Get on the Board: Delivering Time-Sensitive On Hold Messages

This is part of a series on crafting a winning on-hold strategy with on hold messages.

I vividly remember purchasing my first chess set. I had to save paychecks for more than three months as a teenager in order to purchase the wooden chess set I really wanted. But it was well worth the effort. Nearly 30 years have passed and I still have the set handmade of birch wood with a smooth, glossy finish and inlaid with felt. It makes playing chess an entirely difference experience. Nothing plastic can compare.

From one side of the board to the other, we have used the game of Chess to illustrate a series of tactical elements that are essential to a successful on-hold messaging campaign. And now, we’re highlighting yet another strategic factor to consider: your on hold delivery platform.

Without question, advances in technology have redesigned the on hold message playing field. Endless loop tapes, audio cassettes, CDs and, in many cases, independent mp3s are now in the boneyard. In today’s marketplace, everything moves at a much faster pace, especially where multiple locations are involved and time-sensitive, guaranteed delivery of new advertising content is imperative. Like never before, the capacity and dependability of your delivery platform plays a strategic role in the effectiveness of on hold messages.

What would the game of chess be without a chessboard? Just a bunch of ornately carved pieces of wood, without any connection to each other. As individual pieces, they simply can’t win. The chess board defines the battlefield. It crystallizes those individual pieces into a cohesive unit, where every part plays its own unique and strategic role.

The same holds true for your on hold messages. In order to win, all of your strategies must have the right platform to stand on. Yet this is probably the most overlooked component of corporate on-hold marketing campaigns. Consider a few real-world possibilities:

• You operate senior living communities in an area that’s been struck by a natural disaster and you need to quickly upload public relations announcements to keep family members updated on the status of the situation. Can your delivery platform update all locations in a matter of hours, without depending on staff at each facility to change out tapes, CDs or audio files?
• Your company just bought a small, regional competitor. The branding messages are time-sensitive, and the ball can’t be dropped. How will you ensure a complete rotation of ads across all locations, at the right time?
• You are a nationwide tire-store chain and a select number of retail centers need to promote studded snow tires to your callers. How do you make sure that message doesn’t wind up playing at your store in Miami?

In each of these examples, an end-to-end delivery platform plays a strategic role through centralized management solutions and advanced media technologies. It’s the solid ground underneath your feet that makes everything else come to life. So here’s some great news for corporate marketing directors: If you’re still on a hand-delivered plastic platform, there really is a better way.