(By Loyd Ford) What are you selling when you sell local radio? What is our big advantage?
There’s so much that has been said about digital as our major threat and now artificial intelligence as an even scarier threat ready to gobble up our jobs and our future, but local radio has a hidden advantage that is more valuable than anything digital is good at today and will be even more valuable in the future.
What is it?
Nothing replaces local trust. If you are good at sharing that story about trust and radio, your sales will continue to grow.
We don’t talk about this enough. No bots in local radio fooling you that your ad is being seen by people who may actually not be….people at all.
Please don’t think I am saying digital is bad. I’m saying digital isn’t the same as radio and we should tell that story. Radio has opportunity that isn’t as good at accomplishing.
Dominating the car. That’s local radio.
Emotion and theatre of the mind. Creating FOMO. Again – local radio.
Do we control 100%? Well, no. What media brand gets 100% of something in 2023? Zero?
Radio dominates audio. Right now.
What Is The Truth About Value & Cost?
Smart sellers know that people never care about price if they see the value they are receiving is more than the cost. How do you do that? You build trust and you educate potential clients about the value of your product. Why they should want to attract local radio listeners of your brand or brands. If you effectively build a relationship with potential clients, grow trust and educate them by bringing creativity and stories focused on ‘The Why,” you will grow sales.
Consultative Sales Creates Win/Wins
In radio sales, we are literally working to understand advertisers, their problems, what motivates them and to create temptations for them to use radio to bring new customers into their business. There are always distractions, but some feel that radio has stopped educating new potential clients. That softens the perception of a client creating advantages for their business by being present on local radio.
We talk a lot about culture, value, purpose and tribe. Why? Because these things – when wrapped in trust – equals growth of brand strength. You can charge more for brands because you can share stories about the meaning of your brand or brands.
Simon Sinek talking directly about these things, especially the importance of tribe. It may surprise you. He talks about tribe as trust, but no one has local tribe opportunity like local radio.
Listen to Simon Sinek talk about distrust in our current era of life and the loss of more trust as technology continues to speed life up even more. Then, think about the advantages you have representing local radio brands, what that means in your community, with your target audience and go help clients connect with specific local audience important to their business in a way no other vehicle can.
Loyd Ford is president and chief strategic officer at Rainmaker Pathway Consulting Works (RPC). They help local radio with ratings and revenue. Reach him anytime at 864.448.4169 or [email protected]. Read Loyd’s Radio Ink archives here.
