For advertisers that don't have the long cash and you have a compelling website and can do interesting things with your site (i.e. gift certificates to special restaurants that they can only get on your stations site, win stuff on the site, upload the cutest dog for Purina Dog Chow, etc.), you can do a solo package on the Internet. Stream the commercial online and have the client logo on site with hyperlink to enter a contest and get additional information. This is great for advertisers that can track their online hits. Also, it helps if your pd is promoting the site.
Also, you can do joint deal on the internet and terrestrial radio where they get visuals and sound on the internet. Again, I hope that you have a savvy Internet Person and/or Graphic Designer. The beauty of the internet is the immediacy of it. My first deals would be dirt cheap to test how your site does for advertisers. I think some of your first targets should be direct folks and see how your station does. Find out which buttons located where do the best for your station. You're going to make some mistakes in the beginning but you are also creating a partner with your advertiser because he/she is learning along the way and you will be making some success stories.
Really think about the way that you use the internet and what your listeners are really interested in and gear a promotion around that using the Internet as your base. I think that advertisers are more interested in what the results are for them and how you use them. Also, get with your promotions/ntr team and discuss your promotional ideas and allow them to help you develop some cool stuff. You might be able to get some promos to escalate the event. Get as creative as you can with this...tie in some random, small papers, do some eblasts (does your station have a database of subscribers and how many?). Use the database only if it's something exciting like by getting this eblast the person is going to get something cool like $5000 or Enter to Win a Shopping Spree in Time for Christmas. Make it something exclusive where if they e-mail their friends about the promotion (which you can add to your database), they get more chances to enter to win. There has to be something in it for them and please don't spam them where they hear from you every day or even every week. This makes it more difficult to break through the clutter and you want your station to be someplace where they can trust. You never want to break their trust because it is the hardest thing in the world to win back. Put yourself in your listeners position. What would be really cool to win? It's sort of like Van Hits are only as exciting as the personality and the prize that you can win. People's time is a really valuable commodity.
The cool thing about what we're doing in the Internet world is that we have the best of everything! Radio is the MOST personalized medium in the world and because I love MY personalities, it gives a product instant credibility. Your radio station would never try to sell you something that they don't believe in (that's the position radio plays in people's heads --- really think about that one). Now, radio has only been theatre of the mind which is powerful but add pictures. How many times have you thought about those Botox injections or losing weight. Pictures are powerful. You can now put Dr. Makehim/herprettynow's success stories on the internet as well as Dr. Fattoskinny Quick Results. We have just been given license to take a lot of money away from the other mediums. I was at a conference recently and because so much of our time is spent on the internet, TV is no longer going to see the double digit growth. This year, use the Internet to create some success stories for you and your company... Find out what works.
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