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Does Your Station Have A Digital Inventory List?
Knowing there are so many options, your agency and smart local clients will ask, “What do you have available?” Unfortunately, many sellers will not have a clear answer. A radio station website alone can provide many of the same opportunities as your radio station, but as you grow your website and other digital assets, there are oh so many more opportunities to sell.
“Inventory” is the total amount of space that you have available for advertisements at any given time. If you operate a radio station, surely your sales manager maintains an inventory list like this showing all available commercials in each hour/daypart as well as sponsorships and other on-air features that might be open for clients to purchase.
Start with an Excel spreadsheet. Here’s what your list should include…
Regular Banner Ad Positions
This list will include all banner ad positions on the homepage as well as all subpages where the ad-block may be different. Make notes of each location and the size. You may also want to add the cost of ads that will be in each location so that your sellers will have a baseline to negotiate with. Be sure to note every position on your website and set a maximum number of available ad spots that can be sold for each one.
Post/Page Feature Sponsorships
For example, a storm shelter client may wish to only sponsor the top position on the weather page. Ideally, a sponsorship rate should be more than the regular “run of site” rate.
Other examples of what to include here would be...
- School/Weather Closings
- Local Sports Team Page
- Obituaries
- Event Calendar
- Local Sports Category
- Daily Poll Sponsor
- Contest sponsor
- Pet of the Day, ____ of the Day.
Premium Sponsorships
These can be “out of the box” ways to give your clients exposure outside the typical banner ad space/sponsorship. A “page takeover” would be a good example of a premium sponsorship. In a page takeover, one client rules every position on the page. You can choose or even upsell changing the background image for them on this page to match their message.
Streaming/Social Media/Podcasts/E-Mail
If your station provides Facebook mentions for a fee, then your digital inventory list should also include the pricing and availability of these as well. There are so many opportunities using social that won’t violate the platform's terms of service.
Then you have your “Listen Live” or Podcasts sponsor. This might be a simple text link but include a custom “Listen Live” image and/or banner ad within the stream player. Include what the client gets in the form of simple links or pre/post-roll commercials.
Here are some other opportunities to have a client’s name attached to...
- E-Mail Blasts
- SMS Blasts
- Alexa, Google and Siri voice skills? Those can come with pre-rolls as well.
- Youtube client tours by your talent
Don’t try to do everything we’ve mentioned here. Start with the basics and expand as your team is comfortable.
To get you started, we’ve created a sample Excel Spreadsheet that shows the avails a typical website might have on any given day. We’ve included what each ad inside the location might cost, so the salesperson knows how much to ask for ads in each location.
Get the Excel Spreadsheet
Have something to show clients when they ask what opportunities are available on your radio station website. And ensure that your salespeople are communicating digital’s true value to advertisers. Never give your digital assets away or diminish their value.
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By Jim SherwoodKnowing there are so many options, your agency and smart local clients will ask, “What do you have available?” Unfortunately, many sellers will not have a clear answer. A radio station website alone can provide many of the same opportunities as your radio station, but as you grow your website and other digital assets, there are oh so many more opportunities to sell.
“Inventory” is the total amount of space that you have available for advertisements at any given time. If you operate a radio station, surely your sales manager maintains an inventory list like this showing all available commercials in each hour/daypart as well as sponsorships and other on-air features that might be open for clients to purchase.
Start with an Excel spreadsheet. Here’s what your list should include…
Regular Banner Ad Positions
This list will include all banner ad positions on the homepage as well as all subpages where the ad-block may be different. Make notes of each location and the size. You may also want to add the cost of ads that will be in each location so that your sellers will have a baseline to negotiate with. Be sure to note every position on your website and set a maximum number of available ad spots that can be sold for each one.
Post/Page Feature Sponsorships
For example, a storm shelter client may wish to only sponsor the top position on the weather page. Ideally, a sponsorship rate should be more than the regular “run of site” rate.
Other examples of what to include here would be...
- School/Weather Closings
- Local Sports Team Page
- Obituaries
- Event Calendar
- Local Sports Category
- Daily Poll Sponsor
- Contest sponsor
- Pet of the Day, ____ of the Day.
Premium Sponsorships
These can be “out of the box” ways to give your clients exposure outside the typical banner ad space/sponsorship. A “page takeover” would be a good example of a premium sponsorship. In a page takeover, one client rules every position on the page. You can choose or even upsell changing the background image for them on this page to match their message.
Streaming/Social Media/Podcasts/E-Mail
If your station provides Facebook mentions for a fee, then your digital inventory list should also include the pricing and availability of these as well. There are so many opportunities using social that won’t violate the platform's terms of service.
Then you have your “Listen Live” or Podcasts sponsor. This might be a simple text link but include a custom “Listen Live” image and/or banner ad within the stream player. Include what the client gets in the form of simple links or pre/post-roll commercials.
Here are some other opportunities to have a client’s name attached to...
- E-Mail Blasts
- SMS Blasts
- Alexa, Google and Siri voice skills? Those can come with pre-rolls as well.
- Youtube client tours by your talent
Don’t try to do everything we’ve mentioned here. Start with the basics and expand as your team is comfortable.
To get you started, we’ve created a sample Excel Spreadsheet that shows the avails a typical website might have on any given day. We’ve included what each ad inside the location might cost, so the salesperson knows how much to ask for ads in each location.
Get the Excel Spreadsheet
Have something to show clients when they ask what opportunities are available on your radio station website. And ensure that your salespeople are communicating digital’s true value to advertisers. Never give your digital assets away or diminish their value.