Selling digital advertising: 5 strategies for radio

5 Strategies for Radio

Advertising has been part of the American media landscape for centuries. There has been significant evolution and change since then. Americans consume more content than ever, creating new avenues for advertising. Radio stations have expanded their offerings, seeking to meet the needs of local advertisers to reach and target audiences. This expansion has led to broadcasters selling digital advertising.

Being able to offer traditional and digital campaigns as one media buy is advantageous for broadcasters and business owners. However, the industry faces challenges, including competition, a lack of expertise, operational efficiency gaps, and the absence of a digital champion.

As experts in selling digital advertising to local companies, we have a proven formula that lays the foundation for success. These strategies can help any radio station, regardless of size or market type, realize long-term revenue generation from digital sales.

Strategy 1:

Train and upskill continuously

Selling digital advertising isn’t much different than selling spots. Ultimately, salespeople are trying to solve a problem the advertiser has with a diverse media buy.

However, some still lack confidence in defining tactics and in delivering on their goals. Building on their already strong sales skills with digital aptitude supports their efforts and revenue growth.

Digital advertising is a rapidly evolving field, so training should be continuous. To make this part of your sales strategy, look for:

On-demand training on digital tactics

Dedicated onboarding from your technology partners to introduce digital and grow knowledge

Role-play training amongst the team to counter objections

Access to digital strategists who can guide and empower sellers

Sales enablement content to provide ideas and insights

Strategy 2:

Create budget targets and strategies specifically for digital

Stations without specific targets for digital don’t hold AEs accountable. They’ll continue to see what’s most profitable versus what will help advertisers realize their goals.

Separating digital from spot ads and O&O demonstrates your station’s commitment to growing this part of the business. In doing this, you may also consider a different commission structure or incentivizing new business or renewals.

Use Our Commission and Margin Calculator to Explore Options

You should also develop a strategy for digital sales to support the budget goals. It can include:

Aligning customer goals and digital tactics Ensuring sellers are updated on the latest in digital advertising Understanding your market’s unique landscape (e.g., its primary economic sources, audience preferences) Prospecting, pitching and proposing best practice Gathering insights from your digital sales data and campaign performance to inform your strategy

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Strategy 3:

Streamline workflows to empower sellers

Selling digital advertising hits obstacles for broadcasters because of inefficiencies and legacy technology. Sellers often spend too much time on admin tasks and going back-and-forth between systems (e.g., traffic, proposals, third-party digital, etc.)

You can eliminate these barriers with a unified tech stack that enables seamless integrated workflows. When sellers can propose, order, report on and invoice within a connected ecosystem, everybody saves time and removes manual work.

The flow should incorporate the entire lifecycle of the ad buy and be easy and simple for sellers to master. This solution organizes all the tasks involved into one workflow, boosting efficiency and productivity.

Future-proofing your ad sales platforms ensures you can continue to improve digital profits, rather than overpaying for legacy systems that are neither agile nor optimized.

Discover How Truly Integrated Traffic and Digital Work

Strategy 4:

Showcase your differentiators

There’s no doubt that competition exists in your market. It can come from agencies and other local or national media groups in radio, TV or newspapers. Small businesses receive inquiries all the time about buying advertising, so how do you stand out?

Emphasize the quality of inventory for digital:

(hover to learn more) Digital advertising buys all media inventory where the ads will be served. It can include websites, apps and streaming platforms. However, not all inventory is the same. There is a “quality” consideration.

Focus on streaming ads vs traditional TV:

(hover to learn more) OTT/CTV ads are targetable and measurable. They also reach more people as streaming accounts for more viewers than cable or satellite.

Highlight better rates over agencies:

(hover to learn more) Agencies like to nickel and dime clients with lots of excess fees, and you don’t. They also don’t have the local expertise that you do.

Strategy 5:

Introduce digital to radio customers with excitement

Digital shouldn’t be an afterthought when working with current advertisers. They are likely spending on digital already, just not with you. Thus, sellers have to be enthusiastic about their presentation, emphasizing how well radio and digital work together to deliver both reach and targeting.

If they have one advertising partner, it’s more convenient for them. With an existing relationship of trust, your sales team can bring up digital using simple language that explains its benefits and how specific tactics align with their overall goals.

View the Ad Mix Tool to Build a Media Plan by Advertiser Goal

Selling digital advertising: A key part of radio’s future

Achieving success in digital advertising sales comes from a combination of strategies. There’s no cheat sheet or shortcuts to building a strong foundation that will sustain you for the future.

Central to this is your technology tools. It should solve challenges, not create more of them. There’s only one digital advertising sales platform designed for radio: Marketron NXT Digital. Our award-winning, highly recommended platform has the features and capabilities you need without being overly complex.

“ “Using NXT has been super easy. I love the proposal and reports features.” Abby VogelDigital specialist

“ “My clients liked the reporting and transparency we provide. We went from zero to more than $30,000 in months.” Gail WightmanSales manager

“ “Marketron will give us a strategy for the right ad mix and percentage of dollars to spend. And they help us explain how tactics work in a way that’s easy to understand.” Bob ProtzmanSalina market manager

“ “The Marketron products are very accurate and easy to access. Customizing reports and dashboards makes it simple and fast to find the exact information you need every time you log in.” Jory StieberGeneral sales manager

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