We talk the talk but…

We instruct our station reps to tell business owners that they must advertise their companies in order to increase sales and revenue. These businesses that we push to advertise are in the same position as radio. They’re keeping a tight reign on their company budget and waiting for the economy to recover. The next question is, when does radio take a preemptive and what many may consider to be a bold move to market and advertise more aggressively much like the businesses we attempt to sell each day? When?

Get your unfair share of ratings and revenue

I believe now is the time for your broadcast group to invest in its present growth and future survival and to choose a different road to success. One that requires taking a proactive approach to grow your company. To quote Robert Frost, “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” History has proven that in difficult times opportunity exists for those willing to bet on their personal or corporate abilities to face difficult challenges. The broadcasters that aggressively advertise their stations now will gain an increased share of both ratings and revenue well before their competition has a chance to react. Of course one must first believe in their station’s ability to convert higher ratings into more revenue, and if you don’t then you have a larger problem. Those that do believe, however, will emerge from this economic crisis in a leadership position and get the most out of an industry that still remains viable. Who’s ready to lead?

Survey-Friendly individuals are influencers. They want information and are willing to spend time with things that interest them. When marketing your radio station you need to focus on reaching these individuals. They want to give their opinion—ask them and do it on a regular basis. Although the rating methodology has changed between Diary and PPM rated markets your overall marketing strategy should not. You need to target those survey friendly households within key PPM geographic areas.

PPM vs. Diary rated targeting

Let’s review the differences between Diary and PPM rated markets. We know for instance that there are less households being surveyed in PPM markets versus those in Diary markets. We also know that there are 25 to 35% less zip codes that are important in a PPM market than in a previously rated Diary market. In Diary markets there are new people being surveyed each week while in PPM markets the same people are surveyed each week continuously for a period of between 9 months and 2 years. Within a PPM rated market it is important to reach targeted households often to reinforce the primary reasons users listen to you.

Marketing to promote usage in a PPM world

Remember in a PPM market your ratings are not determined on recall but on actual usage. The goal for a successful marketing strategy in a PPM market is to increase the actual usage for a station over a period of time. We can do this by delivering a consistent usage message about the benefits of listening to your station.

The PPM marketing recommendation

We recommend a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes direct marketing in the form of direct mail, telemarketing and email marketing. Targeted cable television can be use to supplement your direct marketing efforts. Your message should focus on why listeners use your station. Finally, we recommend developing a comprehensive social media strategy to reach targeted influencers and survey friendly individuals. This strategy will include both SEO and SEM internet marketing tactics.

Program your station to take advantage of PPM

In order to be successful in marketing your station needs to be programmed to take advantage of the new PPM methodology. In future posts we’ll discuss the programming techniques that prominent industry consultants recommend to their stations. If you’d like to contribute to our next post on Programing in a PPM World send an email to info@impacttargetmarketing.com or call us at 978-768-3970.

Social Media for Radio

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Radio Revenue and Sales Solutions

This group was created for the purpose of educating radio sales management and its sales representatives about new revenue solutions and web 2.0 sales techniques. We will focus on identifying new revenue streams and better ways to prospect for new advertisers using both online and offline marketing and sales strategies. As a member, we request that you become part of the conversation and help radio sales representatives become better positioned to succeed in the changing media landscape.
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There’s some light at the end of radio industry’s tunnel. More advertisers are coming back to radio now. Rates are beginning to stabilize and in many cases beginning to rise. But we as industry have much work to do to in order to uncover the real opportunities that exist in our new digital world.

Some Broadcasters have Found New Revenue Solutions

Some broadcasters are seeking revenue solutions that are somewhat non-traditional to help support their return back to relative revenue stability: revenue sales seminars, social media prospecting and prospect generation to produce more new leads for their sales staffs. Most however, continue to hold a misplaced arrogance about their belief that all the answers reside within the walls of their respective broadcast group. I would say to anyone who is willing to listen that the answers to radio’s revenue challenges exist, for the most part, outside the confines of their group.

Searching for a New Revenue Stream

Let’s get right to it. The number one solution for radio to support a new revenue stream is local search. The connection between local search and local radio is seamless but few, very few, groups see the opportunity. Radio is a branding medium, that we know, that creates awareness for its advertisers and given the right creative can drive immediate business for its clients. Buyers of products don’t seek out radio to help them make a buying decision. In the past, they looked to yellow page directories and now online local search when they are in the process of making a buying decision. Local radio and local search together offer small and medium businesses a powerful local marketing solution. So why doesn’t radio take advantage of this opportunity? We know why, because radio decision makers on the station level either have no power to make a decision or no time to research opportunities that present themselves. When they do, most are gun shy because those that stick their heads out to offer a solution most often get their heads chopped off.

Local Search is Hot and Radio is not—Yet

Let’s take look at these figures and you’ll see that local search is an area that radio can take advantage of if we open ourselves to this opportunity.
• 41% of consumers say they use a location in their search – “dentist in Chicago”
• Yet only 9% of small businesses are happy with their internet marketing
• 73% of all online activity is related to local content (Google)
• 66% of Americans use local search to find local businesses (Comscore)
• 54% of Americans have replaced phone books with internet and local search (Comscore)
• 82% local searchers follow up with call/walk in etc. (TMP / Comscore)
• 43% of search engine users are seeking a local merchant with the intent of buying offline

Local Search Means More Revenue for Radio

Local search is the buzz word. You are much more likely to speak to a business owner about local search than you are about radio. Local search is quantifiable and business owners know this and are therefore interested in finding out more about it. Local radio can create a new revenue stream by incorporating local search as part of its product offerings and do so without creating more work for its present sales staff. In fact local search can open doors previously closed to radio and drive more traditional advertising revenue as a result. To learn more click here now.

Very few broadcasters that we work with until recently, due to our efforts, have embraced the information age for all of its benefits and advantages. The truth is that 85 percent of B2B purchase decisions begin with an online search. So it’s reasonable to conclude that radio and television stations are no where to be found online when a business is researching potential advertising options. Sure they’ll come up under their keyword—radio or television stations, or if you type in the name of the station but that’s not what we’re talking about.

Most broadcasters still rely on a salesperson to generate his or her leads as well as using their own airwaves to promote interest in their medium as an advertising solution. Broadcasters are slow to adopt new methods of attracting advertisers and for this reason they will continue to struggle in their efforts to regain rate integrity and to expand their advertiser base. Our experience shows us that 5 percent of broadcasters are of a mindset to try to generate leads off of the Internet. The entire broadcast industry is years behind the rest of the advertising world.

Generate Sales Leads via the Internet

In order to generate leads through the Internet a broadcaster must find a resource that has a track record for generating advertising leads; a resource that has a clearly defined plan to reach and cultivate potential broadcaster advertisers on the web. It is not necessary to make a major investment in this type of effort. It is necessary however; to understand that you’re stations are losing thousands of dollars in revenue daily by not utilizing your website to generate qualified leads.

Your online presence needs to be integrated into your present website. We’re not talking about an online media kit or a contact page to reach one of your sales representatives. We’re talking about a specialized area that resides on your website that targets business owners. A business marketing section that doesn’t just promote the benefits of your advertising vehicle but offers solutions and information to help the business owner be better prepared to succeed. Once you identify a company to help you create this section on your website you can then begin the process of using social media to promote and push information throughout the internet. Make sense?

Don’t Try it Yourself

This is not something you should try yourself. Broadcasters are already over taxed and undermanned when it comes to undertaking this type of online strategy. A partnership needs to be built with a lead generation company. Identify a company that has experience with lead generation. Try to create a relationship with an organization that will offer a minimal project start up fee that includes some form of revenue share model that will reduce your broadcast group’s overall risk. Most importantly get started because for every day you wait you’re losing the ability to show up within organic searches on major search engines like Google. Every day you wait you’re missing out on the chance to utilize social media to promote your B2B website efforts and to attract new advertisers. What are you waiting for?

Keeping It Fresh

Creating a business resource section on your website is only the beginning albeit a very important beginning. Once you have created this area you must allocate the resources necessary to maintain and update this area for marketing purposes. In much the same ways as you program your station.

Use this section to attract business owners and marketers. Your station will accomplish this by posting training sessions and seminar announcements, blog items, as well as providing videos pertaining to your solution. All of these tools make the section a destination for potential advertisers and creates a “sticky” area within your website

Your station has the ability to become the local media thought leader, a resource to help local businesses become better marketers. If your station and website provide valuable information that help area businesses then they are more likely to view your station as part of the solution and not just another advertising organization trying to sell them a solution they may not need. Click here for more information.

Last week we surveyed thousands of individuals throughout the radio industry. This survey was promoted through our weekly blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a variety of other social media sites. Respondents included those in traffic, sales, sales management, programming, general management and others. We asked questions that many of our weekly readers have posed to us over the last 12 months. To receive a complete list of survey comments click here.

Number of Survey Respondents: 2,849
1. How would you rate the recovery of the radio industry within the last 10 months? (1 = Weak , 5 = Strong)

RESULTS:
23% = 1
28% = 2
33% = 3
11% = 4
3% = 5

2. Is radio effectively using their websites and other digital assets to generate new revenue and advertising leads?

RESULTS:
26.4% = yes
56.6% = no
16.3% = other (also include comments)

Unedited Responses:

I believe some are, and some are not. Stations are doing a lot of digiatl assets for the on air staff, but I believe there is still way more as far as leads and revenue go in that department. Anonymous

I think we need to have more traffic to the sites to generate new revenue. Anonymous

Not at all. Every on-air personality in the biz should have their own blog and podcast with web-exclusive content. Instead most stations have a website that’s too cluttered with no real content or reason to expect even a moderate number of page views. Having only a facebook page and twitter account that lets listeners know where the next remote is seems like the new media plan for most stations Anonymous

The numbers make this a quantitative answer rather than mere opinion: Radio got less than $300m last year from online sales, while TV got more than $1b and newspapers more than $3b. It’s barely a blip on their radar screens because they view it as just a cool marketing device rather than a significant new business venture. Anonymous

Still seem to be stuck in the paradigm that the transmitter is the primary asset and that digital platforms should drive listeners to the broadcast
signal. Anonymous

While some stations have an effort, there is not a professional focused, successful model out there yet. Anonymous

There are opportunities, but they are few and far between. Anonymous

not bad for the current staffing levels at stations. Anonymous

There is further we can expand on it. Anonymous

“stations” ARE SPOOLING UP…the community is remote and slow to accept new advance technologies Anonymous

3. Are market managers given more autonomy today than 10 months ago?

RESULTS:
22.1% = yes
58.0% = no
17.8% = other (also includes comments)

4. Does your broadcast group support your bold initiatives or are they more likely to promote the status quo?

RESULTS:
43.1% = bold initiatives
51.7% = status quo
2.2% = nr

5. Are you effectively marketing your station to both listeners and advertisers?

RESULTS:
38.2% = yes
51.1% = no
8.3% = other (also includes comments)
2.0% = nr

6. Do you have any suggestions for improving the radio industry? (partial unedited list)

COMMENTS:

GET back to PASSION & why we loved it to begin with. Let’s have real relateable personalities.Some GM/OM’s that have done radio in the past so they have that love in common. If a major broadcasting company is cutting employees left and right and making bad financial decisions, put a cap on how many stations people with asses for brains can have. Anonymous

LIVE & LOCAL! Our audience likes diversity & creativity. Anonymous

Corporation ownership must staff stations with local experts and get out of their way. One size does not fit all and Texas is not New York.

If the focus was on super-serving the core audience on a deep level instead of chasing dollars and pinching pennies, listeners would develop loyalty & ROI would increase dramatically. Anonymous

You bet. Care more about the listener. Keep stations well engineered and strong as they should be so people can listen whenever they tune in and they’ll listen more often. Less automation..use real people instead of just letting the computer do it. Help your talent develope so people want to listen

Get digital ASAP Anonymous

Go back to being the best station you can be. Don’t play a song just because others do. WIDEN the playlist, don’t tighten. Listeners HATE hearing the same songs over and over. Bring back the importance of PERSONALITY radio. Encourage jocks to be unique and focus on their show rather than 50 other hats in the building.
Less narrowcasting
putting the listeners first
And the advertisers WILL follow
It works! too bad the management here doesn’t understand it

More community based initiatives. Anonymous

Broadcast can no longer be a stand alone entity. Convergence isn’t the wave of the future it is how responsible broadcasters keep themselves relevant and ahead of the curve in today’s market. Failing to incorporate new media into a revenue model is a huge problem that must be dealt with Anonymous

fire the consultants. what works somewhere else, probably won’t work somewhere else. Leave the programming and sales ideas to the LOCAL people who know the markets. Anonymous

7. Which of the following best describes your job title at the station?

RESULTS:
17.5% = general manager
8.9% = operation manager
6.6% = sales manager
17.8% = program director
7.4% = sales
2.0% = program asst.
<1% = traffic
12.9% = prefer not to answer
24.4% = other ( also includes comments)
1.4% = nr

Article Highlights:

• Stations should consider online advertising to promote themselves.
• The most effective online advertising that consumers/listeners are most likely to read and act upon are articles that
include station/brand information.
• Article-based advertising incorporates station brand information into informative content.

Today radio is hard pressed to afford any form of external marketing and relies almost exclusively on its airwaves and websites to promote programming. Although many stations have a digital presence few understand how this presence can affect both ratings and revenue because they’ve not had the resources to execute this type of strategy. This is beginning to change as the economy recovers and more station assets are freed up. Now is the time for stations to consider a more comprehensive approach to marketing.

Broadcasters should market their stations by combining advertising, PR and digital in such a way as to deliver a far greater ratings outcome. Stations should blend the control of advertising with the credibility of PR and the measurability of digital. A recent Opinion Research Corporation survey helps reinforce this. It measured consumer responses to five different types of online advertising and found that public relations based articles that included brand information got consumers actively involved with this information. This type of online advertising can also work for radio.

Radio, as the original social media vehicle can utilize the digital landscape by providing compelling content based articles to build buzz based marketing initiatives that bring about highly engaged listeners. The premise is simple; the creative and execution not so. Imagine a radio station that launches a contest called for example, “Be the Face of Jack-FM”, and offers a strong incentive for individuals that exemplify the Jack FM persona. Through PR based online articles describing the station and the characteristics of an individual who might represent Jack FM, the station has the ability to create a market wide buzz with this promotional outreach. Wrap Facebook, Twitter and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising support to promote this type of initiative. Include compelling on air execution in conjunction with targeted marketing like direct mail and you have created a market buzz that will affect both ratings and revenue almost immediately. If you’d like to learn more click here.

Managing your Social Media strategy must become a part of your daily duties. It’s not only about checking the Facebook page every so often, it’s also about reacting to what listeners are telling you, and quick. Listeners expect Social Media to be much quicker to answer than traditional communication methods.

- Viral marketing
If your Social Media strategy works well and your content is suitable for it, viral marketing is a natural consequence of it. If your listeners consider your content fun, interesting or just worth sharing they will retweet it to their followers, post about it on their Facebook walls or Digg it. This will instantly put your station in front of the eyes of thousands of new listeners who didn’t know about you before, who may become listeners and keep sharing your content.

The station that uses Social Media effectively will become more relevant to its present and potential listeners. Remember it’s not only for reaching potential listeners but there are effective strategies that are now aimed at reaching potential radio advertisers. For information on how Social Media can help your station succeed contact Eric Corwin or send a confidential email to corwin@higherratings.com.

Seems to me that more people paying less taxes works out economical much better for America than fewer people paying more taxes.

People who know me would be surprised to learn that I am a great detail person, in fact probably one of the best according to Jim Hilliard. But nevertheless I moved on to Concepts and Philosophy anyway because it was more fun and I am still fairly open minded in that area.
With details I am not open at all, it has to go exactly how I said it should go, or things tend to get broken. I think I’m a much nicer person to deal with when I stick with Concepts and Philosophy. But I know there is one other reason I don’t do details anymore, lets see what is it … Oh yeah now I remember.
They don’t pay detail people any money.

Frank Zappa said he was driving through a quiet neighborhood in Hollywood with his top down, not paying too much attention to anything and just kinda tapping his hand on the steering wheel as he sang along to the radio.
When he pulled up at a red light and when he glanced around, he happened to notice a couple of people in the next car to him at the light were staring at him with a horrified look on their faces.
He thought it must be his somewhat radical appearance that was upsetting them until he realized the song he was singing along to was Sugar Sugar
by The Archies. The PPM device would have captured that listen. There was no way in hell the diary ever would have.

According to PPM there is no sense having a big morning show unless you’re going to sell it direct.

Henry Ford said, if I listened to what the customers claimed they wanted I would have just given them a faster horse.

We all tend to like those that like us.

I think Zack Boles style is going to be the new warm emotional way for radio station imagining in a radio world of cold sound a likes.

Bill Gardner told me when he was early in his radio career in Philadelphia at WIBG, Joey Reynolds happened to see his paycheck. Joey immediately
dragged Bill to the GM’s office where he proceeded to tell him that if he didn’t give Bill a raise right on the spot they were both leaving.
Bill got the raise. Yo Joey! I’ve got a few people I need you to talk with.

You know it’s a real slow news day when someone uttering the F Bomb makes the headlines.

Dropped my daughter Cami and her friend Alexis off at a Toby Mac Concert last night. I arrived back to pick them up just before the end of the concert
When I strolled into the venue from the last row, Toby who is a Christian Rocker was standing on a huge amp screaming at the top of his lungs
“Are there any Jesus Freaks in here” The positive response was so loud it almost blew my eardrums out. It seems that Church music has changed some
what since I last attended. What ever happened to “Bringing In The Sheaves”.
Toby had quite a few Black musicians and singers on stage performing with him, but strangely I didn’t notice any in the audience.

Still thinkin’ about “The Last Programming Conference and who else should be there. Dougie Thompson of course has to attend along with his old
writing partner Bill McDonald who is sure to bring radio legend Chuck Blore with him.

We also might need a few news pros like Dick Smyth, Sam Graves and Tom Cochrun to keep us from just telling those cheap jokes all night.
If we talk Movie Star Rick Moranis into being there, I know for sure he will insist on The Magic Christian coming along because Magic always had his number
I’ve got to have my old pals Roger Klein and Joel Thompson around just to tell folks who the hell I am.

Tommy Kramer is of course invited and he will insist on bringing along Bill Young to tell us it was really like back in the day. Bill Drake is long gone but his
main man Paul Drew would demand our attention for a little while if he were to join us. Oh and I have to have Little Tommy along because Jeff and Jer would
never even find the room we were all meeting in without his help. Gotta have Jim Harper from Detroit there, with both JP and Dick gone from the air waves he
has to be “The Man” Couldn’t think of even starting this without Buster Bodine being there speed rapping us.

Hey this thing is getting so big it could be a movie maybe like “The Last Waltz” we might need one business guy there like maybe Roy Laughlin to negotiate
the deal for us. Ok he can bring his beautiful wife Ellen too. I bet she’s “Got Scoop” on Seacrest and that could be fun.

Lorenda Rae says the one skill I have that she is most impressed with so far, is my ability to count backwards.

Averaging was invented in the 1930’s and it gave companies the ability to predict the patterns of mankind so they could keep prepared and slightly ahead of
what was coming. It worked perfectly until … Elvis, The Beatles and the I Phone ruined everything.

I feel coaching Jeff and Jer is like working with great song writers. We’re never working on how to write good songs, we’re always working on how to write
award winning ones.

The fear of loss is ten times more powerful than the anticipation of gain.

I was told a long time ago that it doesn’t take any brains to buy a radio station, just money.

Have you noticed that the more deregulated the Airlines got the more the Airlines seem to be regulating us.

I think there must be two monsters in a divorce because what ever side you are connected to the other side always seems to be a monster.

The thing that has always irritated me most in Radio is that getting the numbers never pays as well as getting the numbers.

If you use fear to motivate talent always remember the talent is figuring out how to turn that around and use it on you.

I think it is only fair that when the President leaves office all government employees should have to leave with him.

If your in a court of law under oath and the truth is politically incorrect do you still have to tell it.

Looks like big new things are in the near future for both Jeff and Jer and Ron Chapman and it all involves Roy Laughlin I hear.

More@ wwwGeorgeJohns.com

How difficult is it to program an online radio station? Depends on who’s asked.Broadcast radio station programmers, for the most part, think a stream of their over-the-air content will satisfy the masses. We also have pure-play internet stations split into two camps: 1) former radio industry professionals who fashion online audio content to resemble the terrestrial radio industry, and 2) the online-only radio programming pros who consider streamed content as a portion of what the crowds look for and thereby supplement it with forums, social media and music/celebrity information delivered on their web site.

Which of the above does your internet radio station reflect? How much of your programming is created based on data that shows what your audience responds to? What is based on your own definition of “good radio”?

Do you use data to make adjustments, or is data merely a measuring stick used to tell how your concepts are working?

What got me thinking in this direction is spending the past few days going over reams of data from Audio Graphics’ RadioRow – a radio station portal that sits high on all major search engines. There are enough visitors in each of RadioRow’s 25 format categories to draw conclusions about online radio listening. Here’s one striking stat: Since May 2009, there’s been a 37.1% increase in the number of international visitors using RadioRow to find their radio online.

I admit a station in Kansas may not see a similar increase in international visitors, but its portion of audience from outside the DMA and state is sure to be more this year than last. Which brings back the question of whether your station is programmed to satisfy a growing number of audience members who are not connected to the local community. Perhaps another way to phrase it is this: Do you even consider programming for outside your local, online?

To date, most of the internet radio stations I’ve visited are content with presenting songs and little else. Audio commercials, if any, reflect a predominantly national leaning, the opposite of that found within the broadcast-side of the radio industry. Banner ads are heavy on national, thanks to ad networks, and seldom highlight happenings of local nature outside of a station’s physical location; i.e., an internet radio station does not advertise a business in Los Angeles if its operation is based in Chicago, even if a substantial portion of its audience is in L.A.

As for content, the portion of broadcast that attracts audience, I’ve yet to hear an online station based in Detroit speak about an event like, say, Burning Man held annually in Black Rock, Nevada. There are car, sports, concert, and cultural events held across the world that are of interest to an internet radio station’s audience. Do any of them appear as part of your online radio station’s program content?

Realizing that trying to cater to only your immediate DMA will result in low visitor counts and lower Time Spent on site/stream is a huge step, but it can only be taken after looking at your online radio station’s data. Do you use data to help determine what programs and events your online radio station should mention?

Internet radio attracts people from across the world. Satisfying their appetites with interesting content means spending time determining where your audience is coming from, what it desires in non-radio features, and how to best present this information in the audio stream and on the station web site. Yes, gathering information on what can be used to set your programs apart from those of thousands of others takes effort and time. Do you devote either to improve programming?

If your station is part of a major group, the above is thought out for you. But if your radio station is playing to the world, unencumbered by corporate dictates (as many stations claim in notation on their home page), then creating relevant and interesting programming means doing more than stringing your favorite collection of rock songs together or subscribing to a generic celebrity news feed.

Programming “good radio” is every bit as difficult today as it was twenty years ago. The difference is that the radio industry, online, needs to break from geographically-confined thinking and start offering items of interest to listeners across the nation – or globe.

If not, your destiny is to remain within that group of 10,000+ internet radio stations offering little more than music.

And, music, it must be understood by now, is available at many online destinations other than just internet radio stations.