Overcome the budget objection

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Feb, 2002

With corporate marketing budgets slashed to the bone, the art of selling ad space has been altered. In this climate, it's less about getting a client to spend their dollars with you instead of with the competition, and more about getting them to spend any money at all. Yet eliminating the "budget objection," says Kathi Simonsen, president of Simonsen Sales & Marketing, is easier than it seems. Ad sales staffers should simply re-assess their magazine's strengths and focus on how their titles can use assets to help each customer achieve success. "Remember that [advertisers] are hurting too," Simonsen says. "If you can creatively leverage your abilities to help them through these times, they and the entire industry will benefit."

When pitching a reluctant advertiser, concentrate on two specific aspects: the power of print in general and the benefits of branding using the specific magazine. In particular, she says, be familiar with "The Power of Advertising in a Recession," a pamphlet available from the American Business Media. It shows that businesses that continue to advertise in print publications throughout a downturn come out ahead of those that pull back. Those brave companies that do funnel money into marketing during these tough times will be better positioned for recovery, explains Simonsen. "Display advertising is an extremely effective way to create a brand. And because such branding takes the fear out of buying, people are willing to pay significantly more."