Wherever you are on the political spectrum, and whatever your thoughts on Boris, one thing is clear:
Discussions about Brexit and the prospect of getting a deal with the EU are clearly ramping up!
And here’s why:
The Prime Minister has repeatedly promised that he will take the UK out of the European Union by 31st October.
And as a result, as time ticks on, there’s a flurry of activity that there simply wouldn’t be if the deadline were in 6 or 12 months’ time.
(That’s where we’ll leave the politics, as I know most of us are sick to the back teeth of it.)
The fact of the matter is that in life, deadlines drive decisions.
Whether it’s moving house in time to get the children into the right school catchment area, hot-footing it to the shops before they shut, or ordering a pint at the pub when the bell goes, the reality is that most of us are familiar with the way that deadlines can force us to take action we would have otherwise taken much slower, or not taken at all.
In the word of media sales, it’s no different.
Right now, there’ll be a pool of people who have - to varying degrees - indicated an interest in buying advertising from you.
But they’re yet to take action because they’ve got no urgency to do so.
So, your job is to inject that urgency into the buying process.
Whether it’s a bonus element or an ‘order now to reach the pre-Christmas market’, adding a deadline into your sales business will drive more activity, and therefore more decisions.
And if you know what you want your deadline to revolve around, but you don’t know how to bring it to life, here are a few ideas:
1. Put expiry dates on your proposals – if you’re going to offer added value or a discount, then you have every right to inject urgency and set a deadline for when you require a decision by (and thereby further highlight the exceptional value).
2. Feature major deadlines in your company-wide email signatures – with Christmas looming and sellout a real issue, a subtle prompt to advertisers on every email communication can help promote for them to bring planning and booking decisions forward.
3. Highlight the time required to get quality creative produced – by getting the booking in place early, you can then spend more time getting the creative just right before the campaign commences. After all, it’s the most crucial element, right?
People are motivated more by fear of loss, than desire for gain. Or, as the more contemporary version goes, FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out.
Either way, it’s a real thing, from which you can leverage more success.
And as always, if you need help with any of this, you know where we are…
