Radio
marketers need to re-examine familiar methodologies
and question
long-held assumptions in order to deliver results
There are two customer
bases that all commercial radio stations serve:
listeners and advertisers. A
station may do a phenomenal job addressing the needs of the latter, but if it
doesn’t also do a superior job attracting the former, the station won’t survive
as a business entity.
In theory, it’s up to a
station’s marketing team to lure and build their audience of listeners/customers
in order for the sales pros to monetize them.
Problem is, most stations are relying on a familiar set of marketing
tactics that are obsolete, misguided, or ineffective in a PPM world.
With that in mind, it
would be helpful to take a look at five questions, the answers to which could
indicate that your station’s marketing might kind of, you know, SUCK:
1. Is there a web content strategy in place?
Station websites aren’t
just an extension of your brand, they’re also an extension of your
business. According to a 2011 survey by
BIA/Kelsey, online revenue will increase by 15.1% in 2012, while on-air revenue will grow by only 3.5%. If a marketing director isn’t taking his/her
station’s website content as seriously as the program director takes the
station’s on-air content, there are massive audience interaction opportunities
– and accompanying revenue opportunities –that are being lost.
SOLUTION
To populate a station’s
website with content that attracts listeners (and advertisers) and keeps them
coming back for more, it’s imperative that your content SERFS. It must be:
•Short – no long paragraphs or entries that require endless scrolling to read
•Engaging – the content should be fun, snappy, and interesting to your audience
•Relevant – the content should relate directly to, be a continuation of, or have a connection to your format and your on-air programming
•Fresh – if you want listeners to spend time at your site each day, you need to update your site each day with new content that addresses their unique needs and tastes
•Shareable – your content should be so appealing, valuable, and irresistible that your web audience is compelled to forward it to their social circles on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
By keeping the SERFS acronym in mind when vetting your station’s web content, you’ll have an effective benchmark to follow that will help to engage your current web audience, build new audience, and ramp up your online ad revenues.
2. Is there an accepted notion that outdoor ads lure
new listeners and/or increase audience TSL?
Radio stations buy outdoor
billboard and truck ads because they believe that such measures are a
worthwhile way to influence consumer behavior.
The thought is that people will tune in or listen longer because they
see a station logo on a huge roadside, building, or mobile placard.
The reality is that
billboards are regarded in the ad world as being effective brand builders, not
sales or audience builders. According to
ad expert Stephen Rampur, outdoor ads “create brand awareness and strong name
recognition among passers-by.”
If a station’s goal is to
truly inspire listening, billboards – especially those that feature a station logo/tagline/frequency/photo
of an air personality - fall short: their
results are impossible to measure, they’re expensive, and they’re a
non-strategic Hail Mary pass that won’t improve the fortunes of a struggling
station.
SOLUTION
In order for an outdoor
radio station billboard ad to have a shot at influencing consumer behavior, it
needs to pack a powerful and undeniable WIIFM punch (and by WIIFM, I don’t mean
a misspelled version of the AC station in Elkin, NC).
WIIFM – which stands for What’s In It For Me in sales jargon – is the prime motivator to inspire a desired action. In the case
of the radio station billboard, the WIIFM would need to offer information about
key station-driven benefits that are attractive, rewarding, and exciting to a
listener, such as:
• an upcoming or in-progress
contest (on-air or online)
• the benefits of
joining a loyal listener program• web content that delivers immediate gratification, such as exclusive coupons or deals
Using bold graphics, tight
and punchy copy, and – most importantly – an irresistible WIIFM message, a
strategic billboard campaign can create the possibility for increased audience,
improved web traffic, and enhanced revenue opportunities.
3. Is there a belief that the station van builds the
brand, attracts listeners, and is a crucial element in the marketing mix?
Before minivans, SUVs, and
Hummers took over the streets, a radio station’s van stood out. When cruising around town or parked at a
client’s place of business, the van – emblazoned with a bright station logo and
encircled by enthusiastic listeners trying to get their hands on a free station
t-shirt – attracted eyeballs and inspired excitement.
But with so many big
vehicles now on the road, the novelty of a large station van is lost. On its own, its effectiveness as a creator of
floor traffic for the client that hires it is questionable, and its ability to
generate excitement among younger listeners is also suspect. As Hofstra University media professor John
Mullen notes, “With so many distractions that are competing for listeners’
attention, you have to ask yourself: is
‘sending the van’ a 1970’s idea that’s out of step in 2012? Not only that, aren’t there other creative
things that stations can do to build business at a client’s location beyond
sending a few staffers, a vehicle, and a box of t-shirts that always run out?"
SOLUTION
Simply sending the van to
a client’s place of business simply isn’t enough to bring about the increase in
customer traffic that your client is looking for. To augment the probability of attaining
results, the van’s presence must have an irresistible WIIFM at its core in
order to entice attendance. In other
words, while the van’s presence may have been a compelling lure to attract a
crowd in the past, it isn’t any longer:
there needs to be more thought and planning involved so that the client
isn’t just pleased by the customer turnout, he’s blown away.
One possibility would be
to heavily promote a contest on-air with a very attractive prize. To be eligible to win, listeners would need
to be at the client’s place of business at a designated hour when the drawing
would take place (the prize, of course, would be the product or service that is
sold by the client). A twist on this
idea could also build up your listener database: the contest would be open solely to event attendees
who are enrolled in your loyal listener program.
To truly make a van event
eventful, and to create value for the existence of the van, you can’t just
schedule it, send it, park it and think that your job is over. The presence of the van at a client’s place
of business or a local event must be strategically leveraged in order to attain
the greatest benefits for your station and your client.
4. Is there a belief that social buzz around your
station indicates the existence of a large and loyal listening audience?
When a station’s Facebook
activity, Twitter conversations, and YouTube views start racking up big
numbers, it’s pretty exciting. It seems
like something big is happening, and it’s taking on an incredible life of its
own. Many radio marketing chiefs
interpret this attention as an indication that people love what their station
is doing, that their marketing work is successful, and that their ratings are
on the verge of going through the roof.
However, according to news
site WND, a
supposed correlation between social buzz and real world ratings is quite murky. The reason is simple: social buzz and social media metrics measure exchanges
between your station (news, content, and brand) and your listeners, as well as
the transmission of these exchanges with your listeners’ social circles. It’s great for this heat to be emanating from
your station, but in no way can it be interpreted as being an indication of
anything other than your most ardent P1’s taking the time to pay attention to,
interact with, and spread your content.
SOLUTION
Having an active presence
on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. is an essential marketing tactic for a
radio station to support and embrace.
But misinterpreting a healthy social media buzz surrounding your station
can create a sense of dangerous complacency and unfounded overconfidence.
In the past two years,
dozens of stations across the country with robust social media traction have flipped
formats due to low PPM measurements and disappointing profits. Each of these stations had followers, likes,
repins, and retweets out the wazoo, but in the end, station success isn’t
determined by social media metrics. It’s
determined by the metrics that truly represent a station’s health or lack
thereof: ratings and revenue.
5. Is there an overall marketing strategy in place?
Many radio marketing
chiefs make the mistake of thinking that implementing the right tactics – such
as the ones listed above – will produce surefire success. Not true.
What’s usually missing is a smart strategy that will guide a station’s
marketing tactics toward a clearly defined goal.
In terms of their
definitions, strategy is the big picture plan, while tactics are the moves that
are used to carry out the strategy. As
writer and consultant Seth Godin
points out, “The right strategy makes any tactic work better. The right strategy puts less pressure on you
to execute your tactics perfectly.”
As an experiment, ask all
the members of your marketing team to define the department’s overall
strategy. Expect to receive a slew of
“well, um, uh…” responses. If anything
more coherent is offered, don’t be surprised if everyone’s thoughts are not
only completely different, but kinda sorta wrong.
SOLUTION
The director of marketing
needs to create a clear and concise strategy statement that will be the roadmap
for all of your department’s efforts.
This statement should be built in conjunction with the general sales
manager, because it’s his/her team that the strategy will be serving. It should also be vetted by the OM, GM, and
PD so that everyone is aware of the plan and how it will benefit their
respective departments. Finally, the
strategy statement should then be shared with the entire marketing squad, so
that all members understand the overall goal of their daily efforts.
Radio station marketing that
sucks isn’t terminal: with a determined
effort, it can be successfully reversed.
However, to make changes that will yield positive results and vigorous ROI,
one must honestly acknowledge the suckage.
Due diligence that examines the extent of the suck must be performed and
a smart plan needs to be launched that will set your department – and your station
– on a cost-effective path to superior ratings, better profits, and 100%
suck-free marketing results.
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