Through the years, I’ve shared my professional background in television advertising sales. As a salesperson, I kept a close eye on the annual Emmy Awards. The more awards our shows won, the easier it was to sell commercials to advertisers – plus it was more fun to brag when you represented a network affiliate that won a big haul.

In 1999, when I was with an ABC-owned station, The Practice and NYPD Blue won a bunch of hardware. Edie Falco won the Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role in The Sopranos on HBO. That year, nine of the 10 primary awards were won by a major broadcast network.

When the Emmy Awards were handed out in 2014, five of the 10 primary awards were won by major broadcast networks. Breaking Bad had begun its incredible run and captured a handful of awards, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was no longer on Seinfeld and took the award for her role in VEEP.

Recently, the Eagles were losing an NFL football game badly, so I tuned into the 2024 Emmy Awards. I was familiar with most of the shows being nominated, so it caught me off guard when only two of the top 10 winners were from a major broadcast network.

That’s a real trend, and there are reasons for it. For now, I’d like to share my observations about television’s biggest night.

Deliver Your Message2the Audience Where They Are
The reality is people are consuming more video than ever. They’re just not watching in the locations where past generations had their eyeballs and where advertisers and agencies traditionally placed their ads. Granted, broadcast TV still has the largest concentration of viewership, and when big events are happening, the nation tunes in to ABC, CBS, Fox, or NBC.

However, they are also watching cable networks, which during my sales career were the upstarts. Now the cable networks are being challenged by the streaming services – today’s up-and-comers. While audiences are consuming record amounts of programming, they’re watching on totally different devices. Our media director says, “I watch the internet on my TV, and television on my phone and computer.”

It’s a mixed-up media world, and making sense of it can be very difficult. There are rapidly developing options complicating your thought process as to where to invest those valuable advertising dollars. That’s why so many of our clients depend on our understanding, expertise, and direction as we guide them through the murky waters of “television” advertising.

It’s one of the most powerful sources of information in the world. One could make the argument that Google is the most influential resource known. Its impact is hard to measure, but the company remains omnipresent. You know how it impacts us – AI, YouTube, web browsing, maps, directions, email, and that’s just the ancillaries.

A recent query turned up the statistic that over 90% of all internet searches are done on Google, and that over 3.5 billion (with a B) searches are done via its search engine every day.
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It used to be food, clothing, and shelter. Now it’s probably food, clothing, shelter, and Google.  

A Simple Thing2Ponder  

It’s a good thing to utilize Google to help people find you. But when you are talking about Google – plain old search engine Google (not maps or YouTube, etc.) – there is something many people in business haven’t realized.

No one is hanging out on Google.

You need information – you go to Google and get it. Then you click on a link to the topic and go there! Maybe you get what you needed and leave the internetal together. What you don’t do is spend time in Google scrolling around.  

In that regard, Google is like the phone books from 30 years ago. Need a phone number – grab your Yellow Pages. Want to find an address – pull out the phone book, look up the business or your friend’s name, and there ya go. It’s a directory. Closed almost 99.5% of the time.

That’s like Google today. You’re glad it’s there when you need it.  

You used to have to be listed in the phone book. Now you have to be listed in Google. Businesses pay a lot of money for companies to manage their Google listings, accounts, and advertising. It has become a critical part of conducting business in the 2020s. 

Like the phone book, wouldn’t it be better to have someone search for your specific business instead of just browsing for “doctors (restaurants, plumbers, car dealers) near me”? The best way to pull people to you is to make sure customers think of you first. Then they use the directory to find you and get more information about your products, services, or location. Get them looking for you specifically. When you do that, Google becomes the pathway, not just the driver of traffic. That all starts with branding.

Not sure how to figure out branding and all the good things in the world of advertising? Click to connect with us. Or just Google it.

“We’re actively recruiting for…..”

This is a phrase, or even a buzzword, that c-levelers and human resources management types often toss around without a lot of thought. 

Actually, when you dig a little deeper you find it can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. As we begin anew year, the fact remains that staffing and talent acquisition, continues to operate within a complex reality.

There simply aren’t as many people as there are positions. That means there are changes you need to make as you enter 2024. It starts with the tactics you use forgetting better qualified and talented candidates in the door.

The BiggerQuestion4You

So, what does “actively recruiting” mean to you and your company?

Odds are the answer is, “we have a job posting on our website and we shared it onIndeed.” Is that a tactic or is it passively sharing that you have an opening? Sure, it’s a good place to start, but that’s just it. A starting place.

These days actively recruiting starts before you have an opening. Good recruiters and leaders meet with talented people even when open positions aren’t available. Face-to-face visits are a wise way to identify who could be a part of your team now, soon, or down the road.

Next, realize that with so many options for employment, potential employees are checking out employers with amazing scrutiny. One of the first steps they’ll take is to visit your website or check your social media channels. So, what are those outlets saying about you and your company? Are they showcasing your unique culture? Are you a good place to work?  Is the team interesting and engaging? Do you mix in some fun with hard work? Just be sure to highlight those unique things that will separate your office, team, and organization from others.

I’ve also found it very helpful to review my LinkedIn connections for people who might be a good fit for an opening I have. Asking fellow leaders if they know people who have some of the skills you’re looking for is another smart move. You might considering outreach advertising - radio, outdoor, digital, print, or even television - to help you leverage media marketing in filling those positions. 

Obviously, the tried-and-true methods for recruiting of days gone by, don’t work. In 2024, recruitment starts with leadership and specific acquisition strategies designed to get qualified candidates in the door faster.  

Actively pursue talent – at all times.

You’re always marketing. There’s no rest.

It doesn’t matter if you are a start-up, a tech company, a retailer, a home services expert, or anything else. Whatever you do in business or industry, you’re always marketing yourself. Or, as the pros call it, “personal branding”. The reality is, that in today’s 24/7 commerce environment, people, prospects, referral partners, clients, and even other businesses are checking you out to see what you’re all about.

So, it goes without saying, your Marketing is critical if you want to invite these prospective clients or customers to come and engage with you. 

Your website, socials, and other factors, just like your online reputation, validate what the prospect has seen or heard. While you may not be selling actively in any of those channels, you had better be putting a solid and consistent message forward. It’s essential to your business’ growth and your “personal branding”.

Better Execution4Stronger Outcomes  

I often see businesses, and business leaders, going through the motions. Some think that simply checking the boxes by “posting” this, “liking” that, and following “this other”, confirms their marketing challenges are being met.

However, being thoughtful and intentional with this work is the stronger play.

Determine what you are trying to say about your company, your culture, or your own persona. That will strengthen the message and reinforce your brand across all of these channels.  It may be an overstatement to say, “someone is always watching”, but that should drive how you message and market.

These prospects, potential employees, clients, or referral sources are keeping an eye on you and your company. What do you want them to see and hear? Validate yourself and your company with intentional messaging that captures the spirit of what you are about and how you do business.

Then, when you’re always marketing you’ll do it in a more focused manner.

That’s called “marketing that validates”.

Here’s a reality! Not all marketing and advertising concepts are absolutely critical to your business’ growth and development. You’ll hear from so-called experts that you must have a strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) infrastructure in place, followed by an ongoing plan to build it, in order to see those big sales increases you want.

While that is sometimes the best approach, it isn’t always the case.

So many new business owners succumb to cookie-cutter schemes as they launch their companies. Or they’ll often try to build a foundation with marketing and advertising concepts that they’ve been told will deliver overall advancement.

I strongly believe in the power of implementing a marketing structure. It’s the right move for businesses large and small. What I’m suggesting is that, just because you own a business and something in a publication or online piqued your interest, doesn’t mean it’s the right move for you in your situation. Odds are your structure has some unique peculiarities.  

Let me explain.

Figure Out How2Grow Your Business

I recently met a new sole proprietor who was deeply focused on building the SEO of their company. That’s a worthy objective. In reality, this company was rapidly growing from word-of-mouth referrals and a second appointment channel through a partner organization. Fast growth – possibly faster than this business could manage – was the result of good work and a solid referring partner. So, before embarking on a complicated and long-term SEO program, that was greatly adding stress to this business owner’s life, I suggested giving themselves a break.

There is so much pressure on leaders from a multitude of outside voices that are causing frustration and anxiety.  

So, shut out the noise and focus on leveraging those referrals and lead sources that are in place and working. How are you caring for those relationships?  How are you nurturing those partnerships? How are you looking after those new prospects and potential clients? After you’ve done all that great work, are you following up with requests for new introductions and referrals?  

That’s where you start!

Once you’ve got the process moving cleanly through those pipelines, then you can embark on SEO, content, social media, and other outreach opportunities. That’s the orderly path that will fuel your further growth.

Each of us have discovered that people are fascinating. We simply need to take a little time to get to know them and then listen to what they have to say. That’s a big part of the challenge. As leaders we run from a tasks to meetings to challenges to solutions mindset. Unfortunately, it’s all too rare when we sit and just listen to people. Making that a part of our business routine is invaluable (it helps in our personal lives, too).  Often those times of listening can create a myriad of unforeseen opportunities. 

At the encouragement of a trusted advisor, I began meeting with my 5Points Creative colleagues individually, on a fairly regular basis.  We try to have lunch together – just us – a couple of times a year. It’s their time to tell me what’s going on in their world, what they’ve been thinking about lately, and where they’d like to see things going personally and professionally.

Not only do I enjoy them, I learn a lot at these lunches.
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Recently in two meetings I heard one team member tell me they were starting to feel a little overwhelmed with their burgeoning workload. As we added new clients and grew, there was a feeling of anxiousness about how they’d be able to manage the extra assignments.  While some of the agonizing was premature, their concern was quietly building. It was becoming more real to them – enough so that they wanted to bring it to my attention.

As we were pondering the best ways to support this employee, I had another luncheon.  This time it was over sandwiches with friends in the neighborhood. It was here that I got a chance to hear, firsthand, about this person’s somewhat hidden talents. 

All2Easy to Overlook

I discovered this valuable employee has a perpetual to-do-list that is detail-driven and requires focus. I also learned they have immense talent on the more creative side of our industry. It’s rare to come across people who have this mix of detail and creativity in their personality. It’s also exciting to discover someone who embraces the variety of talents needed to do what we do. 

So, while we may have figured this all out over time, these adjacent meetings reinforced the concept that listening and making time for people must remain a top priority for all of us. In this case, I was able to allay their workload concerns and at the same time identify new talents that with be worthwhile for all of us. 

Obviously this approach of taking time to listen is important for the employee.  It’s also the gateway to often finding solutions that are actually right in front of you – just a little tucked away.