Want Sales to Achieve? Get S.M.A.R.T.
by Bob Berting, Berting Communications
How should your advertising salespeople approach their customers to discuss holiday advertising and to maximize their role as a marketing consultant? More specifically, how do they create a major role for their publication in the customer’s media mix campaign?
Too many times management and their advertising salespeople are caught up in one time promotions in the fall such as Harvest of Values, Building and Home Improvement sections. Football sponsor pages, and a host of other one time promotions. They are all wonderful promotions but in many cases, they interfere with preparing the customer for the big holiday season. Suddenly it’s early November and time to get the creative juices going for holiday advertising campaigns—but it’s too late.
Many retailers spend 25% of their yearly budgets on holiday advertising. Hopefully many will have an advertising plan which will lock in a majority of their budget with your publication. Let’s take a look at a plan which will help you to prepare for this important season.
Evaluating Relationships
With so much emphasis on regular advertisers, we sometimes forget our inactives—the people who once advertised with you, but dropped out. What better way to get them advertising again than to show them how you can creatively design an effective holiday advertising campaign for them. Another group are your prospects who aren’t sold on your publication so your holiday ad campaign plan can be the reason for their start with you.
The Farmer Theory
The key issue for your regulars, prospects, and inactives is that you plant the seed of thought before the start of the season. That means right now—in early October. Talk about holiday advertising with every contact you make. The irrigation and cultivation are the spec layouts you bring to them and the final close to convince them your publication is the key medium for their holiday program. This farmer approach is a consistent, ongoing relationship while the opposite is the hunter approach which is a one time, quick kill event or one time ad. Which will be the predominant group you develop—farmers or hunters?
Creative Strategy Plan
First of all, what are the customer’s goals for the holiday season? How can you help fulfill those goals? These goals can be transformed into benefits for the consumer and they also can be converted into the headings for the ads in the holiday campaign. The overall plan is based on the fact you have spent the early part of October preparing all your customers and getting commitments for the program. Although you can try to start people on the program yet in October, it may be prudent to push for a November start. November could have 3 moderate size ads, each with a separate idea, followed with a large dominant ad which can summarize the content of the 3 previous ads. December can have a pre-print insert as the kick off, followed by 3 moderate size ads. The use of color is really important and should be part of the package, at a reduced rate. Be sure and tell your advertisers about this reduced color rate.
Final Thought
Any plan has to be sold with enthusiasm. It’s up to you to now move forward on your holiday advertising effort. Remember to sell with emotion and justify with logic.
Bob Berting is a professional speaker, newspaper sales trainer, and publisher marketing consultant who has conducted over 1500 seminars for newspaper sales staffs, their customers, print media associations and trade associations in the US and Canada.
Berting’s new E-Booklet “Dynamic Advertising Sales and Image Power” can be ordered on his website www.bobberting.com or by sending your e-mail address and phone number with 21.95 check to Bob Berting who will send it to you as a download. Bob also conducts tele-seminars and webinars for advertising salespeople, print media management, merchant groups, and trade associations.
Contact Bob at 800-536-5408 and bob@bobberting.com. He is located at 6330 Woburn Drive, Indianapolis, In 46250.
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