Free Advice to Ad Networks and Other Media Properties

At Catalyst we help position and market a lot of media properties, cultivating share of mind among planners and buyers. We also buy a lot of trade and emerging media. As I review hundreds of decks for each side of our business, I am struck by how many media properties do so little to differentiate themselves, and then bitch privately about the low rates that clients demand.

Its a plainly bizarre phenomenon given that the people who they are trying to attract -- buyers -- work for companies that differentiate and market for a living.The funny thing is, many of the badly marketed media vehicles probably have something to say that differentiates them. But who knows what it is? If you can't tell people why you are different and better, you cannot reasonably expect a planner that works on eight accounts to find it for you.

Instead, they want a deal. Which is what people want from commodity providers. But not, in fact from differentiated goods. marketing 101.

So I offer the following to help media properties to think about what they say and can say:

1. Say something. You exist for a reason. Your visitors pick you for a reason. Tell us what it is. It's not too weird to talk about. It'll matter to us.

2. Don't try to fake us out with ersatz data. Your media traffic figures need to come from a reputable impartial source. And BTW, focus groups are not valuable except as color for quantitative research.

3. Tell us what you do that's different. Yes, people want to know that you do IAB ad sizes. But WHAT ELSE do you do. If you don't tell us, all the World will ever buy from you is those commodity units.

4. Remember that buyers are people. People stressed out by deadlines and the need to keep up with the relentless change in the digosphere. Entertain them. Or tell them something interesting. Get noticed.

5. Pay someone to make your story look nice. Using Microsoft Powerpoint template backgrounds built into Office are NOT a way to stand out.

6. Deliver your message consistently. This is the only way you are going to get critical mass of mind share.

7. Train your reps. People want to do a good job. They really do. But without training, you are sentencing them to a job in which they row a boat around waiting for fish to jump into it.

8. Excite your reps. People want to be a part of something great. If they think that you are the 33rd largest ad network offering primarily IAB ads, it's hard to imagine them walking into a room with passion and walking out with an order.

9. Serve. That so many media properties offer lousy customer service in an environment with thousands of competitors is absurd. No matter how big your traffic, no matter how valuable your audience, make sure you meet the reasonable needs of your customers. Because the day may come -- scratch that, will come -- when you are out of the catbird seat, and those buyers you have been treating like crap have alternatives. They say elephants never forget. Well, pachyderms ain't got nuthin on a buyer who has been burned.

10. Have some empathy. Think about the challenges of your customers' days. Respect their time. There is a rep I have known for years who has been trying to sell me something for years. The product isn't right for my clients, and the rep isn't right for anyone rational to deal with. But she is relentless. She's gone around me to my boss, my boss's boss. So much so that they tell me to just call her and get her off their backs. And I do. And tell her to stop calling all of us. Forever. No needs were met by this tenacity. I know that sales people have to push, but trying to sell shoes to a legless person just isn't gonna happen, no matter how many calls you place.

That's enough for a start. Do these and your sales will spike.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.