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The Principle
Function of Kelly Worldwide Public Relations &
Advertising is to plan and create advertising campaigns for clients and
to place ads among the various media forms. Planning a campaign involves
analyzing the market for particular product or service, evaluating
alternative methods of ad distributions and choosing those media that
will most effectively reach a particular market
.
The
Advertising Sales Process
Obviously, it's a different job selling your services or product to
General Motors or Nike than to your local coffee bar or movie theatre.
And it's easier to sell your services or product to a startup or a small
independent company that services your market place. Still, we can
generalize about the selling process, and if you follow the Kelly
Worldwide process I'm describing here, it will serve you equally well.
Step One: Develop a Prospects Database
You can
rent mailing lists, comb through competitive publications, or use the
yellow pages to find companies who are trying to sell something to your
audience. Do your homework and find out who makes the buying decisions
for each advertiser. Big companies generally use advertising agencies
such as Kelly Worldwide to help them decide where to run their ads, and
of course to create their ads for them. Smaller companies generally make
those decisions for themselves. There are reference books in any good
business library that will tell you which advertising agency handles
which advertisers. While you're doing this research, study where the
advertiser is already running their ads and what kind of customers they
seem to be trying to reach. The point is that you can save a lot of
money and trouble if you carefully research the prospects before you try
to approach them.
Step Two: Make Contact
Now we
can write to the decision-makers at each company to introduce your
company. Include ads about your company, enough to make them interested
in learning more. For example, we will include ads for issues that
target your clients and a brief letter describing your circulation and
readership. Ask for an appointment, either in person or by telephone to
discuss your business interest.
Help you
prepare a Follow-up the letter with a telephone call. The purpose of
this call is just to get an appointment for a more detailed discussion,
but you should also take time to learn as much as you can about their
advertising goals and plans. What kind of customer are they trying to
reach? What media are they already using?
When
you've got a date for an appointment, we will help you develop and send
a complete media kit. Include information that responds to the needs
that each prospect has expressed to you on the telephone. For example,
if they're concerned about reaching women, provide information showing
how your company will appeal to a female audience.
Step Three: Prepare a Proposal
Once you
meet with them after they've had plenty of time to review your media
kit. Which is another fact-finding meeting. You want to find out
everything you can about their advertising goals: targeted customers,
budget, expected results from advertising, and so on. After this meeting
or telephone interview, we can help you create an advertising proposal
for each prospect. The proposal suggests a certain size of ad and
frequency, based on what they've told you about their budget and needs.
It also includes the price to them based on your services and or
products. If you've been listening to them well, and if your company
really does address their needs, then your proposal will be acceptable
to them.
Step Four: Close the Sale
Close
the sale (either by telephone or in person) by having your company
service the client, we will help your company supply advertising
materials on time and in the format they need .
As you
can see, it takes lots of time and effort to sell your service or
product one ad to each client. It's very common for companies to spend
six months or a year trying before they can get an advertising campaign
that works. We are the experts with ad sales experience to help you.
And better still, we are already familiar with the advertisers in your
market.
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