Political ad spending -- looking forward to 2016?

I don't know if anything could have been done to stop the death of the dinosaurs. Lava flowing from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii is going to make its way downhill to the sea, and man will not deter its course. There are some things in which we are powerless. Changes in media spending habits may be one more fine example, but I am betting, and hoping, that we still have a hand in our future. 

I live in the 24th Congressional District. Incumbent Democrat Dan Maffei is fighting off a strong challenge from Republican John Katko. This means nothing to you if you live outside the district, unless your home district is touched by the Syracuse TV market. Estimates of ad spending in this race have topped $5-million, and the great majority of those dollars have come from outside the district. Both parties have seen this race as a volatile swing zone so the outside money has flowed. And the winner is...local television. As we approach Election Day (tomorrow as I write) 30-second local spots have been almost entirely swept up by political messages, most of them by this Congressional battle. TV execs are whooping it up right now (and probably already sweating the "curse of media success": going up against these sales numbers next year). Still, TV's future seems bright, or brighter than most, except for you know what.

According to an article on emarketer.com (http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Total-US-Ad-Spending-See-Largest-Increase-Since-2004/1010982), 2014 will wind up seeing the biggest jump in ad dollars since 2004. TV is king at 38.1% of the mix while print grabs 17.7% of the ad dollars. Between now and 2018, it's estimated that TV will lose 6% of it's share while print will lose almost 21% of its claim. Every category is losing except digital. 28.2% of dollars are there right now, expecting to grow to a share of 37.3% by 2018, a 32% increase. The web is full of stories documenting the challenges newspapers/print media have had building digital services that provide revenue. As an industry, as a state association and as individual publishers, we have to overcome that or continue to lose. Why not make the 2016 elections our target to do so?

It all comes down to having an audience or readership, as always, but knowing who they are and how to segment them for successful targeting has become the key to new revenue. Our collective past attempts have relied on packaging digital with print, but that's because we desperately want our print products to survive. Like Tarzan, we have to let go of one vine before we can grab another if we want to keep moving forward. Otherwise we are just hanging there, gradually losing our grip. 

Continue to build audience with diverse print products, and tie them to exciting websites that build different demographic groups. Learn how to integrate video in your sites with interactive platforms that advertisers (or candidates) can take advantage of. The goal: have it up and running by this time next year and be ready to market it to the candidates. Let your associations (like FCPNY) bundle it for access to national and statewide political action groups. 

It's different, yes. The margins are different, too. Historically, that's too bad, but it is what is. Given a second chance, the dinosaurs would probably have settled for change with new possibilities for growth rather than extinction. But they didn't have a choice. 

Don't let a little rain wash away success

It's Friday afternoon as I write this, pushing toward quitting time. The sun is finally out...this might be the first decent day of the week. On Monday of this week, as rain was pouring down on Central New York, I said to my wife "Thank God we didn't take this week off!" Looking back on the past few days, I say it again, with gusto, "Thank God we didn't take this week off!" Rainy, cool, unsettled...not what you'd expect the final week of July to be.

There are a couple of great sales reminders in this example.

First, don't assume that what you expect to happen will happen. July is sunny and hot, year after year. But not this week. Just because a prospect or customer always acts a certain way or a promotion produces certain results, don't take it for granted. The more you don't anticipate unusual circumstances, the more likely they will happen. Murphy's Law. Be prepared for all possibilities, in all situations. Be flexible, think on your feet and follow the flow.

Second, like planning a week's vacation months ahead of time you have to make the most of it regardless of conditions that prevail at the moment. An appointment with a big agency or major advertiser that you have waited and waited for can go sideways in a hurry through no fault of your own. You may not have the option to wait for a better time or better conditions. You have to make a good time happen regardless of the situation. It's like a camping trip that turns into a rainout; playing checkers with a smile may not be as much fun as beach volleyball but it can still get you where you want to go in the relationship, if you make it so.

Talking about hopeful outcomes with your prospect will always help cut through the "rain and mud" that sometimes happen in a sales presentation. Focus always on what the customer wants and needs, not on what you have to sell. A happy customer always feels like a ray of sunshine.

FCPNY is a little like the postal service; we help our members with their needs regardless of the weather! Call us at 877-275-2726 or email me at tcuskey@fcpny.com. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Meet a "new school" expert.

Salespeople from our publishing membership have asked about the new selling style or the “new school” approach to sales. One hears a lot about it today when searching for training and education information on becoming a more effective salesperson. In my mind, Marc Wayshak is one of the best at presenting the skills of a new school salesperson. Marc received rave reviews after presenting at our FCPNY SuperConference earlier this year.

I subscribe to Marc's weekly email. This week's entry follows, and it is to the point on how the sales process is evolving. From Marc....

Here Are Five Ways to Stand out from the Competition

#1. Tone down the enthusiasm. Salespeople love to show their enthusiasm to prospects about their product or service. The problem is that every salesperson uses the same fake enthusiasm, and prospects are on to this gig. It’s time to par back on the histrionics and simply be real and sincere.

#2. Stop trying to persuade. All of your competitors are out right now trying to persuade their prospects to buy from them. Persuasion is a very old-school strategy in selling, and it simply doesn’t work anymore because every salesperson uses it. Instead of persuading, spend time asking effective questions and understanding what your prospects are really seeking to accomplish.

#3. Ask questions focused on outcomes. Nothing will separate you from your competition more than fully understanding what your prospects are looking to actually accomplish.

So ask questions such as, “Help me understand what you’d be looking to accomplish,” or, “If I gave you a magic wand to change anything about your situation, what would you change?”

By asking questions like this you are going to more effectively understand what your prospects are seeking to achieve; you’ll thus stand out from your competitors as the person who understands his goals.

#4. Learn about key challenges. Your prospects will not be buying your product or service; they’ll be buying a solution to their challenges. By starting your conversations focused on the challenges that your prospects are facing, you are going to have a much better idea of how to actually solve those challenges.

Think of going to a doctor: A doctor doesn’t ask you what solution you want. A doctor asks you, “What are the challenges that you’re facing?” and asks a lot of effective questions to understand what’s really going on. Follow this same protocol and you will find that your approach is totally distinct from that of your competitors.

#5. Don’t pitch your prospect. Prospects are so used to being pitched by salespeople all day long that the second you start to give a pitch, the prospect’s defense walls will go up significantly. Drop the pitch because it’s time to start effectively asking questions to understand what’s going on.

Once you’ve fully understood what’s happening and you’ve gotten buy-in from that prospect about what those challenges are, it’s time to just share some potential solutions with your prospects in the form of a proposal or presentation without all of the flare and hype of a pitch.

The most successful salespeople stand out like a sore thumb from their competition. Be the apple among the oranges. By applying these five ways to stand out from your competition, you’ll find that you’re totally and completely distinct from your competitors.

Marc encourages his readers to share his information, as I have today. I have to admit that I struggle with some of the new approaches. For example, I am an enthusiastic guy and toning down goes against my grain. But growth only comes through change, and change takes effort, sometimes pain.

I invite you to visit Marc's website, GamePlanSelling.com, where you can get his free eBook, 25 Tips to Crush Your Sales Goal and receive his weekly email on sales tips. And remember to contact us at FCPNY whenever we can be of service to you. Call 877-275-2726 or email tcuskey@fcpny.com. Thanks for your time today!

Local ad tracking comes through training, too

I am a sucker for a deal. This morning, the McDonald's drive-thru, two Sausage McMuffins for $3.00 (no, I didn't eat them both; I shared with my colleague at work. Really, I did.). This particular McDonald's has two drive-thru lanes but only one pay and pick-up lane. And they were busy. When I got to the pay window, the young lady smiled and said, without hesitation, "that will be $3.28." I replied, "How do you know? How can you tell which order is mine when you have customers coming from two directions?" She laughed. "The drive-thru order station takes a picture of you and your car so I know who has what!"

Duh.

Smile, you're on Candid Camera! I don't think we appreciate how often we are tracked today, by cameras, by online cookies and software, GPS on our smart phones and Lord knows what else. From an advertising standpoint -- print advertising in particular -- it can make for uncomfortable moments as advertisers today expect, even demand that they know exactly what their advertising and marketing is producing. This digital tracking environment we live in has groomed them to expect hard, fast answers. It makes them think traditional media advertising is lacking because, short of a coupon count, it's hard to track the results.

Arm yourself with knowledge to share with advertisers:

1. Tracking an ad is insanity. Does Alan Mulally, Ford CEO, run one TV ad for Mustangs and then measure sales results? Of course not. Your advertiser shouldn't either. They should be running planned campaigns that raise consumer awareness of their brand and build tactical urgency to move product that the market wants at competitive value.

2. Teach your advertisers to train everyone who works for them to ask, "Where did you hear about us? How did you know about the sale?" And then continually harvest the responses. Stay on top of results because the market is always changing.

3. Advertise online? Of course they should. The website is a huge resource for product and service -- and value -- information. A recent BIA/Kelsey study shared by the folks at AdMall points out, though, that 93% of local shopping happens at brick & mortar locations. That is in stores, not online. They also found that 61.8% of the 55-plus crowd read local print and newspapers and 57% like to use coupons (good coupons, I might add. I'm 55-plus!). 45% of the Gen-X crowd (aged 39 to 54) likes local publications and newspapers, too. Even 37% of the millennials are readers. Traditional print media is still a place where smart ad money, at the local level, should be directed.

FCPNY offers tools like CVC readership studies and AdMall not to help our salespeople "close deals" but to help them make advertisers more aware of how to effectively reach the market and become successful. Our members have an ongoing history of making small, local businesses successful. Call us at 877-275-2726 or email tcuskey@fcpny.com for help and training in making this happen in today's marketplace.

Thank you for your time today!

Don't make people guess who you are.

Over the past month or so I have been involved with our own FCPNY annual Super Conference and the Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP) conference, held this year at Disney in Orlando. At each event I had the opportunity to meet people face-to-face that previously I had known only through email or phone contact. With many folks today hiding behind their digital communications means, this is becoming a more common occurrence. What's more, none of these people looked like I imagined they would.

Two reasons:

1. I am quickly becoming one of the older people in the conference room. I am in that narrowing group of business people nearing retirement age while most of the other folks in the room are 59 and under. I tend to imagine people as being in my own demographic stratum but most turn out to be younger. Duh. Much younger in some cases. I met one salesperson that looked like she could have been the high school aged daughter of the woman I imagined her to be.

2. No one ever looks like you imagine them -- we are all non-psychic, lousy guessers.

Which leads to the selling point: prospects use the same electronic gatekeepers as our colleagues, only they have them running at DEFCON 1. On top of that, prospects are trying to do more with less (just like our companies) so they have less time to spend chatting with salespeople. Thus, we often don't know what they look like, sound like, what they need, want or fear. How do we overcome?

Honestly, if I knew the hard, fast answer I wouldn't be here writing a blog, I'd be cashing checks in Palm Springs. The wires are full of suggestions on how to break through and get conversations started. Boil down most of what you read and you're left with two basic realities:

1. You haven't shown or aroused potential value in your brief opening.

2. You don't stand out from the rest of the selling crowd.

If your product doesn't have value, fix it. If it does and you haven't conveyed it, practice. Be sincere and be supportive. Don't sell. And practice, practice, practice what you say or do.

If you don't stand apart, work on branding your product and yourself. Yes, you need a personal brand that you convey so people remember you and what you do. Unless you’re the product owner, your personal brand may be the only brand you have total control of. Make sure everyone knows what you look and sound like, and what you stand for. 

We at FCPNY can help you with all of these sales needs as well as other selling issues you may be facing. Give us a call at 877-275-2726 or email me at tcuskey@fcpny.com.

Thanks so much for your time!

Crazy and fun still sells.

Two industry headlines in this morning's AdMall Minute email serve as great reminders that anything is possible in advertising. Both reference recent stories in Advertising Age magazine.

First, and most timely, is Richard Sherman. At this point even the most sleepy non-football fan is likely aware of the Seattle Seahawk's TV tirade following his team's win last Sunday, punching their ticket to the Super Bowl. This pro-wrestling-meets-Darth Vader rant featured a deep cutting insult aimed at San Francisco 49er receiver Michael Crabtree, a "mediocre" player according to Sherman (who also pointed out that he himself is the best at what he does).

True? Who knows. Rude? Definitely. Inappropriate? Not according to national, big-label marketers who want to cash in on Mr. Sherman's streaking notoriety. According to the story, this is what many marketers hope for: an opportunity to ride a huge wave in the middle of an ocean of hype that is the Super Bowl. Cha-ching for Richard Sherman and his entourage of agents and advisors. Underneath the surface of this sometimes angry athlete is a very smart and savvy man. This was no accident.

Local advertising lessons: non-criminal crazy behavior by the suddenly famous can be an opportunity to latch on to. The key is to move fast and grab the wave while it's there. Super Bowl size events probably don't happen in your market so look for opportunities that do occur that you can squeeze for ad dollars.

Second is a humorous account by writer Sally Abrahms whose husband happens to be a dead ringer for "the most interesting man in the world." You know who he is..."Bigfoot once took a picture of him!" He "doesn't always drink beer, but" when he does he prefers you probably know what. The look-alike's life is full of sightings and folks who want their picture taken with him. Probably a mixed blessing. The point of the story, though, is the opportunities created for mature models and spokespeople as the gracefully aging population buys more goods and services than ever before.

Local advertising lessons: know your market, know your audience and use appropriate models, terminology and scenarios to entice them.

Selfish reasons for this: if you're an FCPNY member, use your AdMall. It's a tremendous member benefit, full of data and information. It's paid for by selling CPAN network ads, especially ClassifiedsNY ads. When you sell these ads, we keep benefits like AdMall, CVC Audits, training, conferences and more flowing to you. If you don't sell the ads those benefits and your edge in the local marketplace go away. And we all know that once you lose something good, it seldom returns.

Need help with network ads, AdMall or local opportunities? Call me at 877-275-2726 or email me at tcuskey@fcpny.com and I will do all I can to assist you. Thank you!