Recently in Radio Advertising Category

Reflecting growing signs that the U.S. economy is back, radio delivers its best results in quarter-to-quarter revenue comps since Q1 2007 with a +6% overall increase to $3.687B. This gain represents the highest posted in nearly a decade, according to the recent study by the accounting firm of Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. reported by the The Radio Advertising Bureau with more than 6,000 member Radio stations in the U.S. and over 1,000 member networks, representative firms, broadcast vendors, and international organizations.

According to the report, the Eastern Region outpaced the rest of the nation in ad spending gains for Q1, up 12.7% - followed by the Southwest and Central Regions, up 9.7% and 6.7%, respectively. Spending is up but trails nationwide growth in the West (4.5%) and South (3.5%).

RAB President and CEO, Jeff Haley, says "Our growth in this recovery is showing signs that Radio's momentum is outpacing that of other traditional media... underscoring Radio's inherent strength with advertisers demonstrating renewed enthusiasm for spending in our medium... advertisers have found and, in many instances, rediscovered Radio. With ever-expanding Digital and Off-Air vehicles adding to Radio's appeal... this growth trend will continue to gain momentum," Haley concludes. 

Background: Neat Feet and Elkins Retail Advertising have put together a unique advertising approach, bringing together multiple podiatry practices to share advertising costs, increase incoming leads, and reduce their cost-per-lead.

Client: 1-800-NEW-TOES Laser Centers
A collaboration of five podiatry centers, including Neat Feet, offers a new laser treatment for nail fungus. Locations are throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Elkins Retail Advertising
Elkins has 20 years of experience using vanity 800 numbers in their clients' advertising campaigns. The agency continually appears on the San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal list of the 25 largest agencies in Santa Clara County, CA.

Challenge: Neat Feet was looking for a way to advertise on radio stations with the largest reach in the Bay Area, but it was cost prohibitive.

Strategy: Join forces with other podiatry centers in surrounding markets to form "1-800-NEW-TOES Laser Centers", a group initiative. Develop a radio campaign and share advertising expenses and incoming leads among the five locations.

Results: With Neat Feet, Elkins pulled together four other podiatry centers in the Bay Area to collaborate on a radio campaign aimed at generating leads for each location. The radio spots run on the largest stations in the Bay Area and prominently feature the group's vanity number as the response tool.

Hunter Elkins has 20 years of experience recommending and using vanity 800 numbers in his clients' advertising campaigns.  "I've had success using vanity numbers in the past, and knew that this strategy of radio ads with 1-800-NEW-TOES would be successful for Neat Feet and the other centers," says Elkins.

"As a result of the radio campaign, each center now receives more incoming calls because the 1-800-NEW-TOES vanity number and the matching co-op company name are so easy to remember," says Elkins. The campaign drives listeners to call the vanity 800 number or visit the vanity URL, 800newtoes.com, which also lists the vanity number prominently on the splash page of the site. "The average close rate of incoming calls among the group is 55%," says Elkins, which is higher than the average conversion of Web visits.

"We use the tracking site to monitor the number of incoming calls and clicks they receive each week, and the resulting cost-per-lead. Call data is easily sorted by each location so we can keep a tight watch on the performance of our radio campaign, monitor the traffic to each center, and make adjustments to the campaign if necessary," says Elkins.

According to Elkins, "The collaboration would not have been possible without 1-800-NEW-TOES. The vanity number allowed us to brand the group with a unified name, share advertising costs, and generate more business for each center."

The Proof is in the Research!

Market research study shows that consumers have recall rates of vanity 800 numbers when they are used in advertising:

·         Advertisers can expect up to 84% improvement in consumer recall using a vanity 800 number in outdoor and print advertising vs. a numeric toll-free number.

·         Consumers are 9x more likely to recall vanity 800 numbers in broadcast ads vs. numeric toll-free numbers.

Television Advertising, Toll-free and Vanity Numbers:

·         82% of phone numbers in TV ads are toll-free.

·         64% of toll-free numbers used in TV advertising are vanity toll-free phone numbers.

Radio Advertising & Toll-free Numbers:

·         Radio ads featuring a vanity 800 number yield 58% more calls than an identical radio ad using a numeric toll-free.

·         Almost 60% of study subjects recall a vanity 800 number after hearing only one time.

Billboard Advertising, Toll-free and Vanity Numbers:

·         75% of the total toll-free numbers used on billboards are vanity toll-free numbers.

Remember these stats when you're developing your next advertising campaign!

Visit http://www.800response.com/vanity800numbers/studies for more research studies conducted on the effectiveness of vanity 800 numbers in advertising.

Summary:

Radio ad revenue pacings are picking up so rapidly that some forecasters are racing to keep up - while it appears others are just being left behind. Just as there were lots of downward revisions throughout 2009, we can probably expect upward revisions through 2010.

Last week's update by Barclays Capital analysts Anthony DiClemente and George Hawkey put them at the head of the pack, with a 2010 radio revenue gain of 7.4% forecast.  It was the second revision of their forecast, having gone into 2010 expecting yet another down year for the medium.

Advertising On The Radio - Keep It Simple

By M. Bruce Abbott

Let's say you spent good money on a brochure. Several pages filled with features, benefits, facts, figures, call to action, contact info...oh yeah, paragraphs about who you are, what you do....the different services you provide, your product offerings...and the list goes on and on. Everything you believe a potential client would need or want to know about your business. Now you are interested in advertising on the radio.

Here's a great radio advertising tip -

Don't let your radio commercials end up like your brochure.

Advertising on the radio works best when it is simple and effective.

First...a given. If you are going to advertise on the radio, make sure you have a product that has demand. In another article we discuss the topic of Direct Response Radio Advertising Mistakes: A Product No One Wants. With that said, lets move on to advertising on the radio assuming there is demand for your product or service.

Simplicity is the key to effective direct response radio advertising. Face it, when you are buying fifteen, thirty, even sixty seconds worth of radio advertising, you don't have the time to create an audio brochure. Radio advertising is a powerful advertising medium, but can it work for you?

Yes it can. You just need to make sure your direct response radio advertising campaign is just that...DIRECT. When advertising on the radio, get right to the point. What is the problem your potential customers face? What is the solution? (Hopefully this is where you have inserted your company name). What benefit does your company provide that solves the problem? And most important of all...what would make me choose your company? Here is where the irresistible offer comes in. Direct response radio advertising is rooted in a foundation of "what's in it for me". Give me reason to call. A free offer...free sample...free estimate...deep discount...money back guarantee...whatever your feel is important to your potential customer. This offer helps "grease the skids" and provides a strong incentive to call or click.

And speaking of calls and clicks - If you are advertising on the radio, you must make your call to action clear, concise and memorable. In other words, if you are driving to a toll free number, make sure you are not advertising some random ten digits that are difficult to remember. Use vanity phone numbers. Vanity phone numbers provide sticking power in the listeners mind. What will you remember more - 1-800-I-ATE-A-BUG or 1-800-428-3228 (plus the extra useless digit)? You can use a combination of vanity numbers or words and number for tracking purposes. If you are directing your radio advertising campaign to a URL. Make sure it's a simple domain name. No long URL's with dashes and slashes and long strings of weird variables. Simple works better. And again, you can use a variety of simple domains for tracking. And make sure you mention your number or URL at least a couple of times throughout the radio commercial.

So what have you learned here?

When advertising on the radio, keep it simple. Get directly to the problem, the solution, the benefit, the irresistible offer, and the clear call to action. Keep this simple structure in mind, and your chances of success when advertising on the radio dramatically increase.

By Jon Rognerud

Courtesy of Ezine Articles

You are driving to work in rush hour traffic, half listening to the news on the radio. You hear the date and realize that today is your sister's birthday. Mildly panicked, you grab your cell phone to order flowers. What number will you dial? If you are like most, you will dial 1-800-FLOWERS. Most people do not have the local florist on speed dial but everyone can recall 1-800-FLOWERS.

A toll free vanity number combined with strong branding statements can help your company stand apart in a competitive marketplace. Sit N'Sleep Mattress maximized their memorable slogan, "We'll beat any advertised price or your mattress is freeeee" with a 1-800-FREEEEE vanity number.

Toll free vanity numbers optimize advertising efforts by providing an easy to recall number for customers to follow up which facilitates direct response. There are three types of response times in advertising:

1) Immediate. Customers hear the advertising message, want what is being offered and buy it.

2) Delayed. With delayed response, the customer hears the message but is too busy to take immediate action. They want what is being offered and plan to take action later.

3) Long Term. You hear or see the marketing message and you are interested but may not take action for a week, month or even a year later.

Vanity numbers provide an effective follow up solution for all response types. Customers will remember how to reach you whether they need your services today or long after they have heard or seen your advertising message.

The immediate customer can effortlessly move from hearing to buying with a vanity number. The delayed response customer does not have to hunt for pen and paper or stop their activities to write down a phone number. A customer in need of flowers will remember 1-800-FLOWERS even if responding hours later.

By Clarence Well

Courtesy of Ezine Articles

If you're a businessman, you surely know the value of your business name. This is how people know you, remember you and think of you enough for them to buy something from you. In other words, as long as people know you're around, there is a possibility that they will consider you for something they need which you offer.

In other words, when you want to compete in a market where similar products and services are offered by different vendors or providers, you have to stand out with your brand name. Anything you do that strengthens your market presence by way of strengthening the impact of your brand name on consumers is called branding. Of course, you've heard about the multimillion dollar branding campaigns of such multinational companies such as Coke or Gillette. And you've heard about the advertising agencies who are notorious for their insanely and exorbitantly priced services. What if you were to get as much branding edge for a comparably negligible price? What about a vanity 800 number?

A vanity number is a regular toll free number except that you have your business name spelled out on it. Or you can have any term relevant to your business spelled out on it. So instead of your number being 1-800-1234567, it could be 1-800-FLOWERS if you're in the floral business or 1-800-COMPUTE if you're dealing computers. Imagine how much easier it would be for people to reach you just because your vanity number is so much easier to remember. Now imagine if that vanity number were all over your radio, TV, print and online ads. That's great branding edge for so much less expenses.

If you're convinced you need a vanity number, it's not that simple getting one, though. In fact, it can get a little serious. First, you need to research which companies offer the cheapest 800 numbers. You also need to look into how you will be billed. Some will charge a flat amount while others can give you more freedom by charging per amount of time used.

Vanity numbers also have different features so you need to look into each one to know what you need or don't need. This way, you avoid spending for something unnecessary. And then, of course, you need to consider the quality and accessibility of customer service you can expect from the company that provides you the vanity number. This is essential because if and when you run into problems, you should be able to resolve it as much as possible. Some companies will give you a free trial for a certain period, say, 30 days. This is for you to decide whether or not you would like to continue their service. Obviously, it's wise to take this trial and see for yourself.

By Noel Peebles

Courtesy of Ezine Articles

The results I have seen achieved from newspaper, phone directory and web site advertising, have been nothing short of amazing. It has all been accomplished using simple, but powerful, strategies.

Whether you are running web site advertising or any other kind of advertising - it still needs to get results. Your advertising will cost you the same, regardless of whether it pulls in two sales or does 1000% better and pulls in 22 sales.

So, how do you make your advertising work like crazy?

Your first task is not to get your prospect to read your advertising. You first need them to notice your advertising. I might be old school but, from years of "hands on" experience, I know that EVERY written advertisement needs a powerful headline. That goes for mail order, phone directory advertising, web site advertising, newspaper advertising etc. Every advertisement needs to grab attention with a powerful headline.

When I sort through my mail I do it next to the wastepaper basket. Unless it is something important, or a bill I need to pay, most of it gets trashed.

If I spot an eye-catching headline, I might be tempted to read a couple of paragraphs to see what it is all about. The same goes for web site advertising; if the web page doesn't immediately grab my attention, I will move on to the next web site.

So, the first job of any advertising is to get attention. The second job is to keep the reader interested in what you have to say. You just have to get the person to read the first sentence, then the next sentence, then the one after that, and so on. Keep them interested and you may start to create a desire for what you have to sell.

Take just one step at a time. Get their attention and then keep them interested. Create a desire. Then, introduce a call to action and ask them to buy.

It is really important to work through the process in the correct order. There is no point in asking for the sale if you haven't first grabbed their attention and created the desired.

That is why so many advertisements fail to pull in satisfactory results. A lot of advertisers put their company name at the top of the advertisement (boring!), and expect that to grab the attention of a reader. The business owner might like to see his or her company name big and bold at the top of the ad, but the average reader won't have the same interest. The reader is more interested in "what's in it for me."

We are all interested in ourselves and want to know how we can benefit in some way. This is an important point all advertisers need to understand if they want better results from their advertising.

Now, before I go, take another look at the headline of this article. You will see it includes a benefit, which is exactly what I have just been talking about. If you have read this far, then you must have been interested in what I had to say. Hopefully you now have the desire to improve your advertising. However, I will stop there and not ask for a sale, because that is not the purpose of this article.

The important thing is that you understand the important sequence of the AIDA process - Get Attention, Create Interest, Generate Desire, and then Call for Action.

By Christy Brugger

Courtesy of Ezine Articles