(By Bob McCurdy) A habit that has served me extremely well over the years is the scouring of industry publications/blogs for material to share with clients.
Influential marketing material appears on our computer screens daily, only to be quickly read and forgotten. Slow it down. The clipping, filing, and use of this stuff has multiple benefits:
– It can corroborate our POV with clients.
– When forwarded it results in “visibility with value.”
– Can position us as a sustaining resource.
– Enables us to keep clients informed, “knowing what we know,” increasing the likelihood they will see the logic of our marketing recommendations.
– Once filed, this material can be easily accessed and re-used.
The following facts and quotes appeared in various trades recently that could enhance our “Why Radio?” story, if they had been clipped, filed and shared:
- “We saw immediately a direct correlation in aired commercials and spikes in website traffic we could use to determine the effectiveness of a creative message and schedule.” e.g. daypart: David Ballinger founder of Analytic Owl.
Takeaway: Reinforces that radio sets the table for online.
- More than half of the U.S. population aged 18-64 (53%) have shopped in a store and been in a car during the same half-hour in a given week. “Whether that’s coming home from or going to the store, there is a direct adjacency there.” — Matt Hird, Senior Research Analyst, USA TouchPoints.
Takeaway: Radio provides advertisers with a terrific opportunity to deliver one last message just prior to the zero-moment-of- truth.
- One of radio’s key strengths is targeting from a receptivity and proximity standpoint. And among consumers en route to and from shopping, AM/FM radio accounted for more than three-fourths of their share of audio time in the car (77.4%). “AM/FM remains ideally suited for in-car audio while people are going about their daily lives and making their shopping decisions.” — USA TouchPoints director of global research Paul Street.
Takeaway: Reinforces two key radio strengths: the ability to target-in-time and hit the consumer with a message when they can do something about it.
- Yahoo’s Receptivity of Emotions study recently highlighted that reaching consumers in the right mood could make digital ads 40% more effective.
Takeaway: According to USA TouchPoints 2016.1, 96% of radio listeners are in a very good mood, somewhat good mood, or a neutral mood. The radio listener is in an overwhelmingly ad-receptive frame of mind.
- An article in the latest issue of the Journal of Advertising Research titled, “Predictors of Commercial Zapping During Live Prime-Time Television,” identified that considerable chunks of commercial time are missed by viewers who are off channel during commercial breaks as a result of channel switching. Viewers were observed to be off channel for 38% of the commercial break.
Takeaway: This is just “off channel” and doesn’t include the multi-tasking of those who didn’t switch.
- SiriusXM added only 259,000 self-pay subscribers during the first quarter and that helped bring its total user base to 31.6 million.
Takeaway: This leaves about 230 million, or 86%, of cars and trucks on the U.S. roads that don’t have satellite access or choose not to subscribe.
- Pandora lost $132 million in Q1 2017
Takeaway: Pandora has serious sustainability issues on top of declining usage.
- eMarketer: U.S. Adults now spend 12 hours 7 minutes a day consuming media
Takeaway: Multi-tasking while listening to radio is largely done while doing everyday “life” tasks and not with other media. This type of multi-tasking is preferable to the massive amount of multi-tasking that now occurs between television and mobile on the living room couch.
- “Prime-time TV ratings among 18-49-year-olds had dropped about 32% over the past four years and prices have not dropped 32%.” — David Cohen, Magna’s President of North America.
Takeaway: In spite of the additional audio alternatives, radio’s audience is rock solid.
- “I think radio is a better medium than television, and I tell people the reason is the pictures are better.” — Charles Osgood, radio and television commentator.”
Takeaway: Amen.
Every day there’s information in the trades that can dramatically enhance our effectiveness, our clients’ success, and our income. Put it to good use.
Bob McCurdy is The Vice President of Sales for The Beasley Media Group and can be reached at [email protected]
