There’s one sure place to satisfy a voracious appetite for education…the RAB/NAB Radio Show. Bouncing from session to session is like dining at a bountiful buffet restaurant. It’s rich fare, but you cannot consume every dish!
So allow me to serve up a sampler…a scoped version for radio and television broadcasters. In no particular order, here are comments with sustenance for your stations and your career. In the interest of brevity, attribution goes out to several industry leaders.
RAB/NAB Radio Show remarks and recommendations:
“Culture eats strategy.”
“We’re on the precipice of the next Golden Era! The spoken word and video will be forever. You’re in the audio content business, don’t get romantic about how it’s delivered. It’s not about the pipe. Invest in all platforms.”
“Broadcasters focus too much on their current P&L. We need to think long term.”
“Attention is the only asset. Don’t judge the consumer…just appeal to them.”
“Podcasting is not the wave of the future…it’s the wave of today. Podcast listeners are experiencing a relatability and casual conversation. There are new genres being formed every day and an audience for every subject. Podcasting is also a great place to incubate talent.”
“Diversify your revenue stream. If you haven’t already, hire a digital media strategist or partner with a digital agency. Many clients are buying digital marketing on a piecemeal basis. They need one strategy from one digital agency. It could be yours.”
“For intelligence on key competitors, we can advise our clients with Spy Fu, a website auditing tool.”
“The radio industry needs to de-leverage. We’ll likely go into a recession by 2020 or 2021. Fortunately, more broadcast groups are more top-line focused these days…and that’s producing results.”
“More data is driving the conversation. This is the era of new insight for programming and attribution for sales.”
“Our advertisers can generate short term sales overnight, but they build a brand over time.”
“Reach trumps targeting two to one. But, creative crushes everything.”
“Your commercials should try to say just one thing. The more you try to tell them…the less they’ll hear.”
“75% of the ads on the air are produced with a male voiceover. However, the studies reveal that women prefer a female voice.”
“Endorsed creative outperforms produced creative ten to one.”
“We have an Individual Development Plan (IDP) for each account executive. We discuss sales goals, activities, and resources.”
“Content brings value…information, education, entertainment, and escapism. You have the big audience. Don’t let David beat Goliath.”
If you’re still reading, you’re probably ready to put a couple of these ideas into action. For your assistance, take a peek inside the RAB Sales Advisory Committee meeting. The following initiatives are in motion:
New Proposal Assistant tool for creating marketing plans efficiently, effectively, with more in depth research.
New NTR and Alternative Revenue tools to capture additional revenue from new business categories, cause marketing, event marketing, and more.
New RAB Digital Certification with fresh information, so every manager and account executive can execute digital marketing strategies in an evolutionary industry.
New RAB Co-op Directory: already producing significant returns for participating stations.
If you would like to make a request or pose a suggestion to the RAB Sales Advisory Committee, you could reach out to me or Chris Bernier, your current WBA Vice Chair-Radio/Chair Elect. We are happy to share your ideas.
For dessert, I’ll pass along this quote by Peter Drucker, as cited by one of the Radio Show speakers, “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision!” With that, my hats off to our enterprising clients and to each of you that continues to invest in this great broadcast industry!
Mike O’Brien, Consultant/Trainer
O’Brien Betterment, LLC
www.obrienbetterment.com;
email: mike@obrienbetterment.com
