digital media | Margie Albert

Category: digital media

Today’s “rant” – can’t take eye off the ball

– Posted on Aug 20, 2011 by Margie

The ascendancy to the top of the sales department 40 years ago was first you were an AE, than an NSM and/or LSM and then you became the GSM/VP Sales. Amazingly enough, it is exactly the same today!

The Digital Sales Manager is not only seldom considered in the hierarchy but isn’t even included in day to day department decisions. The reason I hear most often? “We are focused on the core product which still represents 90% of the business – can’t take our eye off the ball.”

Step away and observe for just a minute. If we were any other smart business we would shift our attention to where the business is going and we would do it quickly. Think of Wayne Gretsky’s famous “watch where the puck is going” quote. We would recognize we are not TV stations but an information delivery company and commercials are nothing more than information. Advertisers know this as illustrated by reduced TV budgets and increased Digital budgets.

As Sales Managers, we would hire the brightest people at the station level (not just promote an AE who likes this new stuff) to lead us forward and not look back. And we would hold them in the highest regard. We would spend more of our time on this portion of the business and it would not be an afterthought. After all, it represents our perpetuity. Maybe to become a GSM you must have DSM on your pedigree?

Or we can continue the 40 year old precedent and go the route of Border’s and Tower Records. By the time they took their eye off the ball the ball was in someone else’s court.

BTW – you’ll notice I kept “rant” thanks to your comments. I know some of you don’t like it but I sincerely hope you will continue to be part of this community. Unlike some bloggers, I actually do care about all of you.

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TV Stations’ Top 10 Online Revenue Challenges

– Posted on Sep 27, 2010 by Margie

I recently read a great article “Top 10 Online Revenue Challenges of Radio” and these apply to TV. The author, Mel Taylor of Mel Taylor Media, says “radio is still treating its business as it did in 1999 – build content, get traffic, sell ad units by leveraging advertiser relationships.” Sound familiar?!

Here are 10 issues to be addressed (paraphrased from the article):

Top Management, Owners and CEO’s need to be fully committed to growing their digital business and they need specialized training. Delegating this huge responsibility to an “Internet Manager” is not only risky but dumb yet I see it every day.
Don’t give in to thinking that selling your digital assets cannibalizes your TV sales. If you really believe that you are doomed. Get out of the digital business now. Run your digital business like a business with all that it entails. Advertisers are moving their $’s online so either be there with the products they want or someone else will.
Develop a strategy. Almost all stations have a strategic plan and your digital business needs one as well. Hire to implement the strategy. Compensate based on web profit.
Websites need to be designed for profit – web traffic and ad revenues. What’s your structure look like? Who reports to whom? I have seen websites designed strictly with the station’s promotional goals in mind and forgetting the user experience let alone an advertiser’s willingness to purchase space.
What’s your compensation plan look like? Typically, upper management compensation is based on the bottom line and that puts their focus on the core TV product and expenses. That’s a problem and back-burners the digital business.
Sales managers and reps don’t have a clue what they are doing. Why? Because they lack training from people who do! Who’s doing the training? Is it consistently available? Is the training coming from your webmaster who has never sold a thing? Is it “real world” or lecture? Be sure you hire someone who has sold recently and understands your business and challenges.
Understand your inventory and its value. Manage it! If I see certain ads on a homepage I know that site is poorly managed. It’s like seeing DR in Prime! I also see that prime inventory sold at the lowest CPM on the site rather than the highest.
An extension of #7, price the inventory so it is easy to understand and explain. If you can’t, how can you expect your clients to understand?!
Once you have established you are in the game for real, increase your web budgets. Yes, you heard me. Low budgets signals unimportance. Give the sales department the tools and support they need and goals that are hard to attain without effort.
Stop being followers and start being leaders. Stop asking your fellow Broadcasters for ideas – they probably don’t have them! Look outside the industry, look at your advertiser’s needs and develop solutions with them.