From Freebie to For-Profit

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June 1, 2004 by Helen Berman

Byline: Helen Berman

A bank executive once said that until the ATM, the biggest change in banking was the introduction of electric lights. Until the Internet, you might say the same was true of publishing.

Before the Web shook things up, we'd all become used to the "usual" way of doing things, particularly when it came to ad sales. For decades, the goal was to sell ad pages and schedules, period. If we had any extra goodies - special positions, direct mail lists, bleed charges - we'd often throw them in to sweeten the deal. We called them "value-added products," but they were really just giveaways to get more pages in the issue.

With today's integrated media, the whole meaning of value-added has changed. Publishers have had to invest heavily in Websites, events and other costly magazine add-ons just to keep pace. But while the media culture has changed, the sales culture hasn't. Sales teams that have spent years giving goodies away often find it hard to stop, even as the goodies get bigger and pricier. For these teams, the name of the game is still selling pages. If a little Web advertising freebie stands between them and a six-page schedule, so be it.

GIVING UP GIVEAWAYS

Here's my take on freebies: enough is enough. Now that publishers have become bona fide multimedia companies, free value-added is dead. Long live for-profit integrated media sales!

So how do magazine companies give up the giveaway habit? There's only one obstacle and it's not advertiser budgets or media costs, although they may be convenient excuses. In my opinion, the only real obstacle is...fear.

It's not that advertisers and salespeople are scared of changing the status quo. After all, many advertisers are excited to try new media channels to reach their customers, and many salespeople are excited about helping them. The scary part is the process. As the menu of media options multiplies, all those choices can get overwhelming. Would a Web sponsorship work for a client who has always run in the editorial feature well? Can an e-newsletter tempt a prospect running with a competitor? How do you prove ROI on a new online game feature?

No wonder salespeople keep pushing pages. They sell effectively only what they fully understand and believe in - and so far, new media hasn't been part of the mix.

However, I believe that advertisers and publishers are primed to make the shift into for-profit integrated media sales - neither party has a viable choice. Successful publishers are those who can make profit centers from each of their media elements. And successful advertisers have been moving their budgets from traditional advertising into online, Web sponsorships, custom publishing, shows and marketing vehicles. In short, publishers who give away "alternative" media are not only behind the times, they're cutting their own throats.

For publishers, selling integrated media also yields other benefits. It helps them make more money, increase market share and cut ahead of the competition. More critically, it helps them protect that all-important brand. The more advertisers utilize a publisher's different media channels, the more deeply embedded they become in that publisher's brand. Advertisers are no longer just a representation on a printed page. They can become a link on a Website, a button on an online page, an icon in a game, a sponsor of a program. That's a valued privilege and must be offered as such.

SALES TIPS

To convince a customer of a product's value, you first have to convince yourself. So if you've been giving away the "little" stuff, it's time to reacquaint yourself with the value of those products. Some suggestions:

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Before you start cross-media selling, think first of each media tool as a stand-alone product that benefits your advertiser.

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Pick a media tool - perhaps start with your smallest - and outline its features. It could be as simple as a bookmark to go in the directory at a show. You could have 5,000 printed on laminated card stock in two colors with three column inches of text or selling space.

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Outline that tool's benefits, such as immediate impact at point-of-purchase, long shelf life, distributed only to prepaid event participants, high usage and high repeated viewings.

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Examine any research that helps establish ROI and success rates with this product. Bring out any testimonials from prior advertisers.

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List the CPM and price variables for the product.

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List five clients whose needs - unveiling new product at show, for instance - could be met by this product.

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Prepare an appropriate presentation on how this particular product will help the account accomplish specific sales and marketing goals. You must carefully justify and tie together your recommendation with this client's needs.

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Repeat these steps for each media tool and you'll be better able to connect your media to create an even bigger bang for your client's dollar. The more you practice, the easier it will be to ask for the sale, or to say "show me the money."

Helen Berman, president of the Helen Berman Corp. specializes in print, exhibition and online sales consulting. She is the author of Ad Sales: Winning Secrets of the Magazine Pros, and can be reached at hberman@helenberman.com or 310-230-3899.