I spend a lot of my time on the road visiting with sales staffs and their management teams, helping them identify areas to grow revenue. For the first part of the meeting, we deal with the nuts and bolts – reviewing the ratings, the perceived (and real) quality of the audience, the competitive marketplace. Since this is what the sellers are used to, they tend to be very comfortable since they are in their comfort zone. The result is a lively, interactive discussion where we talk about success stories and brainstorm new approaches to close business sold in 0:60, 0:30, and 0:15-second increments.
And then I bring up their largest growth opportunity and the topic that makes them squirm: digital. It never fails, as soon as I mention streaming, display ads, SEM and SEO, mobile, etc., they tend to lean back in their chairs and get really quiet. I ask about their metrics and they look at their feet. I ask about success stories and they check their phones. It was like I asked them about a bad rash or body odor.
Obviously, something is wrong with this picture. Digital revenue is growing at a rapid clip. This year, digital dollars will exceed television revenue for the first time, and the gap will continue to expand. Radio revenue is projected to be flat for the foreseeable future. So, you’d expect salespeople (who never shy away from making more money) would willingly gravitate to where the dollars are.
But they aren’t, and for many broadcasters, this poses a significant problem.
After much thought, I’ve concluded that a different approach to selling digital should be considered. Instead of asking (demanding?) that each salesperson make a digital quota, maybe it’s time to accept the fact that media sellers are really good at selling . . . media. They understand Nielsen, and have great relationships with clients that buy . . . media. Using Nielsen.
But when it comes to selling digital, too many sellers (and let’s admit it, many sales managers also), simply aren’t comfortable with the metrics and the potential solution set at their disposal to successfully sell digital.
So instead of asking sales teams to do things many are patently uncomfortable with and have proven they aren’t really great at it, maybe it’s time to change the equation so broadcasters can carve out revenue from the digital space. Here are a few suggestions:
- Narrow the focus. The mistake so many broadcasters make is they create a “tool box” approach to digital. They provide everything to their clients in the hope they’ll buy something. Of course, if selling digital is challenging for salespeople, selling A LOT of digital solutions is even more confusing. Consider narrowing down your digital offerings to one or two areas to start – maybe display and database marketing. Invest the time to ramp up your metrics and train your salespeople on the proper sales approach. Create success stories that can be shared. Over time, your sellers will get more comfortable with the concept and you can layer in additional digital solutions.
- Train, and then train some more. Digital products aren’t media products and require different sales skills and language. There are also different types of media buyers involved, who don’t think “Nielsen” but rather live in a world of “uniques” and “downloads.” This is not a natural transition for most sellers, so ongoing training is required. Consider bringing in clients to your sales meetings to talk about their needs. Hire a consultant who specializes in the space. But whatever you do, don’t assume that if someone can sell a radio or television commercial, they can sell digital.
- Think like a startup. This is a more radical suggestion, but should be carefully considered. I have seen a lot of failure where stations try to shoehorn digital products into their portfolio because in media, we tend to think a certain way, and that way is different than the way digital companies think. So instead of trying to do this efficiently, maybe it’s time to think of digital as a separate business and think of it as a start-up. A separate sales staff and management, with its own P&L, goals, and culture. In other words, put your digital effort in a position to compete with other digital pureplays like Facebook and Google, who are vacuuming up the majority of digital dollars because that’s all they do.
Move the digital group out of your building into a different space so it can think like an entrepreneur and be self-reliant, aggressively creating solutions for clients without being burdened by the two killers of digital programs we constantly hear when we visit our media clients:
“We’ve ever done it that way before.”
“No one has time to take that on. We all have day jobs.”
Digital provides a great opportunity for broadcasters, but we need to accept the fact it’s not a slam dunk. It requires a new approach and way of thinking. It can’t be done on the cheap and there’s no easy fix. But, there are so many digital dollars out there, it’s hard to make the case against going all in.
-Paul Jacobs
The WBA Digital Hotline is a free service of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. If you have a question about mobile, digital, social media, or content marketing, contact Paul Jacobs or Seth Resler at Jacobs Media at 248-353-9030.
