You should have something for them to make a decision on. A call to action.
I talked with Ron at Hudson about getting our listeners to buy a Toyota. He asked me to get with you about my idea. He said you were the idea decision maker.I'll call shortly to fill you in on our discussion. Looking forward to hearing your ideas.
Love Victor's approach.
I like to inform the buyer, via email, when I will be calling and why they should want to take my call. I'm able to actually talk to a relatively high number of media buyers this way rather than relying on email alone.
The most important thing I found you can do to break through with agency buyers is to impress them with any collateral materials you can share in an initial contact. Even if that's only a one-page profile PDF attachment about your station/group or even a bio to personally brand yourself. Jeff Bezos of Amazon says, "Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room." And if there is one thing agencies say when we're not in the room is how amateurish the sales materials are of radio stations. Agency buyers work for agencies. Branding is the the fabric of who they are. And they judge us harshly. If you can brand yourself or your stations/group on an agency-quality level, you will create massive separation between yourself and your media sales competitors.
Gregg's Bio | Inbound. Digital. Design. Marketing Junkie. '80s Moonwalker. I create advertisers for radio stations. | Creator of The Award-Winning Radio Sales Website.
When sending an email to an agency or a local-direct prospect, you have to put yourself in their shoes. Think, "If I were the media buyer and I was receiving emails from media reps almost daily, would I answer THIS email?" Most buyers (in any industry) are going to be turned off rather than responsive if you are overly assumptive or aggressive. So be professionally persistent, but not arrogant, even if you think you have the right to be.
I'm taking a little hiatus from radio sales, doing real estate/property management sales. I am now sitting on the other side of the desk. So I get em all: radio sales people, television, magazine, online, social media, local event sponsorships. Emails, phone calls, walk in cold calls. I get them all. And the ones I give the time of day to are the ones who show me off the bat "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME." See those words EVERY TIME you reach out to a prospect, or their agency, "WHAT'S IN IT FOR THE CLIENT?" Of the many magazine and radio proposals that have hit my desk, most of them smell like "a lot of dollars going out of my budget" with no case made for how I'm going to get more dollars back than I spent. I'm not going to buy your station just because your audience mirrors my prospective customer, or because your station's programming is local and sensational. You have to do better than that! I want a return on my investment.
I don't have time to chat with you about whether your station is a good fit, I don't have time to chat about a snazzy new sponsorship you're offering, your station's programming, or your pitch on why I should be advertising on the radio, but I do have time to hear your ideas on how you can increase the QUALIFIED food traffic coming through my door and ultimately close more leases per week.
I would find out from the local dealership what vehicles they're going to be trying to get off their floor in Q1 2015, reach out to the agency and make a case for why your station is THE golden ticket for moving more inventory off their floor, faster. Draw the connections between the vehicles, the lifestyle of your audience, how they go hand in hand, and if you have the data... what your audience spends in automotive on an annual basis. If you can dig deeper and find out what they'll spend on automotive in Q1 2015, you'll have the agency's attention. Good luck!
It's an ok email, but only if you're scanning for agencies who are buying radio right now that are going to be an easy sell. That piece of the pie is pretty small! Moreover, the email is pretty generic, looks like it could've been sent to 100 buyers... buyers appreciate it when reps put some thought into earning their business.
The agency might not be doing radio at the moment. But if you can make the connection between the client's product line and the lifestyle/buying habits of your audience in a brief paragraph, you'll at least have a shot at being on their radar for next quarter, next year, etc. I got a client on who went through an agency that had NEVER considered radio before. But we brought a great on-air personality to them who was a PERFECT fit as an endorser for their client, and the deal worked out. You'll never know unless you provide the agency with some concrete information about how and why your station can help their client increase their bottom line.
