Help me save an advertising client
August 5, 2013 2:58 PM Subscribe
I have little to no experience in sales; I'm a writer with a successful podcast. I am trying to sell ads on it. One of my customers/advertisers has decided to stop advertising with us after just 2 mos. How do I recover and keep the client?
I have a series of podcasts that review products and are all about merchandising. Partnering with online merchants who sell such items is a perfect match. BUT sites are all about referral links and, being a podcast, we are audio. Tens of thousands of people hear the ads and they tell us they're going to that site to shop as we referred them, but they aren't using our links.
This creates a conundrum where advertising with us is working but the client is not able to relate it to us.
This leads to the current issue--a client who was important to us has decided to no longer advertise after just 2 months. I want to recover their account. Having no sales training or background I'm not sure the best way to go about it.
I wanted to write an e-mail reiterating the above about the statistics and the exposure, but honestly there must be proven sales techniques that would help me turn this into a long-lasting business relationship. I want to go about it the right way. Any experienced salespeople able to help?
I have a series of podcasts that review products and are all about merchandising. Partnering with online merchants who sell such items is a perfect match. BUT sites are all about referral links and, being a podcast, we are audio. Tens of thousands of people hear the ads and they tell us they're going to that site to shop as we referred them, but they aren't using our links.
This creates a conundrum where advertising with us is working but the client is not able to relate it to us.
This leads to the current issue--a client who was important to us has decided to no longer advertise after just 2 months. I want to recover their account. Having no sales training or background I'm not sure the best way to go about it.
I wanted to write an e-mail reiterating the above about the statistics and the exposure, but honestly there must be proven sales techniques that would help me turn this into a long-lasting business relationship. I want to go about it the right way. Any experienced salespeople able to help?
Seconding driley--you need a metric or measurable. Maybe do some research on how radio stations handle metrics?
posted by resurrexit at 3:05 PM on August 5, 2013
posted by resurrexit at 3:05 PM on August 5, 2013
a client who was important to us has decided to no longer advertise after just 2 months. I want to recover their account. Having no sales training or background I'm not sure the best way to go about it.
Offer them a free month if they run their ad with a coupon code for discounts at checkout.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:25 PM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Offer them a free month if they run their ad with a coupon code for discounts at checkout.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:25 PM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
DarlingBri has it. Advertisers were successfully tracking referrals long before the invention of hyperlinks. You just need a way for your client to identify your audience when they visit, call or buy.
"Tell 'em Joe sent you!" was probably the first response metric.
posted by peakcomm at 3:31 PM on August 5, 2013
"Tell 'em Joe sent you!" was probably the first response metric.
posted by peakcomm at 3:31 PM on August 5, 2013
Ditto what was said above. You hear this all the time on podcasts, "go to thiswebsite.com and enter promo code podcast for x percent off." The customer has an incentive to do it because they get a discount, and it enables tracking.
posted by radioamy at 4:52 PM on August 5, 2013
posted by radioamy at 4:52 PM on August 5, 2013
Digital advertising guy here.
driley is correct in that coupon codes are an easy way of attributing sales.
However the reality is the advertiser pulled ads likely due to the fact that they were not profitable. Depending on their regular data, they may have seen a big spike in "Direct" (ie. unattributed or type in traffic) conversions. It isn't terribly difficult to link the two.
That said, they are paying for ads on your podcast, and so there is a cost associated. Depending on their margins, it may still not be profitable, or quite possibly AS profitable as another channel where they can still spend more dollars at a greater efficiency.
Put another way...
Would you rather spend $1 in one place and make $2 back, and another dollar in another place and make $3 back on that one?
--or--
Would you rather spend $2 in one place and make $3 back on each one?
My suggestion--ask them candidly how performance was, and if they can give any guidance on what they're trying to hit so you can work with them on a pricing structure that will make it work.
posted by Elminster24 at 1:00 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
driley is correct in that coupon codes are an easy way of attributing sales.
However the reality is the advertiser pulled ads likely due to the fact that they were not profitable. Depending on their regular data, they may have seen a big spike in "Direct" (ie. unattributed or type in traffic) conversions. It isn't terribly difficult to link the two.
That said, they are paying for ads on your podcast, and so there is a cost associated. Depending on their margins, it may still not be profitable, or quite possibly AS profitable as another channel where they can still spend more dollars at a greater efficiency.
Put another way...
Would you rather spend $1 in one place and make $2 back, and another dollar in another place and make $3 back on that one?
--or--
Would you rather spend $2 in one place and make $3 back on each one?
My suggestion--ask them candidly how performance was, and if they can give any guidance on what they're trying to hit so you can work with them on a pricing structure that will make it work.
posted by Elminster24 at 1:00 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
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The second idea is to offer your client a month of free ads, provided they offer a discount code. That way, they feel they are getting something for nothing and you have a chance to prove your worth.
Best of luck.
posted by driley at 3:02 PM on August 5, 2013 [6 favorites]