Know-How Exchange : Strategy

You're in a tough spot, especially right now.

I think you need to offer some major concessions on price.

At this time the market position is real tough.
You need to offer discounts and innovations to connect the brand with target group.

I would try to find other businesses that are already using outdoor advertising. Look at existing billboards, bus ads, bus stop ads, etc. Those people are your prospects, because they are already spending money on this kind of advertising.

Look for people already actively advertising. The process to sell a larger client is really no different than the smaller one. Just go make some sales calls.

I would also look at your approach. Understand that empathy for the tight market and customer's tight budgets is good. Sympathy is bad. When you make statements like "they're just trying to save some money", that is sympathy. And that is why you are letting them off the hook with that excuse. Zig Zigler does a phenominal rant on this. His CD's are in your library.

Advertising is a tough sale if you take the approach it costs them money and its an expense. Advertising is an investment with a great return for dollars spent. It pays to advertise vs it costs to advertise.

Your clients say biz is down. So instead of allowing them to take the approach that "they can't afford it", if you truly believe your service is valuable, works, unique and brings promised returm-- they can't afford not to.

I agree with Carole,

You need to get your own sales team out into the market aggressively selling your service.

Your pricing sounds a little too cheap to me.

Have you presented to all the big and medium sized ad agencies and media buying companies??

Sell your advantage over fixed billboards.

Fixed bill boards are typically on long term contracts and are locked out by one advertiser for a long time. Since there are a limited number of available billboard spaces, many advertisers are unable to access.

Alos with niche market products a particular advertiser may want to reach out to a specific market or demographic. If there is no outdoor space available in that area, that is where you swoop in with the ability to target that niche specificaly.

Don't sell you ads by the month, sell by the day.

Don't have the trucks just randomly roaming around the city. that is useless. They need to be parked in strategic spots at strategic times of the day to catch specific audiences. A major intersection, a busy supermarket or events center like the Staples center for instance that brings large crowds in.

Go where the audience is.

Most ad agencies and media buyers do not yet really believe that the mobile trucks can work but you need to prove to them that they can work if operated correctly.

Don't rotate lots of ads on the side of the truck but just choose ONE strong campaign and run it for the entire day on the side of the truck.

Give very specific reports back to the advertiser (ad agency/media buyer) at the end of each day detailing where the ads were displayed, for how long and estimates of how many eyes saw the ads.

By the end of a one week campaign for one advertiser, they should be able to feed back to you if they saw a bump in sales in the targeted region or demographic. If they did; great, they will buy again.

Good look.

Matthew

Another thought-- You live in a great area. Every major show I attend hires mobile billboards. While your bread n butter is the 3 mo terms, you can charge a lot more to help promote a short show.

Sell Well and Prosper tm