Repeat Sales

There are two strategies which you adopt after you make your initial ad space sale and move to make repeat sales. Both depend upon your client being delighted with the results of their first advert .... so that they now TRUST you.

1.      Get your client to agree to a SCHEDULE of further ads with you as quickly as possible ..... then keep adding items to the schedule, which becomes a 'marketing package'.

It's much easier to 'add a couple of items' to an existing schedule or package than to make a 'new' sale.

2.      Find ways to INTEGRATE some part of your client's marketing operations with your publication ... so that the COST OF CHANGE becomes HIGH. It HURTS them to stop doing business with you.

Let's look at both of these strategies:

1. Schedules and Packages

Now that you've got your first sale, it's time to sell something entirely different -- Packages of multimedia advertising, marketing tools and events.

It's a switch. Instead of single sales, your goal is to sell 'contracts' and 'packages'.

Which means that you need to become good at selling Web, event and sponsorships as well as directory listings, buyer's guides, Web ads, booths at trade shows .... and anything you can get money for.

It's going to take some more learning (the products, not the sales techniques - these stay the same) but the rewards of selling media packages outweigh the difficulties.

So. You need to learn how each medium works, and how to offer clients synergy through cross-media programs. Be realistic, however. You shouldn't be bogged down with the technicalities and service required for Internet ads.

You're offering the RESULTS of what a multimedia package will do for your client . The 'process' of how this works is secondary.

Just think "package," and call in the geeks and new media wonks if the client wants to get technical.

But.

Not all advertisers are ready for this.

So you use the techniques which worked to make the first sale again, but with a different offer. And every client gets a slightly different offer -- one which fits their situation.

Some are already moving their budgets from traditional advertising into online, Web sponsorships, custom publishing, shows and other 'new' marketing vehicles.

Others need to catch up.

Because the most effective ads are no longer just pitch on a printed page. They're also a link on a Website, a button on an online page, an icon in a game, a sponsor of a program.

Which means to you ....

You should now start creating the 'packages' which you'll offer to your first-time advertisers .... thinking first of each possible product as a stand-alone 'marketing tool' that benefits your advertiser.

Here's how:

1. Pick a possible product -- perhaps start with your smallest -- and outline its

features. It could be as simple as a banner ad to be placed on 10 selected websites

Outline that tool's benefits, such as immediate impact at point-of-purchase,

long shelf life, seen by people already interested in the topic, easy results tracking, can be quickly revised.

2. Examine any research that helps establish ROI and success rates with this product.

3. Bring out any testimonials from prior advertisers.

4. List the CPM and price variables for the product.

5. List five clients whose needs -- unveiling a new product, for instance -- could be met by this banner.

6. Prepare an appropriate presentation on how this particular product will help the account accomplish specific sales and marketing goals. You must carefully justify and tie together your recommendation with this client's needs.

Now, repeat these steps for each possible product.

What you are really offering your 'repeat' client is as many touchpoints as possible, from Web sites and magazines to podcasts and virtual shows.

 
Today, the Web is still young, but not so young that most advertisers don't know its value as a rich, targeted medium. More importantly, it's becoming the glue in the marketing mix, offering powerful synergy with print, events, custom publishing and other marketing solutions.

As you move from selling pages to selling packages, each piece of the marketing mix becomes intrinsic to the whole, and you can't add or detract without affecting the advertising results.

 


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