Local media sellers often have worries about selling local advertising in the digital realm. They question their expertise in presenting the right tactics to customers. While understanding types of digital is critical, much of the conversation centers more on defining their goals.

An advertiser’s goal should be the key factor in defining a media plan. So, let’s get back to basics in this sales 101 guidance.

3 Stage Marketing Funnel

The Sales Funnel

One area where you should become an expert is the sales funnel. It will be integral to matching goals and tactics. There are several versions of this, and we keep it simple with these three stages:

  • Awareness: A person realizes they have a need or challenge and begins to research possible solutions.
  • Consideration: A customer further defines the problem and starts to consider specific options.
  • Decision: The customer evaluates all options and makes a purchasing decision.

Decoding Advertiser Explanations to Stage

In your customer needs assessment (CNA), the business owner will (hopefully) provide context about what they need from advertising. As you ask questions and gather intel, you can link these to a stage to ensure relevance in selling local advertising.

Here are some examples:

  • Awareness: “My restaurant now has a brunch menu, and I want people to know.”
  • Awareness: “Our website now has e-commerce options.”
  • Consideration: “I want to showcase products with specific promotions.”
  • Consideration: “I’d like to increase foot traffic to my stores during the holiday shopping season.”
  • Decision: “I need more leads for my pest control business.”
  • Decision: “I want to increase the number of online reservations for my restaurant.”

Ad Tactics by Stage

Many ad tactics apply across multiple stages. The difference is the creative messaging and CTA.

Awareness

  • Brand awareness display ads
  • Geofencing (static, video and retargeting)
  • OTT/CTV ads that introduce a product
  • Streaming audio
  • Social media

Consideration

  • Display ads that focus on value
  • Email marketing
  • Geofencing areas where ideal customers spend time
  • OTT/CTV
  • Retargeting to drive people back to a website
  • SEM (search engine marketing) that uses solution-based terms
  • Social media ads that showcase results (e.g., case studies, testimonials)
  • Video that highlights specific details about a product or service

Decision

  • Email marketing with appealing deals
  • SEM ads that use “buying” language
  • Social media ads that are conversion-focused

Also, radio can be a complement to digital tactics across stages, as it has the potential to create and convert demand.

With all these pieces, it’s time to build a proposal that aligns goals to tactics.

Selling Local Advertising: Media Mixes That Drive Results

Ultimately, your customer wants results. You do, too, so that you earn the renewal. Digital advertising performance depends on many things — the creative, targeting, brand reputation, economics and much more. You can’t control all these things. What you can do is recommend the best media mix to achieve a goal.

We’ve developed a resource to help: Create the Ideal Digital Ad Mix for Your Advertisers.

It reviews 10 specific goals and the digital tactics that fit them. Try it out today.

We also have an on-demand webinar that dives deeper into the sales funnel: Matching Digital Tactics to Advertiser Goals: Strategies for Success. You can watch it here.