(By Buzz Knight) This week at the Radio Show 2020 presented by the NAB and the RAB I delivered a presentation called “How Programming and Sales need a makeover”.
In the presentation, I discussed that today’s internal Programming and Sales teams should strive to re-set the internal culture as a first step to maximizing monetization in these challenging times.
Great collaborative efforts are producing tremendous results all over the country, but as the difficult task of budgeting for 2021 is beginning we have to ramp up our efforts of excellence to have a better chance at getting our fair share of revenue.
The internal teams need to improve their culture by being diligent about documenting success and building upon internal pride.
I discussed how there must be an obsession with our advertisers built upon understanding client “hot buttons” as a path to better client “partnerships” and the “next generation of NTR.”
One of the pieces of the process of preparing for 2021 that I discussed in the presentation was an internal planning meeting with all key stakeholders called a “Promotional Monetization Analysis” where each available station asset is discussed to ensure that it was monetized most effectively.
Also, part of the discovery process for the meeting involved getting specific client feedback regarding promotions they loved, what could have been improved and in general how the client partnership relationship can be maximized.
This reminded me of my late friend, former Beasley VP of Sales Bob McCurdy who in one of his last blogs in Radio Ink back on July 5th titled “What Got us here won’t keep us here” wrote:
“Enhance Relationship with key decision makers. Dig in with agency planning groups to understand how they view and go about choosing media. This knowledge would enable me to better “position” my media assets.”
I went to a select group of great thought leaders who like Bob McCurdy have supported our medium for years and asked the question: “What can radio do better when it comes to presenting creative solutions for agencies to get the best share of the marketplace.?”
Lauren Russo is the EVP Managing Partner, Audio Investments and Promotions at Horizon Media and she has been a long- time supporter of our business.
According to Lauren: “Radio Broadcasters need to provide holistic solutions utilizing all of their assets across broadcast and digital while leveraging their 1st party data to inform sales proposals to align with brand objectives. Measurement and attribution on the backend to prove the effectiveness and value against a brand’s KPI’s are critical in today’s data- driven environment.”
Going down a similar path to the question is Bruce Mittman, President and CEO Mittcom. Bruce sits at a unique vantage point because in addition to owning his agency, he is also the owner of radio stations (Community Broadcasters).
According to Bruce: “Deliver to the advertiser an attribution model with all schedule’s which measures and demonstrates ROI! Provide the agency with a clear rationale of radio’s contribution to the overall media strategy. Demonstrate radio’s unique creative audience engagement potential and cost efficiencies.”
Lastly, I asked the question to Glenn Rosenberg, the owner of Power Media in Jericho, NY and he said:
“Radio pushes their salespeople to develop new business but puts almost no effort to retain the business. Most of the time, when one of our radio campaigns ends, we don’t hear from the rep to ask how the campaign did or even if we’d like to renew.”
I hope if you saw the presentation you found actionable items and I hope in the spirit of Bob McCurdy’s comments you will seek feedback from key decision makers as a path to incremental improvement.
Buzz Knight is the CEO of Buzz Knight Media and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]
