Radio Sales Café

Is anyone here at Radio Sales Café doing email marketing to his or her clients on a regular basis?

In this article from Radio Business Report, January 8, 2011, Don "The Idea Guy" Snyder from Ohio shares his thoughts on email marketing for radio advertising salespeople.  He writes:

In addition to those spots-and-dots you've been slinging your entire media sales career, most of you have also been tasked within the last year or three to make sales of digital advertising products like web banners, pre-rolls, streaming spots, and email.

As proven by recent media sales statistics, you're not all that good at it. You're getting "better" but ultimately the increase your media company is seeing in digital revenue is woefully lower than overall percentage of dollars being invested in digital advertising as a whole.  One of the major contributing factors to this disparity is that you simply don't understand new media as well as you understand traditional media.

You get better by doing
Some of you are really trying. You attended a seminar and listened to someone tell you how import digital marketing is, you learned the lingo and can now identify the difference between "open rate" and "opt-in", but you're not really gaining first-hand experience with the power of digital marketing. The best way to really understand something new (and to get better at explaining it to others) is to actually DO it. 

You can learn all the terminology in regard to Skiing that you like.  You can learn the difference between downhill and cross-country, you can learn about different styles of boots and bindings, and you can even learn about skiing on different types of snow -- but you can't convince me to go out and actually invest in all the equipment and lessons unless you can share some personal experiences with me about the thrill of being on the slopes yourself. So, how are you going to sell me on email marketing if you possess zero experience in how it's done and results you can achieve from using best practices to create stronger relationships and increase your sales? Just as in the skiing example, you need to give it a try yourself (perhaps even fall down a few times) and then share your real experiences with you clients -- which will be easy to do, because they will actually SEE you putting the theory into practice.

Here's how to get started down the path toward increasing your experience (and increasing your sales) using a personal email marketing strategy:

1. Create your list(s)
Assemble a list of your best customers and another of your best prospects. Keep them as two individual mailing lists so that you have the ability to send messages to the entire group, as well as the option to send messages to these two groups separately (targeting messages specifically to clients and non-clients.)

2. Find an email tool that makes it easy (and fun!) to use
Outlook doesn’t really cut it for an effort like this. Some CRM and sales management programs like ACT or Efficio offer email options within their programs, but they are extremely utilitarian with very few options that allow you to add a bit of "personality" to your messages. On the opposite end, there are a lot of hard-core email campaign tools out there. Constant Contact, Exact Target and many others offer the ability to track almost infinite amounts of analytic data from each email you send, as well as the opportunity to create complex HTML coded emails for the ultimate in custom designed messages. The cost factor is much higher for these tools and the time and skill need to take advantage of the custom designs usually involved cutting and pasting computer code, and even a minor mistake can make your fancy email an unreadable mass of computer programming babble.

The best email marketing tool I've found that is especially for salespeople was created by one of the most well-known sales author and trainer, Jeffrey Gitomer. The system is called "Ace Of Sales" (www.AceOfSales.com) and was designed to help salespeople make more sales. It costs less than $20 per month to use, and you can give it a free 30-day test drive by using promo code "MEDIA30" on their website.

Ace Of Sales allows you to easily create customer branded emails, email postcards, and email newsletters. You can even use the system to send physical postcards and greeting cards to your list members, all with a few simple clicks of the mouse.  Free monthly webinars help you improve your results and increase your skill at using the sales tools. And since it was developed with Jeffrey Gitomer himself, there is a complete archive of video advice from this guru of sales, loyalty, and attitude.

3. Deliver a message of value
Creating an email campaign solely focused on a "salesy" message (your rates, your packages, your ratings, etc.) should be avoided at all costs. It won't get read by your recipients and they'll ask to be removed from your list faster than you can imagine.  Instead, focus on delivering information that helps them build their business or provides inspiration. 
- Give them a tip on writing better radio copy. 
- Provide a link to a YouTube video of an award-winning television commercial from overseas.
- Send them a quote of the week
- Send a cartoon or a video link that will make them smile or laugh
- Share a success story about THEM (not about YOU)
- Send a weekly five question Q&A you conducted with a list member (again, it's about THEM and not about YOU)
How many people do you think they'll forward a funny photo to? How many people to do you think they'll forward their interview to? (I don't know, but it's definitely more than the number of people they'd forward your sales package of the week!)

4. Create (and stick to!) a mailing schedule
By all accounts, a weekly email is the best option (Tuesdays always seem to come out as the best day of the week to send a message.) But I would argue there are creative reasons to go against the grain.  What if you sent a message every Monday morning with an inspiring quotation or visually stunning image to get their week off to a positive start? What if you sent a short list of fun things to do this weekend every Friday? What about motivational messages sent Wednesdays to get them over "hump-day?"  I subscribe to a sales advice newsletter that sends me a short message EVERY day. That might be overwhelming if it was a long email message, but the author keeps it short, sweet, and just a few lines in length. It's quickly become one of my favorite things to read every morning.  The core philosophy here is to be consistent. Set your audience's expectation of receiving your message of value once per week and never fail to deliver.

5. Make it easy to forward (and easy to subscribe)
Include an overt invitation to recipients in every issue to forward your email to their friends. You'll increase the chance of your message being forwarded by more than 75% if you simply include a line that says "forward to your friends." But that's only half the battle -- you must also include information on how to subscribe to your newsletter in every issue. Otherwise, the people who receive it via being forwarded won't know how to sign-up in order to receive their own copy sent directly to their email address.

--Possessing creative powers beyond those of mere mortals, Don The Idea Guy is the Internet Sales Manager and Director of Results for RadiOhio, Inc.   READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

I sent a weekly newsletter to my mailing list of clients, prospects, etc.

I have it divided into two parts...an educational aspect from a book or magazine that I analyze and show why it is relevant to my clients. The second aspect is what is going on at our stations, which I keep to a teaser. I never put prices in the newsletter.

I create this every Monday morning in Publisher, which I save as a JPG and embed in the email using Outlook.

I have been doing this for about three months now and the results have been great. It is allowing myself to become thought of as more of a consultant than just a sales rep, and clients love the educational aspect. This takes about a half hour or an hour of my day each week.

That sounds like an awesome newsletter!  Would you consider sharing a sample issue with RSC members?  There's a discussion on station newsletters that was started a while back, and if you were able to post yours here, that would be really neat!  Here's the link: http://www.radiosalescafe.com/forum/topics/station-newsletters

Thank you!

~ Rebecca

Thank you for sharing my article with your site members, Rod. 

If you'd like more ideas on email marketing, you can get a free copy of my ebook "52 Ways to Use Email to Flush-Out New Business and Trump Your Competition" by signing-up for the free 30-day Ace Of Sales test drive using promo code MEDIA30 at www.AceOfSales.com. Send one of your cool new branded emails to ace@dontheideaguy.com requesting your copy of the book, and I'll reply with ebook as an attached PDF.

Rebecca,

Here's where I put my newsletter on our station website:

http://www.stormlakeradio.com/JR/8291363

Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think!

Jeremy

Jeremy,

Thanks very much; will do!

I recognized your URL immediately -- guess I hadn't looked at your profile here, or I would have realized sooner that you work for KKIA/KAYL.  I've worked with Buzz Paterson a few times over the years, although I haven't spoken with him recently . . . nice to meet another member of the Storm Lake Radio team! 

Thanks again; I'll look forward to checking out your newsletter!

~ Rebecca

Jeremy,

Just finished reading your newsletter - I like its emphasis on providing value for your customers and prospects. I also "liked" your page on Facebook.

Have a good one,

Rebecca

Thanks, Rebecca. I work in a territory with a lot of advertising reps selling packages and ads, so I really wanted to seperate myself as an asset to them and enforce myself as a marketing consultant. So far so good!

Thanks for the feedback!

Jeremy