Helping your Clients Buy Better - by Mark Ramsey

He says, If I ran a local media company, here are a few of the things I would do that might be different from what you’re doing:

1. Create a digital destination (a corner of our digital portfolio) specifically for clients and potential clients – open to anyone (yes, even your competitors – because they are lazy and will watch you in slack-jawed awe).
2. Blog regular tips about how to use our local media company’s portfolio of assets to get the best results – including real-life case studies
3. Provide access to this content via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc., and make sure to share it with your current and potential clients
4. Interview clients on how they achieve their greatest success with our portfolio of assets – use video and post it
5. Interview station staff and sellers on how clients can maximize their success using our assets – use video and post it
6. Introduce would-be clients to new assets that can amplify the impact of their over-the-air buy
7. Take client questions and offer answers:  A Q&A section
8. A digital “suggestion box.”  Offer the opportunity for would-be clients to offer ideas and feedback on how we could meet their needs better. Report back on how those ideas are implemented (just like Starbucks does).
9. Keep the focus of all this on value: Educating clients so that their problems can be solved better, faster, and cheaper.  This is not about song-and-dance.  It’s not a pitch.  It’s solid information clients can use to make their jobs better and their businesses more successful.  This is not an email blast – it’s not spam.  It’s value – and value is defined in their eyes, not yours.

Good, thought-provoking stuff here.  I particularly like his idea for a digital "suggestion box" - tells us how we can serve you better.

QUESTION FOR RSC MEMBERS:  Do you have a special place on your station website reserved for use by your advertisers?  If so, how are you using it?  Commercial archives?  Commercial examples (copy, MP3)?   Advertising clinics?  Articles on advertising? 

Maybe we should make this a Friday Poll question...)