on the mobile page, such as coupons, phone numbers, maps and directions, etc.
? Increase marketing channels that drive awareness and loyalty.
Small radio groups can now:
? Position themselves as true marketing consultants that have their finger on the pulse of digital advertising offerings and go beyond on-air and display Web buys.
? Stay afloat amongst the larger media groups and further their relevance and sensibility for local SMBs.
? Fortify their relationship with their mobile service providers by acting as a reseller for their products and services.
? Create a seamless experience for their customers to leverage mobile offerings and develop another means through which they rely upon the station for their marketing needs.
In order to be truly effective with customers, it is imperative that radio stations do everything they can to optimize the on-air campaigns running for their customers. By matching these on-air spots with mobile messaging platforms such as mobile Web, SMS and ad options, you can ensure that results are maximized. Your customers, who would otherwise have to pay thousands of dollars for mobile capabilities, can now access this valuable channel for a fraction of the cost because you utilize your outside mobile service provider, going way beyond traditional media offerings. 
Wondering where to begin? Have a discussion with your mobile service provider and discuss a reseller model that will be mutually beneficial. They will guide you on mobile recommendations for your local small businesses, such as:
? Does the branding and customer experience extend to all platforms: radio, web, traditional and mobile? Their customers want to immediately recognize their favorite and familiar local business.
? What should the experience entail? Are coupons and QR codes appropriate?
? Is a mobile optimized website enough?
? Does it incorporate and integrate with a local social media strategy?
? Is a mobile payment system a logical addition for local commerce companies?
? How will their customers respond to all and any of it?

The bottom line? The more that local radio station companies can do to educate themselves and work with partners to increase their marketing offerings and relevance, the farther they will go. You must become part of the revolution, adapt and not rely on ?radio is enough.?
Ivan Braiker is the president of mobile marketing company Hipcricket. He can be reached at ivan@hipcricket.com.
Read more articles from Ivan HERE

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

(SALES) Are You Marketing or Just Selling?

3-26-2012

My father once told me, "Never buy a car owned by an auto mechanic. After they've been paid to repair other people's cars all day, the last thing they want to do is take care of their own car for free." Most radio stations suffer from the same "mechanic's syndrome": After creating innovative marketing campaigns for their local clients all day, they neglect the marketing of their own stations.

Most stations rely strictly on outbound marketing, largely face-to-face selling and telemarketing, even though the research proves that the cost per lead generated by outbound marketing is often three to 20 times as high as for leads generated by inbound marketing processes ? that is, marketing where the client or prospect approaches you, instead of vice versa. 

And many stations believe a "lead" is a tip, referral, or process that generates a new contact that eventually "leads" to new business. Not so! The best marketers know that a lead is any tip, referral, or process that generates new business, in addition to generating lucrative revenue lifts from existing contacts and clients. Inbound marketing that inspires a client or prospect to approach you consistently achieves higher closing ratios than traditional outbound selling. And generating revenue lifts from existing clients is always easier than prying budgets from reluctant prospects. But sadly, mechanic's syndrome prevents most stations from generating inbound leads. The irony is that no business is better equipped to generate inbound leads than ours.

Advertising. You're not sold out! And believe it or not, advertising works. Producing a series of radio advertiser testimonials and advertising tips will yield huge dividends. Most businesses pay to advertise. Yet we ignore our own media's power of persuasion even though we have the inventory. No one is easier to sell than the business owner who listens to your station and calls you.

Websites: Prospects visiting most station websites would be hard-pressed to know you're in the business of selling advertising. Your website is the perfect venue to extol the virtues of radio advertising and establish your brand as a marketing professional. Most sites simply suggest "To, advertise click here" -- no education, no sell, and no call to action.

Blogs: Your blog is the perfect platform to feature helpful radio advertising tips, to build your credibility and to generate leads from pre-qualified buyers. The blog portion of our SoundADvice radio e-marketing system generates an average of 4.5 leads per month per account executive. How many leads does your current marketing generate per account executive?

Marketing seminars: Your clients and prospects are bombarded with news about the new media landscape but hear very little about proven radio advertising. They're confused by the "new media" hype and are desperately looking for new ways to grow their businesses. An educational seminar that clearly positions radio's role in the new media landscape will generate pre-qualified leads as well as "lift" revenue from existing clients. (I mean a real educational seminar, not a sales pitch where you put Dobermans at the door and don't let clients out until they buy your "package.")

S.E.O.: Try searching "advertising success stories" online. You'll go through page after page about Twitter, Facebook, S.E.O., and even newspapers long before you'll find anything about radio. Fortunately, when you Google "radio advertising success stories," the website for the seven-station cluster operated by Townsquare Media in Lafayette, LA, does get top billing. It's a wonderful website with dozens of success stories, and helpful advertising tools and resources. And kudos to Southwest Michigan's MidWest Family Broadcasting, whose helpful radio advertising site is also on the first page in a Google search for radio success stories. Why don't more stations market radio like this?

Social media: Social media is gradually replacing traditional search engines. Social media can build awareness of your station, establish credibility, and create leads at little to no cost to you. Admittedly, social media requires considerable amounts of your valuable time, on a regular basis, to be done right.

Talk shows: There is huge interest in the changing media landscape, not only among marketers, but among the public at large. Featuring pro-radio marketing experts on your station's talk shows is a great way to generate interest in the "power of radio" and to solicit on-air inquiries from listening prospects. Guests like RAB staff members, Jeffrey Hedquist, Roy Williams, Dan O'Day, Steve Jones, or local pro-radio ad agency people can be informative and entertaining and generate more in-bound leads, although I am not sure all the names I mentioned are available for guest appearances. I once did a guest appearance on an East Coast station that generated a lead for a West Coast station from a business owner who happened to be listening online.

Outbound marketing works. But the cheapest and fastest way to improve your sales is to complement your outbound efforts with a solid inbound marketing process. 

For more articles from Wayne Ens go HERE

Wayne Ens is President of ENS Media Inc and can be reached via e-mail Wayne Ens wayne@wensmedia.com

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

DIGITAL)Use Location-Based Marketing At Your Station

3-16-2012

The earliest value of commercial radio was all about location. Advertisers valued radios ability to drive ears to a retail location. Saturdays became a new drive time as car dealers took advantage of people out running Saturday errands. Ad copy directed customers to take advantage of specials while in transit and hoped to influence peoples? plans for activities as they were in their cars. Our sales teams followed with a real focus on local business. We have always encouraged sales teams to beat the street, Looking for independent retailers who would take advantage of radios? ability to influence on the go.

The Digital world has launched more than a few assaults on our time-honored way of doing business. Location-based services represent another example of how new technologies are impacting how products and services are bought and sold.

SXSW is always a hot bed for new tech and this year location based marketing has once again been in the spotlight. Foursquare launched at SXSW 3 years ago. Now with 20 million users and tons of merchants. Foursquare has become ?the player? in the space. Gowalla their key combatant has closed its doors and there

are new players arriving. A big win for Foursquare users was the American Express tie-in that gave considerable discounts for customer checkins that resulted in a purchase. I have been an active Foursquare user for about a year. The app has been on my phone for what seems like a lifetime. The growing interest in daily deals and their hyper local nature triggered my more recent interest. Radio should, at a minimum, understand the dynamics of location-based marketing. The space creates a real opportunity to master a fast growing segment.

How can radio take advantage of this growing trend? Take a dip in the shallow end of the pool. Get Foursquare on your mobile device and start checking in. The game-like nature of Foursquare can be addictive. Discover the Foursquare brand opportunity https://foursquare.com/business/ and let me know how you think location-based services can impact radios future. The future of commerce is changing at light speed and we need to at the very least understand that change and when it makes sense, embrace it.

Dan Halyburton is EVP McVay Cook and Associates and can be reached at 214-707-7237. Follow Dan @danhalyburton. E-mal Dan at dan@halyburton.com

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

Emmis Launches Social Impact Marketing Firm

The name of the new Emmis company is Incite which already has New York City and Los Angeles County Department?s of Health, Purina, State Farm Insurance, Roche Diagnostics, Lower Colorado River Authority and Anthem BCBS as clients. Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan says ?Cause and social marketing expenditures have exploded across the country growing from $816 million in 2002 to a projected $1.7 billion in 2011. This growth is indicative of the heightened need for marketers to effectively communicate messages of societal importance.  We?ve developed a phenomenal team focused on this important category and I?m excited about Incite?s potential to take the programs we design for current and future clients to the next level.?

Emmis says it incubated a team focused on delivering social marketing programs for not-for-profit, government agency and corporate clients.  Incite represents the company?s maturation into a provider of a broad array of cause and social marketing services.  Incite will continue to deliver award-winning work to confront today?s greatest social challenges through relevant marketing that motivates positive change ? public health, the environment, transportation, and education are all areas of expertise where Incite will deliver social impact for clients. 

View the original article here

Clear Channel Chooses Vitrue To Grow Social Marketing

The deal with Vitrue is intended to help Clear Channel maintain consistent branding and messaging throughout hundreds of Clear Channel Radio's individual radio station pages, all from one single platform. With the Vitrue SRM platform, Clear Channel Radio can publish and promote across all individual Clear Channel Radio social pages and personality pages, including the current campaign surrounding the iHeartRadio Music Festival. Vitrue CEO Reggie Bradford said "We designed our platform with companies like Clear Channel in mind."

Vitrue's platform will enable Clear Channel Radio to push iHeartRadio Music Festival promotional content through the social Web, providing updates, news and exclusive content surrounding the September event. Clear Channel Radio can also utilize Vitrue's platform to execute national promotions, advertising opportunities and sweepstakes that can be tailored to individual markets and locations, in addition to many other social marketing functionalities.

Bradford says "While social marketing allows brands to reach a global audience, it is imperative to provide the functionality to promote across local markets in real time -- which is why our platform is such a good fit for Clear Channel. With Vitrue's solution, Clear Channel Radio will be able to easily achieve scale and promote the iHeartRadio Music Festival and other events to their fans in local markets."

Vitrue ( www.vitrue.com ) offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to help brands and agencies harness social communities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, emerging networks and mobile applications. The Vitrue Social Relationship Management (SRM) platform is collectively managing its clients' more than 900 million fans in 47 countries across 3,000 Facebook and Twitter accounts. Vitrue's stable of clients include McDonald's, American Express, Amway, YouTube, Intel, P&G brands, Johnson and Johnson, Samsung, Ford, Chanel, JCPenney, Disney, Baskin Robbins, Best Buy, Domino's Pizza and AT&T, as well as many global marketing and public relations agencies.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

Katz Marketing Solutions Launches New WebSite For All Radio Sellers

7/18/2011

Katz Marketing Solutions President Bob McCurdy has launched a new website as an aid to all people selling radio. The site is http://www.kmsradioprimer.com/ and it's designed to arm all radio people (not just Katz clients) with important data and facts about radio. According to McCurdy, "Every person selling radio has got to become a student of radio. They have to learn and figure out how to become marketers instead of being radio sellers. I find that the more I revisit these facts before I go into any client presentation the better I do in front of clients. Every radio seller should re-read these facts at least monthly." 

McCurdy told Radio Ink that he's been gathering research and facts about radio and that these can be used as valuable tools in selling the positive benefits of radio. Data will be kept up-to-date as new facts emerge and updates will occur monthly. Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads says, "This is an important step. Katz knows that offering this data to all radio sellers, whether or not they are Katz clients, will raise the tide of all ships in radio by better arming all people selling radio. Every manager should insist that every rep study this radio data to become better empowered. Rhoads refers to this new development in his current blog post, which you can read here.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here