A beginners guide to advertising

Mid stride interviewing candidates for a media sales position, I lamented to my director that there is no book I can hand someone to teach them what we do.

Beginners Guide To Advertising

When I began in media sales our world was far less complex. New products and concepts emerged slowly with much thought and thorough research. We layered them into our sales portfolios as easily as turning pages of a newspaper. We built a direct mail product, we created glossy magazines, coupon books, crafted custom print programs for full color brochures and flyers. We sold travel contests and auction events.

We stumbled early into the online world and chased premiere media consultants and followed their packaging advice. We trained weekly and tracked every nuance of the vocabulary: hits, views, impressions.

There was no standing still, but the pace was manageable.

Today, the media business bolts forward faster than the speed of light.

To enter our sales world now is a head spinning experience. Rewarding, but only with a heavy investment in self and a deep desire to grip the unknown and hang on to the ride while trying to steer the ship.

We learn by listening, watching, devouring information as if it were the air we breathed. As soon as we figure out how to sell static online ads, we're packaging flash ads into our marketing proposals, then video, then mobile.

We think we've got it figured out, take a breath and get knocked off our feet. Company resources wither and the weight of survival moves to every employee but rests solidly on the local territory sales reps.

This is no job to ease you into retirement. This is an ever reinventing itself career. And as the SlideShare above demonstrates, the concept is very simple. But it's what we bring to the table–our ability to grasp media concepts and communicate them in language a layman can understand–that pushes towards success.

So.

How'd I do?

Want to come work for me?

Send your resume to: TheClassicCarol (at) gmail (dot) com

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Cheap is a chance. Don't drown in the advertising pool.

Proven advertising often is a simple solution that begins with your local media company, the newspaper. Today, news and information corporations offer multiple platforms for message delivery including the traditional paper that still delivers the largest audience over all local media. In addition, clockwork delivery, stable rates, printed rate cards, customer loyalty programs, volume discounts, anchored positions are all reasons to assess the options of the paper.

The audience continues to respond to advertising.

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Man or the machine? Predicting the winner

I brought up the success of Redbox this morning and asked, "How many have seen a Blockbuster or a Hollywood Video location go out of business in your neighborhood?"

The response was unanimous. Everyone.

"RedBox proves you can rent videos without employees," I continued, and drew a further conclusion that we will see growth in our business in self-serve advertising. One rep noted we already accept ads online and the customers receive a discount.

The Room—filled with media sales reps—exhaled a collective hee-bee-gee-bee shudder. How can we compete with the machine and its discounts, they wondered.

"Should I find a new career?" asked one respected rep. The question hung in the space between panic and next steps.

"You could," I said.

"Or, you could realize that Redbox would not survive and thrive if there wasn't a ton of marketing for every video in their kiosk. That marketing is not created by machines. It is crafted by creative minds. Our world is still hinged on people and what people can create.

"Sales people need to create the correlation between product and value," I stated, and summed up my recommendations:

Be vital. No machine can replace your expertise, drive for your own success, and desire to help customers succeed.

Keep customers bound to YOU. They may get something cheaper somewhere else...but will it work?!

Assess what works, not just in online but in an overall media campaign. Duplicate what works for your customers.

Study, learn and share. Help your customers understand the changing landscape and demonstrate the value of our products. If you are only contacting your customer to update an expiration date on their ad, you are missing an opportunity to demonstrate YOUR value.

What you don't sell today, will disappear tomorrow if you don't pounce on it. If you lag, someone else will grab your opportunities. Be a pro. Be first!

How is online changing your business?