NONE: RE: ONLINE-ADS>> Need good ammunition!
RE: ONLINE-ADS>> Need good ammunition!
e/y/e/s/c/r/e/a/m/ - Adam Boettiger (ab_at_eyescream.com)
Tue, 9 Jun 1998 15:27:09 -0700
David Halprin <davidh_at_softwarebuilders.com> writes:
>>>> This is just a small piece of some truly disturbing views
>that were in yesterday's posting. Did someone who is actually in
>the Internet industry and who is trying to sell ads and bring in
>more and more new companies to Internet advertising say the above
>statement? Our jobs besides selling ads is to explain why a
>campaign will work, educate the new companies about the Internet
>since it is a new medium, and bring them into the fold to become
>long term partners with the Internet ad agencies. The tone of the
>reply in the above statement and the whole post made me
>embarassed for our industry. >>>
David is right. Perhaps my post was a bit abrasive. Therefore
let me clarify, for David's sake and others on the list, the
points that I was trying to make. A novice online ad sales rep
was asking for assistance in how to approach a new prospect and
wanted to know how to demonstrate that the medium would indeed be
right for advertising their particular business. What I was
attempting to point out, but as David suggests perhaps it was
indeed poorly worded, were the following points:
1. When a business approaches a site to buy on it, there is a
certain amount of education that is "expected" to be provided on
the part of the rep. This could simply be "How advertising on
our site will meet your business' online objectives", or it could
be broadened to include "How your business will benefit from
advertising on the Internet". It is a much harder sale to pitch
online ad inventory to a company who has doubts about the
effectiveness of the Internet as a medium, than it is to pitch to
a company who is already advertising online and is simply needing
to know "Of the ten financial sites that we are considering
buying on, explain to us why your site will best meet our
company's needs and objectives." The difference in terms of
time invested in the selling process between these two types of
prospects is quite noticable.
2. Ad sales reps need to consider the amount of time that will
be needed to not only close the sale, but to service the client
during the flight. Many times clients who need to be educated
about the Internet or why they need to be there, require quite a
bit more time and attention during the flight. I never said this
was a bad thing, simply that any ad sales rep should weigh this
factor with the amount of revenue that the buy will bring their
company/site. This is just plain common sense and taking this
information into account is not unprofessional at all.
A clear cut example of this are the many businesses just arriving
on the Internet who are fixated on using CTR (Clickthrough Rate)
to judge whether or not their impression buy was successful.
This is fine if your objective is simply to transport visitors to
your site, but in reality, businesses should gauge their
campaigns on Cost Per Objective (CPO). A sales rep may have sold
a flight that is getting a .5% CTR, and if all the client knows
about is CTR, then in the client's eyes the flight was a failure.
But if the client is knowledgeable enough to know that their
business can afford to pay $50 per qualified lead generated from
the Web, and conversion from the .5% CTR is such that they are
getting just that, the flight may very well have been a
tremendous success.
3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a business wanting to
be educated about how online advertising can work for them and
how a buy on a particular site can work well for them. My point
was simply to caution that there are some businesses who are
simply looking for information, with no real intention of buying
from the rep, and that this needs to be considered.
4. If you are to convince a business that advertising on the
Internet is the right choice for them, you need to understand
their objectives and demonstrate how advertising on your site
will assist them in reaching those objectives in a cost-effective
manner.
>>>>We need to not adopt the make a quick buck, I don't want to
>spend the time with you, arrogant attitude displayed in the
>previous post. Time management is very important to us all, and
>at some point you do have to say the end result will not justify
>the time put it in. But to have the "Sorry, can't help you, you
>aren't spending enough money, you know nothing about the
>Internet, and you don't posses the blind faith that the Internet
>works because I told you it did" attitude is truly embarassing
>and unprofessional.>>>
I don't have that attitude, nor do I have blind faith in the
industry; and if my post reflected such then perhaps it was my
fault for poor wording. But David brings up a good topic: How
much education should an ad sales rep be expected to provide to a
prospect? What's realistic? I suppose you could answer that by
saying, "They should provide enough education to close the sale
if it is right for the client - Whatever it takes." I educate
clients and the public all the time, and if my post reflected
otherwise, please reread the points bulleted above. They were
intended only as points to be considered *by an ad sales rep*
when pitching to a business who is not knowledgeable about the
Net. It is *extremely* important that potential advertisers
become educated about online advertising - both its benefits and
its pitfalls (the industry is far from mature) with regard to
*that* particular business' objectives; but just how much of
their education should come from ad sales reps and how much
should come from spending their own time researching the industry
before they buy, through books, studies, white papers, discussion
lists etc.?
That's a good question. These points don't reflect an attitude
on my part, but rather are things that every ad sales rep should
be thinking about when dealing with prospective buyers. FYI, I
received a very positive response from ad sales reps about that
post. I wasn't trying to cast a dismal shadow on the industry or
implying that prospects weren't worth educating, but that all
factors need to be considered during the process.
Thanks for your post, David!
AB
List Moderator, The Internet Advertising Discussion List
http://www.internetadvertising.org/
----------e/y/e/s/c/r/e/a/m interactive, inc.----------
adam boettiger - e: mailto:ab_at_eyescream.com
vice president, advertising & marketing
t: (503) 292-6987 Ext. 16 / f: (503) 296-0945
traffic building, strategic partnering, new media planning,
killer creative and design that will make you s/c/r/e/a/m
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