What’s the difference between media companies that are struggling and those whose advertising revenues are significantly up in 2018, compared to last year?
As you know, not all local media companies are created equal.
Some are having a great year in 2018, with local businesses fully engaged and committed to advertising on their platforms, while others are scratching around, trying to fill inventory, offering discounts, frantically ‘holding on to what they’ve got’, and making less money in the process.
So, what’s the difference?
What separates the media companies that are having a great year in 2018, from those who often seem to be struggling to attract new advertisers, and whose very existence is questioned every couple of months?
We work with a lot of media companies, and recently we’ve done some work to understand the answer to this question.
There are definitely a few common characteristics - like a good profit margin, a high proportion of regular, or subscription revenue, and a unique and compelling multi-media proposition. But, not ALL of the successful media companies we know tick every one of those boxes.
There is one box that was ticked by almost every successful business, and it’s this...
Pretty much all successful local media operators, have firmly positioned themselves as an authority on SME marketing, in their local area.
In addition to the efforts of their sales team, they’re in regular contact with their database – their list of current customers, lapsed customers, prospect, suspects, and influencers.
Many of them will send out a regular, weekly email. They’ll also post that content on their B2B blog, and they’ll distribute it on their B2B social media channels. Some of them even produce a regular printed newsletter!
It’s about offering value-led content, to establish their expertise and authority. So, they principally cover topics relevant to local business marketing. In addition to these insights, they also cover elements of their media and marketing proposition, they profile key staff members, and they offer up advertiser case studies and success stories.
For some successful media companies, it can be as simple as that - regular contact keeps them ‘top of mind’, it supports the sales effort, and plays a key role in keeping orders coming in. Here’s why:
• More people thinking about them
• More people talking about them
• More people talking to other people about them
It’s marketing, for media sales.
You already know that the power of being top-of-mind in the heads of prospects and customers is not to be underestimated. (Heck, you’re already in the business of helping others do exactly that, right?!)
And, it’s easy enough to achieve. In fact, it’s so easy to make it happen, that most people would be shocked if you told them … that most people know what the key to their own success is, but they stubbornly refuse to use it.
But, I’m not surprised, I know exactly what you’ve got on your plate every day. I’ve been there myself, and I know how many problems there are to solve and fires there are to fight.
Creating regular contact with customers and prospects isn’t rocket science, but it’s low on the list of a typical commercial media manager, or salesperson.
There are several reasons for that; not least the fact that there are only so many hours in the day and you’ve got a ‘To Do’ list as long as your arm. But, ultimately the main reason that so many media companies don’t implement this strategy, is that the benefits of keeping in touch with your contacts are long-term, NOT short-term.
If you’ve got immediate ‘performance to budget’ issues, then you face a conundrum:
If you implement a strategy of regular contact with your B2B audience, then it’s going to cost you time and money, and not going to solve your short-term problem.
If you don’t implement a strategy of regular contact with your audience, you’ll almost certainly find yourself in the exact same ‘performance to budget’ situation at some point in the not too distant future.
If you’re in a cycle of ‘not enough customers’ and problems with achieving budget, then you need to break out, and this strategy is a way of doing that.
Think of it like dieting, or exercise.
Go to the gym every day for a week and you’ll see some results, but you won’t keep it up and you’ll soon slip back into your old routine; there’ll be no long-term benefit.
Go to the gym once a week and you won’t see much benefit after a week, but you’ve got more chance of keeping it up for 52 weeks, and a year later you’ll see some serious results.
It’s the same with your communication strategy.
Once a week is a small enough commitment to be manageable,
but big enough to make a real difference over the long term.
A business owner friend of mine, in another industry, has been creating a piece of content every week for over two years now, and the results are astonishing. We’re talking significant year on year growth for two years now, against previously flat growth.
All from a weekly piece of content that goes out to his email list and broadcast on his social channels.
Hard to believe, isn’t it? Except that there’s so much evidence to prove that it’s true. I’ve seen similar with my own eyes, in our business too.
So, why don’t more local media companies do it? Same reason that lots of people would like to be healthier, but don’t drag themselves to the gym every week.
As with anything, if you’ve got someone holding you accountable, you’re likely to perform to a much higher level than you would if you were dancing in the dark.
I’m offering to be your dance partner.
As long as we can keep the lights on.
We’re offering a new service for media companies, like yours, that will help you to overcome every hurdle and consistently produce weekly content, that’ll…
…keep you ‘top of mind’ for customers and prospects
…differentiate you from your competition
…position yourself as an expert and even an authority on local business marketing
…help you to have meaningful growth and improved performance in 2019.
Introducing, Inspire Media’s:
‘COPY & CONTENT’
What’s Included?
The most important thing that we’re going to achieve if you decide to work with us, is that in 12 months’ time, we’re going to be able to look back over 52 pieces of written content, each one a piece of the jigsaw that builds your success over the next year.
Included in the service is an experienced Content Manager. They’ll help you to work out exactly what we’re to write about - and they’ll even write all of the content for you.
Each month, you’ll jump on a call with your Content Manager, and you’ll discuss and plan your content. Don’t worry if you’re unsure what we’re going to write about, your Content Manager will ask the pertinent questions and quickly work it out.
They’ll make notes, and even record the call, and then they’ll pull your content together for the month ahead. Depending on which month it is, they’ll create four or five separate pieces of content.
Within a few days of the call, they’ll send the content back to you, all written, proofed, and ready for you to sign off.
Once you’ve signed it off, either you or we, can get it sent out to your email list, posted on your B2B blog and distributed on your B2B social media channels. Importantly, that social content can then be ‘liked and shared’ by your staff and colleagues, for even wider distribution and leverage.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It is.
You and your professional Content Manager shooting the breeze once a month, and you’ve suddenly got a content marketing plan that’s actually going to work.
What Does It Cost?
Whichever way you slice and dice it, professional ‘done for you’ marketing like this would usually be a £12,000 a year service.
In fact, I know a couple of larger local media companies in Europe that are investing nearly €100,000 a year on their Content Marketing strategy and its implementation.
And the cost? Well, it’s not £12,000 a year, here’s how affordable this service is...
For media companies that commit to this new service before the end of October, we’re offering it for £650 per month.
As part of this offer, we’ll even organise the distribution of the content for you, if you’d like. (Additional £100 p.m. more value.)
This isn’t a ‘first 3 months’ offer. If you come on board this month, your monthly fee won’t be reviewed until 2020 at the earliest.
If you’re looking to create growth in your business over the next 12 months, this will help.
If this all sounds interesting to you, let’s jump on a call and talk through how it could work best for your business
If you’re seriously interested, the best thing to do is to drop me an email with a couple of times that you could do a 15-20 minute call, and then we’ll jump on the phone and talk it through.
It’s a no-obligation call, obviously. It’ll be a chance for you to ask any questions that you might have about how this’ll work, and for me to understand what your goals would be from working with us, just to make sure that it’s a good fit for you and your business.
My email: david.barker@inspire-media.com
Drop me a line, let’s talk on the phone, and hopefully, we’ll start working together in the next few weeks. We’re looking forward to getting started!
As you’ll understand, we can only work with one media company in each local area, as otherwise, it’d compromise the integrity of what we’re doing here. So, if you’re seriously interested, I recommend emailing me without delay.
David Barker
Managing Director
PS - If you’re thinking, “There’s no point sending a regular email, because I haven’t got many to send it to, thanks to GDPR,” don’t think that. As part of our call, I’ll clarify what you can and can’t do … which may be a whole lot more than you realise.
Plus, we’ll help you to improve the quality and quantity of your list, while we’re building and cementing a better relationship with it.
PPS - Don’t hang about - this discounted offer, including the distribution component, is only for media companies who commit before the end of October.
