 |
|
|
|
|
Marketing & Advertising Strategies
Don't Rely On The Opinions
Of Advertising Salespeople Alone
Advertising Salespeople Make Commissions on the ads they sell you. That's obvious. So realize that they're going to try to load you up with as much as possible because it makes their commissions bigger. This may come as a shock, but there's a chance they'll try to sell you more than you actually need to get the job done. So you've got to understand what you're buying so you can know if they're loading you up with too much or not. It's not like buying something like a suit. You walk into the suit store; you need to buy one suit. If the guy in the suit store attempts to sell you four or five suits, you smile politely and let him know that you only need one suit. If he becomes pushy, you tell him to back down because you're absolutely sure that you only need one suit. See, if you know you only need on suit, you just buy one suit; maybe two max.
But how many radio ads do you need to make an effective campaign? That's harder to say. What stations should you be on? Some are definitely more expensive than others. So how do you even know what you need to buy? How big should your newspaper ad be to maximize effectiveness? What section of the paper should it be in? Which days should it run? And on and on - for every possible medium out there. It's not exactly easy to know what you need to buy in the first place, which is what makes it difficult to know whether or not the ad sales rep is proposing what you really need or not.
Ask Your Advertising Sales Rep The Following evaluation questions to see if they really have your best interest at heart. These questions will help you find out if they're trying to maximize your dollars or just maximize their commission check. To qualify these questions first though; you need to have a general idea of what you should do before you ask the sales rep these questions. Or in other words, you need to form your own opinion, draw your own conclusion about the best way to buy that particular medium ... and then ask the sales rep these questions.
Test #1: Budget Allocation
So here's the first question. Tell the sales rep that you have a certain budget for your advertising campaign. Say it's five thousand dollars, or $20,000, or whatever. The number isn't important. Just tell them what your entire budget is for your entire campaign - not just their station or their newspaper or their billboard, or whatever. Tell them what your entire budget is and then ask them this magic question: How would THEY spend your $X budget if they were in your shoes? Which stations, which newspapers, whatever. Again, make sure you've researched it out ahead of time so you have a good idea. Their answer to this question won't mean much if you don't know. If you do know, however, their answer to this question could be very revealing.
Let's say that you've determined by doing your own research that you should spend about $5,000 of your $25,000 budget on one particular radio station, and maybe as much as $7,500 would be within reason. Then you ask the ad salesrep the question, "How would you spend my budget if you were in my shoes?" Then let's say they suggest you spend at least half your budget on their station, and only $3,000 on the other station that's their major competitor, and the rest should go to print ads or direct mail or broadcast emailing. Throws up a big red flag doesn't it? You've determined that they should get 20% of the budget, and they're gunning for 50%. Obviously, you can't fault him for gunning for half your budget. However, you now know that you can't trust his opinion. Again, this is assuming you've done your homework.
Test #2: Inflated Budget
Here's another way to test the trustworthiness of your advertising sales rep. In this scenario, you don't reveal your entire campaign budget. Instead you just tell him how much you want to spend on his station, or in his newspaper or publication or whatever. So, here's the trick. Make sure the number you give him is actually about 50 to 100% higher than you actually intend to spend with him. If you were planning on spending $5,000 on his station, tell him you want to spend $10,000. Then, see how he reacts. Sales reps on the lower end of the spectrum will lick their chops and tell you that you're an advertising genius and try to take your money. You might find out, however, that they try to steer you in another direction.
We do this all the time for radio clients. We tell the sales rep we want to spend $10,000 in a week, knowing full well that $5,000 is plenty to get the frequency and gross rating points we want. Sometimes the rep will fax over a proposed schedule with $10,000 that is just ridiculous. Way too many spots. It's the radio equivalent of placing a full-page ad on every other page of the newspaper. You just don't need to do that, it's overkill, a waste of money. About half the time the sales rep will say, "Hey, that's just too much money to spend in that short amount of time. You need to either cut your budget, or extend the amount of time your ads will be running." Makes you feel more confident in that sales rep, doesn't it? But what if they don't say that? Then you know not to trust that person.
Test #3: Competing Media
Here's the third thing you can ask the sales rep to find out if their opinion is worthwhile ... or worth-less. Ask them about specific competing media. Again, do your homework and form your own opinion about the competing media before you ask. If you've concluded that a competitive radio station or the other daily newspaper would be a good fit for your campaign, and the sales rep only has negative things to say about it, that should throw up a red flag. Here's a sales rep that only has one thing in mind: Fattening his commission check. Steer clear, and ask for a new rep that's more objective.
Bonus Test: Longevity
Okay, one bonus question to ask a sales rep to find out what their opinion is worth. Here it is: Ask them first, how long they've been selling advertising, and second, how long they've been with this particular newspaper or radio station or whatever. The longer someone's been around in general, and the longer they've been with the company they're with now, the more likely they are to be objective. Sure that's a generalization, but maybe it can work for you. If a guy hops around from radio station to radio station every six months, that person is more likely to tell you whatever he thinks he needs to get the sale ... because he's probably starving!
The Sales Reps Who Are Good, the ones who really do have your best interest at heart, can be a very good source of information. They can give you helpful suggestions and steer you in the right path when you DON'T know exactly the best way to proceed. Usually, these kinds of reps will be happy to work with you even if you're not buying anything for them. They know that if they help you now, that you'll be likely to buy from them when it is appropriate.
Articles Index
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
