With one month until the start of the 2024 tax season, five new studies should be enough to convince accountants and tax prep services about the power of radio. The data reveals the best formats, times of the week, and ways to drive significant web traffic via AM/FM, in what should be a Q1 category boon for sellers.
Pierre Bouvard and the Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group recently conducted a series of studies to assess the effectiveness of AM/FM radio campaigns for various tax preparation services in 2023. These comprehensive studies employed methods such as LeadsRx site and search attribution, MARU/Matchbox and Motionworks brand studies, and Motionworks location attribution to measure campaign impacts.
The research revealed that AM/FM radio listeners are notably more likely to use both online and onsite tax preparation services compared to heavy TV viewers. Among heavy AM/FM radio listeners, there was a significantly stronger awareness of the tax preparation service brand, compared to the total sample.
A key discovery was the significant increase in website traffic generated by AM/FM radio ads for tax preparation brands. The most effective advertisements were those that mentioned the brand name early, within the first few seconds, and repeated it multiple times throughout the ad. This approach proved successful in driving higher website visits, particularly during the early part of the tax season.
Weekly trends indicated that web interactions for these services peaked early in the week, with Mondays recording the highest activity, gradually decreasing as the week progressed. News/Talk and Sports programming played a pivotal role in attributing web sessions, outperforming their share of AM/FM radio campaign impressions.
In terms of physical location visits to tax preparation offices, there was a notable surge during March and April. This rise was especially pronounced in markets that received heavy AM/FM radio campaign investment.
Overall, the Audio Active Group studies demonstrate the considerable impact of AM/FM radio advertising in the tax preparation sector. By strategically leveraging this medium, tax preparation services can effectively increase both online engagement and in-person visits, while also building strong brand awareness among their target audience. More in-depth data can be found on the Audio Active Group blog.
