Adweek Wrap Up: Attracting Ad Budgets - Winmo

AdvertisingWeek is a great place to evaluate the entire marketing industry from its past to where we are today. This week-long event with nearly 100,000 attendees is filled with discussions about current trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the industry on a global scale.

This year, Winmo had an opportunity to present on the main stage, bringing together experts to share insights on the tools and strategies that help them win new business and attract major brand budgets.

Dave Currie, CEO of Winmo, moderated a panel featuring three perspectives:

• ​Media sales: Bruce Kallner, SVP Business Development & Olympic Sales at NBC
• ​Adtech sales: Tyler Kelly, President at Centro
• ​Agency new business: Nicole Souza, EVP of Growth and Marketing at The Integer Group

Each panelist shared their unique approach to breaking through to major advertisers and attracting significant ad budgets. The advertising ecosystem is more complex than ever, requiring sellers to keep up with more players, pursue multiple opportunities, and stay ahead of trends in media, technology, and advertising.

These professionals shared actionable tips and tricks that have proven successful in their new business efforts:

Frequency is Key

Persistence is crucial in sales. Contacting prospects more than once is not only acceptable but often necessary to attract and engage profitable leads. It takes an average of 8 touches to get an initial meeting with a prospect. It's important to reach out through various channels, including voicemail, email, and social media.

NBC’s Kallner shared, "I’ve had clients tell me that they took a phone call from a sales rep 14 times just to see how long they’d stick with it. And then they reward them with a meeting."

Kallner recommends calling someone five to ten times, even twice a week if needed. Centro’s Kelly added, "You could send a hundred emails and they don’t respond, you’re just doing your job. The second they respond and say ‘please stop,’ then you’re crossing the line. But your job is to continue to have that frequency."

Kelly’s guidance to his team: "Hit 40 different companies a week, 40 touchpoints on prospects – that doesn’t include current clients – 40 touchpoints, set 5 meetings, and two demos."

Kallner emphasized, "As long as you’re convinced you can be of value to them, persistence is key."

In the agency space, Souza noted, "It’s less about pushing a product and more about building a relationship. Speaking engagements are a big thing for us. We focus on driving awareness and demonstrating thought leadership rather than just telling someone we’re thought leaders."

Hunters vs. Farmers

Sales is all about timing: pitching a prospect when they’re ready to buy. Finding that opportunity is challenging with so much competition. Reactive prospecting means everyone is responding to the same industry news, crowding the same inboxes. Getting in front of leads first distinguishes the hunters from the farmers.

Kelly at Centro prefers his salespeople to be hunters: "If you’re a salesperson and you’re getting paid as a salesperson, I need you hunting." Client services, on the other hand, is where the more reactive, farming technique comes in. "We always look to train our account services team to look for opportunities at our existing clients. But for my sales team, I want them knocking on new doors."

Souza echoed the need for account services to seek expansion opportunities: "One of the major shifts we made at Integer is to broaden who are the hunters at our agency. We’re not selling a commoditized product, so we try not to lean too hard into ‘we’re prospecting, we’re hunting,’ but that means account leads have to become the hunters and the people who nurture and grow. The account leads know those organizations best, so there is a focus there from a business development standpoint."

Cutting Through the Clutter

The panelists discussed how to stand out from the numerous pitches prospects receive. Kelly noted, "There are too many companies creating these cadences, and we all get inundated. When I had a title change and became President, I was amazed at the influx of outreach."

To break through, the panelists use innovative ideas that stick with prospects. Kelly shared, "We started working with a company called Cameo. They have celebrities who can record a 30-second snippet to send to prospects. We had a win in Louisiana where a local celebrity did a quick video encouraging a meeting, and it worked."

He added, "The more you can tailor and customize things, the better. It’s not scalable for mass outreach, but for perfect targets, spending a little money goes a long way."

Kallner emphasized the importance of remembering personal details about prospects and using them to build relationships: "Remember if someone has a bulldog or a specific passion. If you come across something that reminds you of them, take a few minutes to send a note."

In Conclusion

AdWeek’s global gathering of marketing, advertising, technology, and brand professionals provided valuable insights into navigating the ever-changing landscape. The Attracting Ad Budgets panel offered actionable tips to help win new business and attract high-profile clients.