Have you ever purchased advertising from Google? It’s easy!
Almost all of our clients have done it.
In 2020, Google Ads billed $147 billion. Radio collectively billed under $10 billion—about the same as newspapers.
We finally caught them!
Since 2006, the newspaper’s advertising revenue has been in free fall. But before that, it seemed like every radio client was in the paper. Now, every radio client is buying ads from Google. What can we learn from how Google lands prospects? PLENTY.
Most new clients to Google Ads type in Google Ads in Google search and follow the instructions. I did it. Google asks you a few basic questions about how many employees you have, your goal, and how much you are willing to spend, as long as it is above $500. After you input that data, Google sends you back an email that says you will have your plan to hit your goal in 24 hours. They sent me “the plan” the same day.
The plan, sent to me by Alex, a woman on the Ads team (they sent a photo), instructed me to spend $500-$5000 in search advertising. They mention that this plan will take at least three months. If I want the details on the plan or, ideally, want to buy the plan, I was given an option to book a 30-minute appointment to get a fully personalized media plan with a Google Ads strategist. I just had to “click here.” That’s it.
That Google strategist will get a very qualified prospect, who has a goal, a general plan, an expectation of how much to spend and for how long.
How do we handle new prospect inquiries?
Suppose a radio prospect wants to advertise. Some call the station’s business line and get a front desk person who feeds the prospect’s name to a sales manager who passes it off to a salesperson to get the details. Others call the station’s on-air phone number and get a call screener who takes a message and sends an email to a manager or their buddy in sales.
And, yes, some prospects go to our website and click on “advertise with us.” Jacobs Media Seth Resler thinks most stations fumble the ball here and has 10 ways to fix your ‘advertise with us’ page.
I looked at WFAN, The Ticket Dallas, and The Sports Hub in Boston’s ‘advertise with us’ page, and most were hard to find; they listed a person to email, and one had a demographic stats sheet about the station. WOW. I even went to Google search and inputted “advertise with WFAN,” etc. The best search results were from local ad agencies who said they could buy ads cheaper on those stations.
Does that even begin to compare with how Google handles prospects? Shouldn’t we automate this process more and make it easier for the prospect and the station?
I realize no prospect would try to call Google, and they have an advantage because they are an online company, but there seems to be some room for growth here for radio.
Jeff Caves is a sales columnist for BSM working in radio and digital sales for Cumulus Media in Dallas, Texas and Boise, Idaho. He is credited with helping launch, build, and develop Sports Radio The Ticket in Boise, into the market’s top sports radio station. During his 26 year stay at KTIK, Caves hosted drive time, programmed the station, and excelled as a top seller. You can reach him by email at jeffcaves54@gmail.com or find him on LinkedIn.
