The Vertical Media 1-2-3

Most if not all internet media professionals would agree we're living in a fragmented online landscape.

From a media and marketing perspective, it becomes more difficult to reach audiences through the same tried and true methods. Your target is a moving one, and now more than ever the relevancy of the content in which your marketing message will be seen really matters.

Buying vertical online media works, since you figure to reach smaller niche audiences of users who are passionate about a certain topic. This is the foundation of vertical ad networks, Google's content network and endemic publishers. They help marketers reach targeted consumers who are more likely to buy their products because of the content they deliver and the way in which they deliver it.

In the home & garden vertical, we have been testing a combination of contextual targeting, custom integration and supporting media as part of our campaigns for clients. Our thinking is that if we can help our marketers surround our targeted and passionate users at the right place (on our network sites) and at the right time (when they review relevant content), we'll have a winning formula.

We execute this in a rather simple way- we call it the Vertical Media 123:

1. Supporting Media: Deliver supporting banner media across sites whose combination of audience demographics and content fit our client's needs.
2. Custom Integration: Create custom branded pages to deliver branded content on the same sites where our client and editorial staff deliver product information, video, and ideas that our users find interesting.
3. Contextual Targeting: Target our client's impressions into contextually relevant categories where our users are actively looking for content about products in which our clients make and sell.

The results are incredible. For run-of-network or run-of-site campaigns, we already know our sites perform in the top echelon of campaigns because of our vertical niche. When we add in custom branded elements and contextual/category targeting, we see response rates from banners increase 50-300% in the targeted sections versus ROS/RON in the same vertical. Think about that: 50%-3X performance lift over already very targeted media buys.

We don't think it's enough for media companies to offer endemic brands a regular run-of-the-mill endemic media program. The fact is, they can get somewhat targeted inventory from any and all of the many publishers, portals and networks that exist. Without a real plan to deliver targeted results, you get lumped into a banner pricing game in which there are few winners.

Media needs to work harder. That's what the Vertical Media 1-2-3 does, delivering great results in a creative way in a niche market. We like it and think more and more of our agency and client partners will as well- what are your thoughts?

Announcing Haven Home Media- Getting Vertical in Home & Garden

It's been quite some time between blog posts, so I figured this one should have some exciting news. I'm thrilled to announce the formation of Haven Home Media LLC, an internet company focused on the home and garden online marketplace.

After a few rewarding years full of learning, fun and great people at Scripps Networks, I'm venturing back into the world of no pay checks, expense budgets or healthcare coverage. Why launch a new home category media company in a declining economy and in the midst of the worst housing meltdown in history you ask?

When you have a passion and belief in your idea, economic and market conditions become rather fleeting. Frankly, I think the market is poised to receive new media thinking, the ability to reach new audiences in unique ways, and to embrace ideas that make strategic sense. I'm confident we have all of those components with Haven Home.

Our market position is not brain surgery (especially since I came up with it!). We've identified a need in the home and garden market to deliver loyal, engaged audiences from small-to-medium sized independent websites to national brand marketers. It's a classic mid-to-long tail of the Internet strategy. Nothing earth-shattering here. Robert Tas and his team at Sportgenic in the sports/athletic category, Greg Shove and Halogen Guides in the Luxury segment, Jumpstart in automotive, TAN in travel, etc are all excellent examples.

The key is in our approach and execution; we feel like our marketing portfolio is best of breed in home and garden. Since we work with nationally syndicated home improvement television shows, we can leverage their video expertise to deliver custom video with product integration for clients both online and in television. Partnerships with lead generation experts, video syndication firms, and audience targeting vendors allow Haven Home to offer one-stop-shopping for marketers in this category.

We're passionate about home and garden media, and look forward to developing long and close relationships with our expert site publishers. They keep cranking out great content, and marketers win because they reach loyal, engaged audiences who are "in-market" and planning home projects. Since we continue to grow our alliance of sites and our audience size, we can offer more and more vertical reach deep into the consumers that make the most sense for their products. Speaking of product targeting, we plan to develop contextual targeting capabilities soon to further increase our clients' efficiency.

Simply put, we believe media needs to work harder and smarter in home and garden. That's our goal at Haven Home Media.

Take a minute to review the first of many releases announcing exciting partnerships here: http://www.prlog.org/10166189-leading-construction-and-remodeling-media-company-partners-with-haven-home-media.html

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Best,
Dan

It's time to change media thinking

The Field of Dreams Strategy:
In media, it used to be okay to follow the "Field of Dreams Voice" strategy- you know the voice in Kevin Costner's head that told him, "If you Build It, They Will Come." This was actually named #39 on the list of Top 100 Movie Quotes: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Field_of_Dreams#The_Voice

You can no longer afford to "build" media content, and hope "they will come". Now that consumers and online audiences can choose exactly what they look at, when, and in what medium- marketers and media companies are forced to adapt and follow the audience around. Quite different from the build it and hope they come approach of yesteryear.

The game is interaction and engagement: How can media- be it broadcast, print, B2B or digital- help their advertising clients move from simply being noticed by their audience, to actually being of use to their audience?

As audiences consumer media in ever-changing ways, media executive will need to think differently. Digital, emerging, and online media now "drive the bus", and decision-makers need to think as interactive media entities rather than as print or broadcast entities with online extensions. Here are the first steps:

1- Customized, unique sponsorship and ad packages are needed, whether in print, broadcast, or online. The media executives who charge their salesforces and content leaders with the flexibility and resources to launch, deliver, and execute unique new sponsorship ideas that drive user-interaction will win big.

2- In print media, the title of Chief Editor should be abolished, in favor of Content Director- a leader who is strategically thinking of new ways to deliver the best content to his/her audience segment, whether that's in print, flat content online, streaming video, or online community applications and user-generated topics.

3- Also in print, the title of Publisher should likewise be abolished, in favor of Revenue Director- a leader who sells consultatively (really), is a creative and strategic sales thinker, and who is on-top of all aspects of print, online and emerging trends.

4- The title of Circulation Director should be transitioned to Audience Director- an executive who understands all aspects of their audience including understanding cross-over from print and/or broadcast to digital media, online usage habits, and leveraging behavioral marketing to drive new content ideas and leverage new revenue categories.

5- The senior-level executives who manage media companies from the C-Level need to cultivate real and consistent communication within their organizations to drive innovation, have forward-thinking financial pros on staff, and be careful but diligent in driving partnerships and acquisitions.

Sounds easy, right? At the pace of media change in our industry now, thinking differently about delivering content to audiences and monitizing the ability to get users to read, interact, and act on advertiser's messages is the end-game. Not an easy task, but one with large rewards to those media companies- and the executives who lead them- who figure it out.

Integrated and Convergent Selling: Can it be this hard?

As a media sales professional, you've no doubt been subject to numerous strategy sessions where the topic of being a "customer-centric" sales force and selling "integrated" media in "multi-platforms" has been discussed.

When the ideas are finished being exchanged, the strategies discussed, and the long dinners and drinking finished, sales people and senior management tend to go back to their siloed existences where integrated, team selling rarely exists.

If you work in a broadcast, cable, and digital media company the term is often referred to as "convergent" selling.

"Tending to move toward one point or to approach each other" is how Merriam-Webter's Dictionary defines convergent: http://www.webster.com/dictionary/convergent Then why do TV and online sales teams so often move away from each strategically and sit on opposite floors physically?

If you're within the framework of a print publishing company, the term most often used is "integrated" selling.

"To incorporate into a larger unit or to bring into equal membership of an organization" is how Merriam-Webster defines integratrated: http://www.webster.com/dictionary Then why do print executives always act like the larger/more important unit and is online still treated like an unequal member of the organization?

Either way, corporate executives love to point out how their respective media properties are well-positioned to work together to enable advertisers to reach audiences in multiple media effectively. What executives fail to address is the glaring in-efficiencies in the integrated/convergent sales processes and the internal struggles that make executing truly multi-platform selling worthwhile.

Team Efforts Start at the Top: Fostering a team-selling atmosphere and truly customer-centric approach within larger media sales forces starts at the executive levels. When the VP of TV Sales and the VP of Interactive Sales have respectful and trusted relationships with each other and empower their teams to do what is in the best interest of the client, great things can be accomplished. When this does not occur, distrust, selfishness, and pettiness usually does- leading to stunted revenue growth.


Over the past 5 or so years, some publishing companies have started created seperate sales teams specific to online to capitilize on this growing medium. Those companies still most likely initiate strategy thru their print brands, have top-level print management drive the major account relationships, and treat online has an "add-on" as part of an a la carte menu.


The same holds true for broadcast media companies, who view the branded network as the strategy driver, lead with TV in major account relationships, and whose idea of convergent selling is adding some online to the upfront plan funded by some scraps of budget.

It's no wonder interactive sales sometimes feel disconnected from their print or broadcast colleagues, sort of like Ryan in this quick office scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aa8rkmliEM


From a management standpoint, I guess this behavior can be understood. Media pros who've risen to management or executive ranks very rarely have online or digital backgrounds. Only recently has that started to change, as companies like Time Inc and Martha Stewart Living Optimedia are handing executive positions overseeing multiple media brands to managers with online backgrounds. Click here for a link discussing those appointments: http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=63372


Does this signal a change in internal selling strategy? I think it does, and some examples include:

• Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal (soon-to-be News Corp) has a solid integrated strategy in which print and digital media teams have shared revenue goals in each territory and our now led by "Multi-Media Sales Managers".
• Reader's Digest recently (April 2007) announced an integrated sales team to sell cross-platform, McGraw-Hill has a similar structure, etc.
• MEredith has a convergent team approach by the name of 360i that has a good reputation and delivers intelligent cross-platform ideas for agencies and clients.
  

Talking about convergent or integrated selling at the corporate level of media companies is easy and logical, but actually having a salesforce motivated to truly execute that strategy is hard to do.

The key starts at the top, as executives must foster the team convergent sales approach, build trust internally at high levels, and remember the path to exploding sales growth is working together.

Death of the digital media salesman?

If you've read any past postings to this blog, you know I believe in relationships, customization, and listening when it comes to media sales. What does Arther Miller's classic "Death of a Salesman", Google, and Microsoft Digital Advertising have in common?

I recently came across an interesting interview with Microsoft's Chief Revenue Officer Joanne Bradford, in which she discusses MSN's sales strategy and her passion for advertising that stemmed from an early age- interesting stuff. This started me thinking: Will technology continue to erode the value of quality media sales executives?

Whether you're working in b2b media and have read about advances in digital media technology, or you're in consumer online media and actively working with behavioral targeting, re-targeting, dayparting, and ever-expanding online video, etc.- you are aware that these developments are revolutionizing how marketers reach audiences and sell product. Certainly, these technologies are what has helped fuel the tremendous growth of digital media investment at the expense of broadcast, print and other traditional media outlets.

Ms. Bradford of MSN believes the strength of the recently re-organized MSN digital sales team is in it's client-service focus, high-level personal relationships and customization. This is in direct conflict with the Google model, in which CEO Eric Schmidt believes an automated, targeted ad approach will actually displace the ad sales person. Read the details here:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/wp-trackback.php?p=484

It's interesting that these two giants of media have such conflicting sales strategies. I'm guessing that Mr. Schmidt probably didn't get inspired by advertising as a youngster like Ms. Bradford recalls in her story.

Google does so many innovative things and hasn't made many strategic mistakes. So, it's hard to think the fastest growing technology and media company in the world will make one here. (Yes, Google is a media company, but this is a topic for another time!) Their contexually targeted cross-media offerings in digital, radio and print are unmatched. Plus, the YouTube acquisition can only signal an eventual expansion into broadcast television soon.

However, I have to agree that Ms. Bradford's approach will help differentiate MSN in the short-term as many high-quality brands continue to move more dollars into digital media.

Excellent digital media sales pros can use the vast technology that is now available to position their sites and audiences in new ways; whether the client needs metro geo-targeting or optimization on conversions metrics, we in digital sales have tools at our disposal today that media reps could only dream of years ago.

However, when it comes to long-term success, the best media sales pros still need to execute the same tried and true characteristics that they did before the digital revolution: build trust and relationships with clients, understand goals, and deliver customized programs to meet objectives.

It's really all about selling value- some things never change. Or do they?

Talk Less + Listen More= Sell More

What does the early 80s EF Hutton ad campaign have to do with selling media today? Quite a bit, as you'll see when reading on.

I've been in meetings with media sales reps who've taken the dreaded "show up and throw up" approach to sales. The reps who employ this style show up for client meetings and start a very one-sided monologue about their magazine and/or site, it's benefits and advantages over the competition, and why that particular client should be advertising with them.

Whatever happened to asking the client questions? Perhaps even having a two-sided, intelligent business discussion? Hopefully you remember the E.F. Hutton television ad campaign from the early 80s (http://www.80stvthemes.com/ra/121999/EFHUTTON.ra) in which they use the tagline, "When EF Hutton speaks, people listen." It's a classic campaign and fits in well with what I believe should be the media sales pros' approach: "When clients speak, you should listen."- and if you do, you'll sell a heck of a lot more media to them.

On a recent sales trip to the New England area, I had prepared a presentation and proposal for a meeting with three marketing executives from a prospective advertiser. This company was a manufacturer who was targeting markets served by a number of the media properties that I represented, and I'd already had a phone conversation with the Marketing Director about some advertising ideas. Thus, I'd created a proposal for them based on the phone call that I wanted to present.

Upon arriving at the company's offices, it turned out that a new executive would be attending our meeting and- after a few introductory questions from me to the group- it was quickly evident that this person was the actual decision-maker. This changed the entire dynamics of my approach to the remainder of the meeting, let's quickly examine my options:

• Show Up & Throw Up Approach: If I were to use the show-up style, I would have stopped asking questions and jumped into throw-up mode: presented the proposal I had nicely prepared, but that was based upon my conversation with someone I now know is not the decision-maker. Basically, shove my ideas down the prospective clients' throats and see what happens.
• EF Hutton Approach: The other option is to continue an intelligent, two-way business discussion and ask the decision-maker qualifying questions to determine how to best position my media solutions to help reach their 2007 goals. This may lead to completely ignoring the prepared proposal, and actually presenting nothing at the meeting.

So, does listening to clients in meetings actually work? Shockingly, it does. In this example, I chose the EF Hutton approach and never did present my proposal ideas I had with me. Why? After 45 minutes of discussion, it was clear that the marketing decision-maker was embarking on a strategy to move virtually all communications dollars online, and was targeting different audiences in regions around the world. This was all new information for me.

My proposal included nothing of value to the "new" client strategy, and by using the show-up/throw-up approach, I would have accomplished very little. However, by actually listening to the clients, I eventually came back to them with a customized proposal based on our meeting. The results: A fairly significant online campaign using three media properties, two of which were new for the client. It included geo-targeted online advertising focused on Asia, a custom branded email newsletter campaign, and exclusive digital magazine sponsorships. None of these ideas were included in the "first" proposal.

I've written before about how important customized media solutions are in today's b2b media world for sales pros. Its quite hard to create and sell custom media ideas to clients without first truly understanding what their goals are. There is a distinct difference between listening to a client, and just hearing what they're saying- link here for an interesting article about those differences and how to make it work for sales (http://gmj.gallup.com/content/12511/A-Knack-for-Listening.aspx).

As a media sales pro in today's ever integrated market, listening to customers is a talent you'll need to develop. If you already have, use it to differentiate you and your media properties to more closely partner with clients. When you successfully listen in meetings, create ideas that fit client goals, and clearly communicate the benefits, you leave little room for the competition.

Don't just sell your clients any e-media in 2007

Over the last four years, my firm has been involved in selling an e-media/online trade network of sites in a b2b market. During that time, I've had the unique opportunity to be quite involved in watching the evolution of online media acceptance in a b2b segment. In four years, our specific territory has doubled in online ad sales revenue due to two understandable factors:

• an influx of first-time online spenders adding an e-media element to their marketing plan
• current clients increasing their e-media investments after some positive results.
  

It appears that e-media in b2b is poised to take a significant step forward again in 2007. We're currently working with marketers in segments that have been slow to adopt online- like manufacturing and medical- who have online specific budgets for the first time.

As this trend continues and is well-publicized in the media industry press, trade Publishers, sales managers, and executives are all scrambling to get their piece of the e-media pie. It's no secret that online advertising growth is key for publishers , and those who gain a competitive advantage in e-media will be better positioned for the future. In light of recent industry M&A activity as well, the market is putting a high value on trade media companies that have healthy e-media revenues/growth.

Just a note of caution for the media sales pro for 2007: Don't sell your clients any online program that is pushed to you just for the sake of driving some online revenue and satisfying management.

• Be careful to truly understand the e-media programs, how they'll be executed, and the clients' level of expectations.
• Also, garner an understanding of your media company's technology abilities (or lack of abilities) and clearly communicate what can be measured and what cannot for the client.
• Trust me: there is no benefit to pushing online programs to a client, having them put their trust and investment in you, and then having the program not deliver because of unclear details and failed execution from production.

A few tips for selling e-media for next year:

Know the Numbers: One of the more attractive attributes of online in b2b is its measurability. As a sales pro, make sure you're well versed in both industry averages and your own online media property averages. Click thru rates for ad units, e-newsletter delivery,"open"and click rates, etc. The more prepared you are in understanding this, the better you can communicate expected results for clients and manage expectations from the beginning.

Understand the clients goals: Sounds simple, I know- but adding online media for the first-time b2b client changes the expected "return on objective" conversation.

• Does your client want to create awareness for a product launch and want huge impressions in the market? Perhaps using rich media or expandable ad units would be of interest (see www.eyeblaster.com or www.pointroll.com for examples)
• Or, do they want to deliver extremely targeted online registrations from their campaign? Try creating a sponsorship for targeted sections of your site, product search function, or custom branded email newsletter.
• Do they want to be considered a "thought leader" in a specific topic? Why not create a custom branded micro-site for them, with content around that topic, white papers, and a discussion forum.

Different online goals are better suited for different online programs, so make sure you're on the same page with the clients and offer an e-media solution that fits.

Sell Integration: I am a true bliever in the power of integrated marketing campaigns- especially in b2b segments- and there is a ton of research supporting the effectiveness of campaigns that use multiple media platforms. Do yourself a favor and get the American Business Media's "Case For" series: www.americanbusinessmedia.com and download some research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau "Cross-Media Optimization" project: www.iab.net Bring specific research to meetings this year, and use it to back up your integrated proposals and provide clients with the power to fund your ideas.

Be Creative: Never has a creative media salesperson been more powerful. Those sales pros who embrace and understand online programs, can effectively communicate the benefits of integrated campaigns, and propose creative uses of multiple media will win now and in the future. Position yourself and your media property as a true "partner" to your clients, and develop a media strategy for each client that leverages your print, e-newsletter, online, event, market research products all as one solution. Remember, it's about listening to goals and delivering ideas to help achieve them. If you're not doing that this year, your competition may be!