Hello everyone!
I have 2 questions that I am hoping that other radio sales gurus can shed some light on -- it will be much appreciated!
First, can anyone give me an idea how you price your remotes? What sort of add-ins do you include? We have a small staff here and I have been with the station for about 9 months now. From what I understand, we purposely had our remotes priced too high in the past because we actually didn't want to do them! Now things have changed and it's time to make the prices a little more reasonable, while still be competitive. Any input would be great.
Also, I am working on creating some sort of referral program for our clients. If they refer us to any other potential advertisers, giving them bonus spots if their referral turns into a sale. Does anyone else do anything like this?
Thanks in advance.
Amy
We are the most expensive in our market by 3 or 4 times--depending on the station. But we guarantee equal rotation of the ads, we only do 3 hour remotes, we always have at least 50 ads running beforehand, etc. We feel like our remotes are more likely have success when they're set up this way -- and then we'll get the repeat business. We also limit how many we do each week--a max of two in the spring, fall and winter, max of 3 in the summer.
On the programming side, we also make sure that remotes (or direct broadcasts) are a big deal. We don't do them on a cell phone, we banner down the street, we send two trucks when we can (sometimes three). Often the talent goes in with the seller to meet them before the remote. We're always there an hour early to set-up. We try to do a bunch of little things to set ours apart and make them worth more.
I am not sure where you are located, so that might make a difference in your prices, compared to ours. Our On-Location Broadcast plan is $250 per hour for a 2 hour minimum. We then include 20 30-second commercials to be run the week of the event at a discounted price, bringing the total to $749.
Questions: Is an On-Location Broadcast for 2 hours going to help the client? Will it actually generate more traffic than putting the money into commercials instead? If your broadcast for any reason doesn't generate the kind of traffic the client thinks it should, could it actually hurt your future efforts with that client? Food for thought.
We do 2-hr remotes. 25 30-second promos promoting the event are included as well as 25 :30 ads giving customers a reason to shop during the event. Price is $1150 plus $100 talent fee.
I do everything I can to talk a customer out of a remote. Often, their expectations are way too high and I can get them a lot more traffic, for the same money, with an aggressive ad schedule.
