Are you still sending emails one at a time?
Postman at letter box, New York City, c. 1896. Library of Congress

Media sellers and managers are always looking for easier and more efficient ways to reach their customers and prospects with ideas and proposals. What if you could send 20, 50 or 100 personalized and tailored emails at once, instead of one at a time, like many of us do today?

Most media sales folks waste an excessive amount of time sending one email at a time to clients and prospects in order to pitch a schedule for next month or to recommend an upcoming station event. Of course, I get that, because that’s what email is for and we have tools that do that really well. It just takes so much time out of the day and really prevents sellers from working through their list more deeply.  That prevents them from making more money, which is still what it’s all about.

As it turns out, email is still the most successful marketing tool, according to research provided by the Columbus, Ohio-based ad agency, Creative Spot. They compared the marketing power of email vs. social media and stated in a recent newsletter that, “. . . email is still the single most popular online activity. About 94% of internet users send or read email, while about 61% access social media.” You can check out their blog here.

So, imagine if you could send 10, 20 or 50+ personalized emails (addressing recipients by first name) at once to all your clients who spent digital money with you last March, or who expressed interest in your station events, or who are all in the “automotive” category? If you could do that, you’d be sending a message that is tailored to your clients based on their common spending history, sponsorship interest or industry category. And, you’re communicating with many more prospects at once, making you far more productive and efficient at work!  Oh yeah, and you can make a lot more money too!

So, “How do you do it?” you ask? First, there are a number of account management and CRM (customer relationship management) systems that can provide with adequate tools to help you get this done, such as ACT and Goldmine. You pay the software fee and an additional fee, since both of these companies work through a third party provider for email marketing. These systems aren’t built to communicate with your traffic system, so you will have to research that part and put together your email list manually.

Then, there are the popular email marketing companies like Constant Contact and Mail Chimp, which provide nice templates and let you send out customized email blast campaigns. They also track who opens and clicks on your emails, which let you track your impact.  These companies don’t provide CRM or account list management systems, so you have to send them a “CAN-SPAM compliant” email list for them to send on your behalf. Again, you’ll probably have to put that list together manually, since they don’t integrate with your traffic system.

Finally, Efficio Solutions offers the Efficio product, which is a web-based media sales account management and CRM system that does integrate with your media traffic system and has a built-in email marketing system. Find the system that works best for you and your station and email blast away. You will quickly see substantial improvements in efficiency and productivity, which will help you monetize your investment and make more money! In my next blog, I’ll share with you some great ideas and best practices for email marketing if you’re in media sales. Stay tuned!

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