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ENS on SalesENS on Sales is Wayne's weekly media sales tip. You can signup below to get your free copy in your email every week, and you are welcome to view our archives. To request more information please complete the following form:**All requests are submitted only to Angela and Wayne of ENS Media Inc.**
Crack the CategoryPlay ‘Crack the Category’ I was talking to a station manager the other day who is experiencing double digit sales increases.
When the president of his company visited the market to learn the secret to their success, the station manager said, “Did you see that little fruit market on the way here? They’re on the air. Did you notice the hot dog vendor at the car wash on the corner? They’re on the air!”
This station is actually having inventory problems!
Stations that are counting on the traditional retail categories, car dealers and furniture stores, are not cutting it today. There are 62 registered businesses in your market for every 1,000 market population, and we estimate that 50 of those 62 are prospects.
That means in a market of 150,000 people, you have 7,500 prospects. Our research reveals that 82%, approximately 5,600, of those business owners cannot recall having seen a radio rep!
I’m a little hawkish when stations talk about business being tough in the face of the research we’ve done and the successes we’re having. There is lots of room for growth, in any economy, once we start calling on new categories.
And here is the beauty of breaking a new category;
1.) It’s all about share of voice. When a new category advertises on your station, by virtue of being new they have the dominant share of voice and share of mind with your audience. New categories always get high returns on their investment.
2.) Once your new advertiser starts to steal market share, their competitors follow suit and advertise too. I have one station that had no recruitment advertising four years ago and they now have more than $300,000 a year in recruitment advertising. I have another who had no law firms a couple of years ago and they now have four law firms on air with 52-week campaigns.
Cracking new categories is more difficult than selling known radio advertisers. As long as no competitors in the category advertise, everyone in the category captures their ‘fair share’ of the market by default, and everyone is relatively happy.
To open that new category door, start with a valid business reason for your first call. Some information about their market, an article from one of their trade journals about the power of branding…..anything that positions you as an expert who wants to help them grow their business.
Why not do yourself and our entire industry a favor? Run a new category sales contest for your team. I’ll guarantee you that three years from now you’ll have multiple competitors from every category you crack!
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