The Advertiser's Buyer Journey Has Changed (Has Yours?)

A lot has changed in the last five years, let alone the last 20+ years… and the way local advertisers make buying decisions is certainly one of them. However, to their detriment, most media companies have not evolved in the way they market and sell their advertising assets.

You might be thinking that of course you’ve changed, your company now sells a variety of non-traditional assets including event sponsorships, PPC, streaming ads, and retargeting ads, among other things. But I’m not talking about the addition of 21st-century advertising products, I’m talking about the way you find, approach, and market your brand to leads.

This is where media companies have an enormous opportunity.

Your sales process in 1994 probably looked something like this:

Salespeople were responsible for uncovering prospects through their own research, and they would spend the majority of their time each week trying to get that first appointment (cold calling).

This included dropping in and leaving a business card or gift, sharing research and data on your listeners and station to peek their interest, picking up the phone and leaving message after message, and finally wearing down a prospect to meet with them… only to learn that most of the time they either aren’t ready to buy (timing is off) or they aren’t a good fit. 

You didn’t have a website, like most of the world. 

Now think about your sales process in 2014:

What has changed? Sure, you might have better resources to uncover prospects and hopefully your salespeople are incorporating other touch points like email and LinkedIn. But it’s likely that the biggest changes are the fact that you have FEWER salespeople (and therefore less time to waste) and your prospects have many MORE advertising options (more competition for you).

Chances are, you still don’t have a website. You might have an outdated, unused corporate website that barely sees the light of day. But most media companies can only be found online via their listener/viewer/reader focused sites and a tiny link in the foot to contact someone about advertising. 

So, I ask you this… how are you going to make 2015 different?

Understanding what you know about the buyer journey and the fact that prospects have more information and resources at their fingertips (Google, blogs, articles, research, reports, and so on) than ever before, how can you save your salespeople valuable time and make sure your prospects are finding YOU when they are searching for answers and solutions? 

Instead of spending hours a week trying to convince prospects that aren’t ready to talk to have a meeting, what are you doing to attract these prospects to your brand so your salespeople can do what they’re best at? (Hint hint: that’s selling!)

How are you capturing interested leads and increasing the number of sales qualified leads you have ready to talk to sales? And what are you doing to educate your prospects, stand out as a thought leader in your marketing and industry, and remind your current customers you’re a true marketing partner? 

One proven way to lower your cost per lead, increase your conversion rates, and create new revenue streams is with the launch of a content-rich B2B website for your local market brand.

Here’s what this website should include:

• A blog full of content that answers the questions your prospects and customers are asking on a daily basis
• Downloadable premium content offers (like eBooks and whitepapers)
• Calls-to-action throughout your site encouraging your visitors to do something on your site
• Pages showcasing all of your assets including traditional advertising opportunities and any non-traditional ones
• Details on the assets you offer and links to blog posts about these assets
• A way to contact you via a form
• A way to “set up a consultation”
• A way to subscribe to your website and blog
• A great, informative about us page
• Individual bio pages (especially for your salespeople to use and customize)
• Links to your social media pages

Your prospects are using the Internet to search for advertising options, marketing help, and general best practices… this is a fact. Whether or not you or your competitor are going to be found first is up to you!