We see that the stock market is down. This is a reflection of the significantly reduced economic activity. People are stocking up on essentials and trying to stay home as much as possible. Restaurants are offering take-out and delivery only, if not closing doors completely. Major metropolitan cities are implementing city-wide lock downs, closing bars and other places where large groups of people are gathering. Many large companies are having their employees work from home until further notice. Students are transitioning to online classes.

The question that marketers are constantly asking is, “Where is my audience?” This question is relevant now more than ever. Audiences are shifting and the way the general population is operating has changed almost overnight. So, what does an increase in remote workers mean for advertisers? It just means that our audience is in a different place!

Nielsen Scarborough USA+ reports 90% of Americans working from home listen to AM/FM radio. People are clinging to any sense of normalcy they can find nowadays. Listening to radio can provide this sense of comfort, that things aren’t completely upside down.

“AM/FM radio is the soundtrack of the American worker regardless of where they sit,” Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media & Westwood One, Pierre Bouvard, states. Share of listening studies see at work listening at 68%. This number jumps up to 75% at home. This study was conducted on people 18 and up in age during 2019.

An interesting insight seen in this table is the drop in engagement on other platforms at home. This can be attributed to people having other services on in the background.

A recent MARU/Matchbox report shows “…only half of at-home Pandora and Spotify listeners can actually hear the ads.” On the other hand, AM/FM radio ads are heard 83% of the time from at home listeners.

Data from smart speakers shows the prominence of radio listening. AM/FM radio is the number one activity in terms of share of time spent, holding 24% of the share. This is 60% larger than Amazon Music’s 15% share.

NuVoodoo came out with a very recent study showing the consumption trend for radio as Americans tune in for more updates on the pandemic. The study shows 27% of those surveyed claim they are listening to radio more during the pandemic and 37% say they are using it for local market updates.

So, what’s the take away? The take away is that your audience is still there! Engaged now more than ever!

Communicate how your product/services will be augmented in accordance with the pandemic where your audience is actually listening. The key here will be to frame how your brand can help. 

Call us for great deals on remnant so we can help you realign your brand get back in touch with the world during these turbulent times. 562-439-3900

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1. Popularity

Messaging used in business is becoming more common everyday. Why? Well, 87% of the global population engages in chat messaging of some sort. Over 100 billion messages pass through Facebook products everyday. To capture this huge volume of conversation, more than 40 million companies across the world leverage Messenger on Facebook. Click-to-Messenger ads on Facebook are one of the fastest growing advertising products that Facebook offers.

2. Intuitiveness 

It just feels natural. Messaging is how people communicate with almost everyone. Friends, family, coworkers, etc. Why wouldn’t they want to communicate with businesses in the same way? Messaging is quick and flexible. 64% of people would rather message than call a company. 60% claim to be open to receiving personalized messages from companies.

What’s more is people already have the apps necessary to receive and send messages! There is additional friction regarding app download, new interface, or extra notifications. This convenience and familiarity makes it easy for brands to talk to their market through messaging apps. Canadian airline, WestJet, implemented a new chat bot for Messenger which resulted in a 24% positive sentiment lift as well as increased WestJet’s message capacity by five times.

3. Immediacy 

One of the biggest advantages is that the communication is in real time. This is particularly powerful for industries like travel and hospitality. People can get flight notifications, hotel check-in updates, ask urgent questions, and make changes. All on the go. KLM airlines leveraged WhatsApp by sending booking confirmations, flight updates, and gate details to their thousands of passengers and their friends and family.

4. Scale-able Communication 

Advances in natural language programming and artificial intelligence have made bots more intelligent and user-centric. This leads to companies being able to cater to many different customer needs simultaneously. GlobeAir, a private jet chartering company, used WhatsApp to improve its customers’ experience with the brand and smooth out peak business period demand which customer query fulfillment time by 33%.

5. Personalized Engagement

When artificial intelligence meets chat, companies can deliver information and promotions to individuals at scale. Studies cite that 91% of consumers are more likely to buy from companies who remember them and provide personalized offers. The other side of the coin is the sheer amount of time savings. Automated chat allows brands to do more with that freed up time. Singapore based resort, Marina Bay, harnesses the power of chat to accommodate basic requests and give recommendations. This allows the staff to tend to more complex issues or provide a more personal touch to others.

To wrap up, the popularity, ease, speed, scale, and personalization of messaging is great for companies that provide a service such as hospitality and travel. However, having a personal messaging mechanism set up does not guarantee automatic success. A Spectrm study of 242 brands revealed that 45% did not respond within 5 days of being messaged. Similarly, many brands are not providing bots with support staff for complex queries they cannot handle. For chat to be effective, it must be smart and responsive. With proper execution, chat can be one of the most powerful tools that brands leverage.

Give us a call to talk about what chat marketing could mean for your brand! 562-439-3900

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Now that advertisement length is known to not drive a significant impact on the performance of the spot, attention can be turned to finding other ways to optimize audio advertisement performance. Three best practices were identified.

1. Less messages leads to better recall!

Millward Brown, a global leader in brand strategy consulting, advertising development and optimization, media effectiveness, and brand equity research, reports that more messages in an ad leads to a lower likelihood of a single message being recalled. Powerful numbers are provided to prove this point. The first message of an ad with four total messages only has a 43% recall rate compared to an ad with a single message.

This makes sense once you think about it. Cramming a bunch of messages into an ad makes it harder to remember anything that was in the ad. A 15 second ad with one message will likely perform far better than a 30 second ad with three messages.

Instead of taking a 30 or 60 second ad as an opportunity to say everything you can about the brand, take that time to communicate one central idea in an entertaining & memorable way. Think about Snickers’ advertisements. “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” One central idea that is communicated in a consistently entertaining & attention grabbing way. Time is not wasted talking about taste, size, packaging, price, or the myriad of messages they could communicate. Instead, the message is just to eat a Snickers when you’re hungry. Now that’s memorable.

2. Prioritize brand building, not sales activation 

The Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, Les Binet, and Peter Field, a Marketing Consultant, studied the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) database of case studies to prove this point. They explain that sales activation campaigns focus on customers who are likely to buy in the very near future which is accomplished by leveraging existing brand equity to drive sales.

They make the analogy that sales campaigns are like carbs; they produce a sugar rush-like  short term sales boost followed by a crash. Sales campaigns are easy to measure because results tend to be immediate and direct.

Similarly, branding campaigns are compared to protein; a sustainable and long lasting source of energy. Brand building is more difficult and requires greater investment, however, it is critical. This involves the process of creating mental associations and beliefs that ultimately leads to the preference of one brand compared to the next. To build a brand, mass media like television and radio are necessary. This is because the objective is to communicate to everyone in the category, not just people in the market right now.

The difference compared to sales campaigns is that brand building sales effects grow and compound, becoming a main driver of long term growth. The ideal mix of sales and branding campaigns should be 60% branding and 40% sales. This makes sense because that means more brand equity is being built than being spent on sales activation.

3. Focus Creative on Emotional Claims Instead of Rational

This may sound backwards, but let’s stop and think about it. Becoming top of mind for consumers is an issue of reach. Creating brand likability and understanding is the product of good advertising. Does this sound like a feat that is accomplished through dumping facts or telling a captivating story that touches the heart?

The Binet & Field analysis reveals that emotional branding performs more strongly across all metrics, including: awareness, commitment, trust, differentiation, fame, and image. Emotional advertising and storytelling creates bonds and associations more efficiently than throwing a bunch of facts about the brand or product at the audience. Naturally, these efficiencies translate to an increase in the bottom line. Creating emotional bonds with the target market yields higher long-term sales, share, pricing power, and loyalty.

To sum up, it’s not the spot length that matters. Focus on the number of messages, branding and sales mix, and emotional claims in your audio creative.

Give us a call 562-439-3900 so that we can create high quality audio creative for you and get you great deals on media placement!

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But eventually, all your hard work will pay off, your resume will get noticed and a face-to-face interview will be scheduled.

In order to shine during the interview, careful preparation beforehand is essential. Here are some tips to help you nail the interview and land the job!

Do Your Research

You should thoroughly research the company you are interviewing with, as you want to make sure you understand the business and anticipate the kinds of questions the interviewer may ask. Do a Google search of the company or review the company’s website, including their “About Us” or “Product” pages. If the company has a blog or press articles, be sure to read a few posts. Check their LinkedIn and social media post as well.

You should walk into the interview confident that you have a collective amount of knowledge on the company and your future position.

Ask the Right Questions

The questions you ask are just as important as the answers you give to the interviewer. Here are some examples of questions to ask that will make you come across as intelligent and prepared:

• What qualities are you looking for in an ideal candidate?
• Can you describe the team I’d be working with?
• What would my typical work day be like?’
• How does this job fit into the overall mission of the company?
• How would you define success in this position?
• What would like to see accomplished in the first (month, 6 months, year)?

These question will highlight your enthusiasm, curiosity and leadership skills while showing your potential employer that you are qualified for the position.

Presentation

You want to dress appropriately and professionally for the job interview. It usually won’t hurt to dress more formally for your interview than you would on the job. Show up neat, groomed and on time!

Download directions in advance and leave time for delays like traffic. It is best to show up early, about 5 to 10 minutes before you interview starts. Not only will this show your potential employer that you can arrive on time, but it will also give you time to take a deep breath and relax before the interview starts. You don’t want to appear flustered or out of breath for your first impression.

Give Your Self a Pep Talk

Remember to build yourself up before heading into the interview. Know your self-worth by believing that you are walking into the company to bring value to it with your skill set.

Recite affirmations to yourself on the drive to the interview like “This company could really use someone like me. They would be very lucky to have me.” As much as you want to impress the interviewer, remember that you need to be impressed too. You are not just another people looking for a job…you are you! And there is no one else like you.

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Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 to recognize the successful and impactful history of women in business in the United States of America. Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week of  March 7, 1982, as “Women’s History Week.” Later, in 1987, Congress designated March the month to celebrate Women’s History for the entire country, after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project.

To show how far women in business have come, here is a historical look provided by National Women’s History Museum’s online exhibit. To see their exhibit visit slideshow.

History of Women in Business

This exhibit defines the term “entrepreneur” to refer to a woman who had an idea for a service or product and started a business of her own. American women have owned businesses as far back as colonial settlements.

Women did not historically use the word “entrepreneur” to describe their businesses until the late 1970s; before that, they called them “sidelines” or part-time projects and understood entrepreneurship to describe what men did.

But looking back, it is clear that the history of women in business ownership deserves a place in the broader history of entrepreneurship; hence the use of the term in this exhibit.

1910-1939

Up through the nineteenth century, women-owned businesses primarily included taverns and alehouses, millinery and retail shops, hotels, and brothels, and were often operated as a way to provide an income for women who found themselves without a breadwinning man. Business, then, was a way for a woman in potentially dire circumstances to provide for herself rather than become a social burden. 

From 1900 through 1929, Progressivism, feminism, consumerism and immigration all gave rise to a climate that was not only conducive to women’s entrepreneurship but also highly accepting of them. Like many women’s ventures at this time, their primary markets were typically other women, but New Women entrepreneurs often tinged their businesses with a sense of purpose beyond simple economics.

1940-1959 

World War II was an important expansion period for the history of women in business as it brought many women into the workforce, filling jobs so men could go off and fight. That same patriotic fervor also inspired many women to consider starting businesses of their own. The Boston Globe’s “women’s pages,” for example, featured Polly Webster’s column, “War Time Wife”, packed with tips for weathering the hardships of the war years—including how to generate income from home-based businesses. 

When World War II ended, women were pushed from wartime jobs for returning soldiers, and many went straight into entrepreneurial women owned businesses of their own.

The Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs and state officials—first in New York and then nationwide—ran workshops for aspiring female entrepreneurs with advice from trailblazers such as Elizabeth Arden and male business leaders. There were advice books and free pamphlets. Reader’s Digest included women entrepreneurs among the winners of its 1946 competition for best business ideas. The press hailed women entrepreneurs for helping to rebuild the economy by increasing the number of women-owned businesses from 600,000 in 1945 to nearly 1 million by 1950.

By the 1950s—the age of celebrated domesticity—the home became the new site of, and justification for, starting a business. Everywhere women turned, they received messages that home and family were their primary roles. But the baby boom and an assortment of new consumer goods—from cars to clothes to appliances—also meant that even middle-class families needed more cash. Women stepped up, often capitalizing on homemaking skills to build businesses. They defined their home-based businesses as part of being a good mother. 

1960-1979 

By the early 1960s, the changing social and cultural landscape provided new incentives for would-be women business owners. Divorce rates escalated during the 1960s and single mothers struggling to balance child-rearing and their new roles as providers saw in business a possible solution. Women, like beauty maven Mary Kay Ash and advertising executive Mary Wells, started women owned companies of their own as a way to assert their independence in the male world of business.

The Civil Rights and women’s movements of the 1960s and 1970s brought a new sense of purpose and a language of rights and empowerment to women entrepreneurs. Nonetheless, the result was a change in the way women understood themselves and their ventures, seeking not just to start businesses but to be seen as equals in the world of enterprise.

Feminists founded businesses along movement principles, such as publishing ventures that would give voice to women’s words and perspectives, including the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, the Feminist Press, and Ms. Magazine. Women entrepreneurs also began to move beyond traditionally female categories and into previously male bastions of technology, metals, and finance.

1980-1999

By the 1980s, the hard work of the previous decades was paying off: women entrepreneurs like Martha Stewart and Vera Bradley…owned 25 percent of all US firms. What’s more, the public and politicians widely acknowledged that women entrepreneurs were a vital component of the nation’s economy. New initiatives, including how-to seminars and government programs, sought to ensure that women had the resources necessary to start and grow their businesses.

In 1988, urged on by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Congress passed The Women’s Business Ownership Act, which ended discrimination in lending, eliminated state laws that required married women to have a husband’s signature for all loans and gave women-owned businesses a chance to compete for lucrative government contracts.

2000-Present Day 

This look at the history of women in business shows it’s been a bumpy ride for women entrepreneurs in the 20th and early 21st century: on the upside, their numbers continue to grow, and Key Bank, Goldman Sachs, and other institutions have increasingly launched financing initiatives targeted solely at would-be women entrepreneurs.

Technological innovation ramped up fast as the 1990s became the 2000s. That not only enabled women entrepreneurs to break into technology-based businesses in record numbers but also to use technology to start, run, promote and accelerate all types of companies. With faster and cheaper Internet, cloud and mobile technologies, women can manage a business from anywhere, with far less startup capital. 

But small and big, women’s ventures came to comprise 30 percent of all U.S. businesses—many of them today in categories that were once men’s alone. The lesson they teach is the power of possibilities and passion for transforming lives.

The next century promises to be an even brighter chapter for the history of women’s entrepreneurship in business.

____________________________________________________________
Call our woman-owned business for great deals on remnant media buying. We can help your company reach its desired audience on radio, in print, and online. 562-439-3900

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It involves a lot of preparation, research and evaluating your approach. Thanks to social media and online databases, salespeople have the power to conduct pre-call research and learn important details about a lead before picking up the phone. This is extremely helpful, however, it isn’t the only step to mastering a cold call.

Here are some tips and helpful hints to keep in mind when making contact with potential customers:

Attitude is Everything

Your attitude affects all areas of your life. Even sales. Before you pick up the phone, you need to have the right attitude. Give yourself a pep talk. Stand up tall and make the call.

Be Persistent

You’ve got to be willing to keep calling people back again and again until you reach them and they are willing to speak with you. Adopt a mentality that won’t quit. The prospect will see (or hear rather) your dedication and commitment and could be more receptive to your call.

Believe in Your Product

At the risk of sounding robotic or unconvincing, you need to believe in the product you are selling. Your passion will come through in your voice and can be contagious to whomever you are speaking to. You also have to believe that your product has the best value. Convince yourself that even if your price tag is higher than the competitors, it is still the best value. If you convince yourself and tailor your pitch accordingly, you can convince your prospect as well.

Respect Your Prospects

Treat everyone with respect. After multiple calls in a row and a number of rejects, it can be difficult to keep your morale up. However, you need to start fresh with every call and treat each new prospect with respect and as if it is your first call of the day. Respect goes a long way!

Diversify

Never depend on one call. As Grant Cardone says from InsideSales.com, “Disappointment and rejection are not emotions, they’re indications that your model is broken and you don’t have enough business going on.” So don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You need a lot of calls to be successful. Don’t give up!

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Why Listening is Important

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2. Franklin D. Roosevelt

3. Abraham Lincoln

4. Warren G. Harding

5. Herbert Hoover

6. Jimmy Carter

7. George Bush

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Diversity

Green community

Entertainment

Dog-Friendly

Home

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1. Passion

“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” 
- Buddha

2. Self-Confidence

“It is only necessary to have courage, for strength without self-confidence is useless.” – Giacomo Casanova

3. Resilience

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill 

4. An Appetite for Knowledge

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”. -John Dewy 

 5. Vision

“In order to carry a positive action, we must develop here a positive vision.” -Dalai Lama

6. Adaptability/Flexibility

“You must always be able to predict what’s next and then have the flexibility to evolve.” – Marc Benioff

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