What I learned from an NYC agency today.
Spent some time with a New York City based advertising agency today. Spoke with the interactive buyers, as well as those in charge of broadcast and print. Guess what? They’re ALL interested in buying web in some form, even non-banner inventory, even though they may have originally been focused on broadcast or print, or plain ole banners.
At first I thought all 3 buyers would have a separate bucket of marketing dollars from which to pull. But no. All 3 that I talked to, had access to a central pool of dollars that they could use to solve a marketing challenge; whether it be in print, broadcast, online or some other form of marketing or promotion.
Makes sense. The days of relying specifically on one form of marketing or another, are over. Lucky for me, I had a fairly large bag of tricks up my sleeve; rich media display ads, sem/seo, online video solutions, as well as event marketing placement.
Tips for Keeping your Media Job ?
Think your job is safe in Broadcast or Newspaper? Hopefully it is. But just in case you want to be pro-active in order to increase your chances of avoiding a layoff…..read this……
After 32 years in the biz, sport writer Paul Oberjuerge got whacked from the San Berdardino Sun. Unfortunately, this is an all to common occurrence. Not just in Newspaper, but in Broadcast too. Paul drew up a list of “Tips on Keeping Your Print Journalism Job.” Some of it is politically incorrect. Some might make you cringe. Yet, it’s worth a read.
Alot of this stuff applies to those in TV and Radio as well. Note that “embrace the Web” is Number One. Here’s a few from the list:
Ten Tips for Staying Employed:
1. Embrace the web. It’s going to be extra work, and you’re going to be on your own 24-hour news/opinion cycle. But that’s how it is; you can rest up when you’re dead. Management is keenly aware of the foot-draggers on this front. Don’t wait to be ordered to “serve other platforms” of the paper. Volunteer. Blog. Post photos. Consider video. Offer podcasts. Do web-only quick-and-dirty news stories. You’re a multi-media machine now!
4. Stop whining. Journalism is a business notorious for its contrary and crabby people, for second-guessers and “that’s not how we’ve done it before” grousers. Five years ago you might have been overlooked as the Charming Curmudgeon. Now, you’re the Negative Nellie. When the call comes down to trash another 10 percent of the newsroom, don’t be the relentless kvetcher who immediately pops into the editor’s mind. Oh, and remember, “second-guessing” now consists of anything other than instant acceptance.
Local Dilemma: Integrate or Separate?
Your print & web folks…side by side…in the newsroom; the integrated newsroom.
Forward thinking newspapers are evolving into multi-media news organizations; where print employees are mandated to see web as equally important as print…..and in some cases, MORE important than print.
Does the print ad director sit next to the web sales manager? What is the bonus/commission structure like? How many reps sell web only? How many sell both print and web? How do they avoid sales cannibalization and in-fighting? How do they push more than just convergence up-sell packages? This is the stuff that can get really hairy at local media companies; building new revenue and sales models.
Experts suggest that media companies MUST turn their web efforts into separate businesses, complete with stand alone sales forces, offices, etc……and for the most part… we agree. Yet with that strategy comes a few near term landmines. The biggest hurdle I believe, will be to find strong online sellers/managers to staff these online-only efforts, especially within the confines of a bootstrap budget. This will not be easy.
A big can of worms.These newly hired web-only sellers could then be calling on the very same agencies and major advertisers that the traditional reps already have relationships with. Unless the financial motivation/bonus structures are adjusted, this will just cause an awful lot of in-fighting amongst reps. In addition, the media buyer would prefer just ONE point of contact with your company. These overworked agency types would HATE to carve out more meetings to learn about your company’s web packages, especially from eager green horns who hammer them all day with cold calls and email.
I’ve seen this firsthand: traditional reps selling against web reps; literally bad-mouthing the online offerings of the parent company. This happened because the commission structure and job description needed a refresh. The traditional manager offered up a measly 2% commission for each web sale. Behind closed doors, traditional reps would lament; “2% was not worth their time”. They also knew they would NOT catch heat, for NOT hitting their web budget.
Solution: Adopt a hybrid approach for the near term. Train and financially motivate traditional sales staff, while you build a separate web sales force to go after businesses that has been, for the most part, ignored. Maybe most importantly, make sure that the upper level managers get trained in all things web. How can they manage a web sales force, if they barely have a grasp of the online marketing space themselves?
Here’s a quick test to determine if you are managing and maximizing your web sales efforts properly. In regards to traditional sales staff, ask yourself these questions:
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Does each seller have a mandatory web budget to hit? How did you arrive at that number?
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Is the commission structure similar or better to what your NEW BIZ commission is?
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Are there penalties in place if the rep DOES NOT hit their web budget?
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Do you have senior reps that reluctantly sell web? Do they know their clients online strategy?
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What is the total local online spend in your market? What is your share?
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Does top management have strong grasp of web marketing? If not, how will they effectively manage the effort?
