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An answer to one of the most difficult questions



It’s no surprise that one of the most critical pieces of information to get from a prospect is possibly the most difficult question to ask. And that is: “What’s your advertising budget?” For the same reason you wouldn’t feel comfortable telling a stranger, or likely even a friend, about your personal finances, clients hate talking about their annual sales and their budgets for advertising.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to know the answer to that very difficult question before you met with a prospect? There is, if you know where to look. As a member of the Radio Advertising Bureau, you have access to Schonfeld & Associates’ Ad-To-Sales-Ratio report. In fact, we just posted the new 2016 information. You can find it in the Radio & Associate Members section on RAB.com, under the Prospect tab, or follow this link. (You will need your RAB log-in information to access the report.)

Reading from left to right across the top, the report tells you how much each category of business spent last year on advertising and the projected amount that category will spend this year. It shows expected growth rates and -- this is the key -- the percentage of sales spent on advertising by the average company in that category.

Knowing what percentage of sales, on average, an industry is spending on advertising gives you an incredible advantage when having those uncomfortable conversations with prospects about money.

Next week, we’ll give you three easy-to-ask and get-answered questions to determine the annual sales of your prospect or client.

Jeff Schmidt is SVP of Professional Development for the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can reach Jeff at jschmidt@rab.com or 972-753-6765. Other ways to connect: Twitter: @JeffreyASchmidt or LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/schmidtjeffrey.

Source: Jeff Schmidt, RAB