Maybe It’s The Way We Are Selling It?

On Friday, we compared advertising strategies to long-term investing. We discussed how important it is to shift your customer’s mindset. Unfortunately, the customer’s mindset might not be the only one that needs to change.

It’s possible that part of the problem is how we sell it. If you’re not presenting long-term annual or multi-year strategies to your clients each time you ask them to buy, you are subtly implying, “I’m not sure, let’s give this a try.” If you have an investment advisor, they didn’t try to sell you a 13-week investment strategy, did they?

And here’s the consequence:
When we sell short-term, clients EXPECT short-term results.

In many of our RAB training courses, we emphasize the importance of asking for the annual. We teach nine reasons to ALWAYS ask for the annual. I’ll share five here:

1. You’ll never get an annual you don’t ask for. In all my years in this business, I’ve NEVER had a client say, “I like your idea, but can we do it for the whole year instead of just this quarter?”
2. Advertising is effective when used consistently. See Friday’s tip for the link between investing in the market and advertising.
3. People forget. A German psychologist named Herman Ebbinghaus introduced the Curve of Forgetting. It’s scientific research on how the brain retains information. Frequency and consistency are the antidote.
4. Annuals strengthen the relationship. Instead of continually going back every month to resell them, you’re engaging in higher-level strategic conversations. Focus on solving business problems, not just reselling.
5. They work. Want proof? “Like a Good Neighbor…” No matter your age, you can finish that sentence: “State Farm is there.” Why? Because they've been saying that for 55 years. Not a month or 13 weeks, but 55 YEARS. That kind of consistency makes a brand ubiquitous. That’s not a campaign. That’s a commitment. That’s what consistency looks like.

Time for a reality check, self-reflection and math. Oh, I see the eyeroll. Calculate what percentage of your clients are on annual contracts right now. In a typical radio station, generally only 20–40% of advertisers are on annual, long-term contracts. Most are buying short-term flights: four–12 weeks. Think about the potential for growth that represents! Short-term buys don’t just limit results… they limit belief.

1. The purpose of advertising is to be known before you are needed.
2. People forget.

Two simple yet powerful truths. Without looking up, can you tell me the name of the German psychologist I just discussed not a minute or two ago? Most of you won’t remember his name, even though I just shared it about four paragraphs earlier. One of the most powerful tools we’ve ever created for selling annuals is the Ebbinghaus curve.

Send me an email here, and I’ll share it with you if you promise to share it with every client you talk to this week. Not only is it a compelling visual, but it’s also proof that long-term advertising is the only way to achieve business success.

If most of your advertisers are buying short-term, maybe it’s not their strategy that needs to change.

Maybe it’s ours.

Happy Monday!
Think Big, Make Big Things Happen!

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com. You can also connect with him on X, YouTube, and LinkedIn.