Philadelphia — We use the internet for almost everything…paying bills, reading the news, watching videos, and keeping in touch with old friends from high school. We are also using it more and more for dating and finding our soul mates.

In fact, 17% of all marriages that occurred last year were between people that first met at an online dating site. Online dating is an industry that is worth $1.049 billion annually in the USA and 40 million Americans participate in it!

So, what does this have to do with radio stations? Opportunity!

MatchLink is a singles dating network that served the radio industry for many years. The Evanston, Illinois company Spark Network Services provided an IVR-based dating service to radio stations. Radio listeners called a phone number and paid to interact with other singles through a sophisticated voice mail system. Payment was made through credit card or a 900 number. Some stations were earning a half million dollars per year with the service.

In 2005, Spark Network Services, a division of CBS Radio, was sold to Advanced Telecom Services which had been supplying dating services to newspapers, including the New York Times, for over a dozen years.

“The IVR dating system was in decline for several years and it was clearly a legacy product,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services. “So, we began moving the Spark customer base to an online dating solution.”

Today, the MatchLink.com online dating solution is used by over 250 radio station affiliates. The company provides an online dating site that is customized to the look and feel of the radio station, but with the power of the largest singles database in the USA from Match.com.

“It’s a great way for a radio station to build community and it’s a valuable new source of NTR,” added Bentz.

Valuable indeed. The average online dating site user invests $239 per year. MatchLink pays its affiliates 40% of the gross sales made on the online dating service for the lifetime of the customer. The bulk of the revenue goes to Match.com and Spark takes a small share for its providing the online dating site design and operation. It also provides banner ads for the radio station web site, commercials for various radio station formats, and on-air liners for the jocks.

“As far as revenue goes, there is a real cumulative effect for the service for the radio station,” said Bentz. “Users will start going steady and drop out of the online dating pool for a while, but then they breakup three months later and are back using the service again.”

The average age for an online dating user is a surprisingly older than expected 48-years-old. Most online dating users are divorced or separated and online dating best suits their busy lifestyle. At age 26, women have twice as many male users contacting them, but at age 48, men have twice as many women contacting them.

The service is compatible for all formats, although Bentz indicated that the company has had its best success with country formats.

“Country listeners want to date other country listeners, but a CHR listener could date a classic rock listener.”

I guess that’s what compatibility is all about.

Click here to see a sample radio station online dating site. To get in touch with MatchLink, you can contact Bentz at sales@advancedtele.com or call him at 610-688-6000.

Top broadcasters are like the Florida Marlins

Presently the top operating income teams are the Marlins, Red Sox, and Nationals, followed by the Padres, White Sox, Mets, Cubs, Twins, and Yankees. In the Marlins case, their operating income is based on their paying their players on the cheap while taking their share of league revenue. So on one hand you have a team that invests heavily in their product, the Red Sox and another that takes advantage of the MLB revenue sharing model to inflate their revenue. I guess in both cases these franchises like radio groups are choosing to do business differently while ending up with ostensibly the same profitability. This of course does not take into consideration the present valuation and the long-term valuation of the two teams. There is no doubt that the Redsox present business strategy will have long term benefits that the Marlins will probably never realize.

Radio is still strong

Let’s look at radio industry and view what appears to be a Florida Marlins approach to broadcasting; an approach that values short term profit at the expense of long term stability and growth. Radio is an industry that is still strong and viable. One that given the proper financial support and investment in on air talent and long-term corporate strategy can and will lead to promoting and strengthening an industry that otherwise will slowly become irrelevant.

Long term interests

The radio industry does not have to be gutted and fail prematurely by those whose short term interest is only for themselves. Radio’s present movement toward irrelevance does not have to occur at the pace it will, given this short term business strategy that several of today’s broadcasters embrace. The industry continues to be strong, but for how long? Today’s course can change if present broadcasters are true to the tenants that propelled this industry years ago. Quality programming and a local connection to its listeners has made radio a compelling medium for many years and this can continue if those in control of major groups are willing to evolve and retool a successful industry and make it work in today’s ever changing entertainment and advertising industries.

The Solution

Broadcasters should stop the present trend toward bland non local syndication and begin to invest again in compelling local programming that interconnects closely with today’s digital offerings. More importantly, radio must become a full service local advertising provider, dedicated to supplying all of the necessary advertising solutions that a local business may consider. Radio, more than any industry, has the ability to promote their new position as the full service marketing partner to the area’s local businesses. This can and must happen. But it will require an in-depth corporate strategy that will fundamentally change the way these groups presently sell advertising. Imagine a broadcast group that sets as its number one priority the interests of the local business owner and advertiser first. That makes it a priority to educate its representatives to meet the needs of that business. This new representative will be prepared to deliver and match the most effective marketing solution for a business given the company’s particular business challenges. Imagine this and you imagine a future where radio is relevant to both the listener and the local business owner. What industry is best suited to take this position; the yellow pages, local cable or is it radio? I want to bet on radio.

Let’s take a look at your listeners. First understand that all listeners are not created equal. Who are the most important radio listeners in your market? Some of you might say that your P1 listeners are most important because they generate the largest percentage of your station’s listening. Part of this is true since they do spend more time with your station but the fact is if they are not survey friendly individuals then they don’t matter. So the truth is that the most important people to your station are those listeners that listen a lot and are the most likely to participate in a survey. These are the potential PPM panelist and diary households. But how do you reach them.

The most effective way to increase ratings is by reaching survey friendly people where they live

You can reach listeners—survey respondents by using television or billboards but it is not the most efficient way to reach them. The best way is to target these survey friendly households is through a highly targeted direct marketing campaign. We want to develop a marketing campaign that is targeted to reach potential PPM panelists or diary keepers with multiple messages just as Arbitron does. Does Arbitron use television? When was the last time you saw an Arbitron billboard? The following steps will help you reach PPM and diary households and generate higher ratings for your station.

1. Select an expert or organization that specializes in target marketing
2. Identify your ratings and cluster marketing objectives
3. Analyze both your station’s and your competitor’s hot zips codes
4. Identify individual households within these zip codes that have a higher propensity to fill out a survey
5. Purchase a list of targeted households from a qualified company
6. Develop a consistent marketing message
7. Use direct mail and/or telemarketing to further identify people willing to participate in a survey.
8. Use social media and other online techniques to support your outbound efforts
9. Send your marketing message to your station’s email and text database
10. Use street and buzz based marketing efforts to support this campaign
11. Review and analyze key campaign indicators to determine if the program is tracking successfully

Market your station to increase ratings and revenue

It’s no secret that in order to generate higher ratings you need to find the PPM or diary households and market the hell out of them. It’s also no secret that it works. It works over and over again in every market across the country if the station is programmed and ready to receive the influx of new listeners. So if you’re committed to higher ratings and your sales staff can convert these ratings into increased revenue then it is a pretty straight forward decision. Start marketing your properties to increase the value of your group. It is a great alternative to just cutting costs and reducing the viability of the station and cluster to continue to attract listeners and generate increased revenue. Of course the solution is probably somewhere in the middle but this requires a thoughtful
strategic approach.

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Article Highlights:

* The “Audience First” approach begins with a precise definition of target consumers, followed by thorough analysis of how those consumers interact with media
* The responsibility to listen and respond to consumers in real-time is inherent to participation in the social space
* Consumers expect to share valuable, entertaining, and authentic experiences, and a marketer’s job is to deliver content that meets these expectations

The new realities of today’s always-connected media culture have necessitated a dramatic shift in the way that marketers think about electronic media, creative content development, and consumer engagement. Some brands are still struggling to catch up. And others are forging new paths, while anticipating the continual shifts of the media tides.

Antonio Lucio, global CMO for Visa, is the pioneer behind the company’s innovative “Audience First” approach to marketing. In advance of his keynote presentation at ad:tech San Francisco, Lucio sat down with iMedia Connection to discuss this approach, as well as broader trends in social engagement and brand-consumer relationships.

iMedia Connection: In your keynote at ad:tech San Francisco, you’ll be describing Visa’s approach to marketing, which you refer to as “Audience First”? Can you briefly describe this approach for me?

Antonio Lucio: “Audience First” refers to an approach by which consumer-centric media planning becomes step one in the creative process. The model is based on understanding the consumer behavior and media consumption patterns that shape a consumer’s buying decision. This serves as the road map for all communications decisions, content generation, and strategic focus. The result is more persuasive and relevant creative delivered through channels that amplify messaging and deliver innovation across emerging and traditional outlets.

iMedia: When did Visa implement its “Audience First” approach, and what events and challenges led to its adoption?

Lucio: I joined Visa in 2007 as the company’s first global CMO. While the brand has undoubtedly enjoyed category leadership for many years, there comes a time when the status quo simply won’t do, no matter how effective it is.

A confluence of events, situations and circumstances following my arrival amounted to a compelling impetus for change. For example, we were becoming a publicly traded company, undergoing a reorganization to form a global company, witnessing the rise and impact of social and digital media, and were working against the backdrop of one of the most economically challenging times in recent history. I was obligated to refocus and maximize our efforts to drive greater effectiveness and efficiencies within the marketing function.

“Audience First” has been an evolution. We started with the philosophy placing the consumer at the center of all interactions by understanding key media options along the path to transaction. Over time we adapted the consumer decision journey (CDJ) from McKinsey and the social engagement principles from OMD. Today it is a key cornerstone of the Visa Marketing way.
Tap into new digital knowledge. See Antonio Lucio’s keynote address at ad:tech San Francisco, April 11-13. Learn more.

iMedia: In adopting the “Audience First” approach, what long-held best practices had to be turned on their head? And where did you find the most resistance in doing so?

Lucio: The “Audience First” approach begins with a precise definition of target consumers, followed by thorough analysis of how those consumers interact with media and reach decisions. Creative comes later because it will be dictated by the specifics of the particular media that target consumers trust most.

While this means lots of hard work up front in the face of inevitable hesitance to disrupt the status quo, the payoff is enhanced impact, relevance, and effectiveness of all engagements, and increased efficiency. It requires marketers to re-engineer their traditional creative development process and ensure that all partners value the brand impact and economic benefits of the approach.

iMedia: What Visa campaign or marketing initiative would you say best embodies the “Audience First” approach? Briefly describe the campaign or initiative.

Lucio: We have been applying principles of “Audience First” since last year. Through research, we found significant multiple screen behavior during live sports events.

“Audience First” was instrumental in enabling us to deliver innovative, fresh, and nimble thinking that led to breakthrough ideas during our 2010 Olympic Winter games program — the kind of ideas that could deliver consumer engagement and brand equity and drive transactions on Visa-branded products. For example, we developed a global campaign framework that each of our regions could customize for their local markets, utilized digital channels like YouTube and Facebook to engage with fans, created relevant merchant tie-ins in physical and virtual environments to connect with consumers at the point of transactions, and we brought our campaign to life by showing our ads in 3-D within Grand Central Station in New York City leading up to the Games.

This campaign was recognized for its ability to help cut through the noise and solidify Visa’s standing as a leading sponsor of the Olympic Games. According to a Turnkey Intelligence study in February 2010, Visa was one of the “big winners in the contest for recognition among U.S. fans of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.”

iMedia: Encouraging consumer engagement means taking the good with the bad, as complaints are bound to surface along with compliments. What processes does Visa have in place for dealing with customer criticisms in the social space?

Lucio: As with any marketer engaging consumers in the social space, the responsibility to listen and respond to consumers in real-time is inherent to participation. Built into each of our social media campaigns is constant monitoring of consumer dialogue and direct inquiries. Moderation guides are developed for each line of business, specific to the social channel, where response from Visa is determined and delivered on a case-by-case basis. If the complaint directly relates to one of our products, we point them to the proper customer service destination and follow up until the issue is resolved.

iMedia: A key part of Visa’s marketing strategy revolves around delivering share-worthy content. What are some keys to success you’ve found for creating such content?

Lucio: Consumers expect to share valuable, entertaining, and authentic experiences, and a marketer’s job is to deliver content that meets these expectations. We’ve found success over the past year creating share-worthy content, particularly utilizing assets and relationships from our sports sponsorship portfolio. For example, we worked with two-time NBA MVP and die-hard soccer fan Steve Nash to create a video for our “Go Fans” YouTube channel displaying his passion for the FIFA World Cup. It was on Ad Age’s Viral Video Chart for three consecutive weeks; our program had 8 million views.

Our Olympics-themed “Go World” YouTube channel debuted a series of commercials for our fans before they even appeared on TV, and, over the course of the campaign, the channel attracted more than 1 million views. When we look to create content, we work to ensure that it’s entertaining, relevant to the viewer, and, most importantly, provides consumers with an outlet to display their passion and become part of the conversation.

iMedia: When it comes to social engagement, what platform has Visa found to be most valuable in seeking to connect with its target audience, and how do you make the most of the opportunities that platform offers?

Lucio: Social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter play an increasingly valuable and powerful role in fostering conversations and connecting with consumers directly. Most recently, we’ve worked with all three platforms to extend awareness of our sports sponsorships and to engage with consumers. We evaluate each platform to determine how they’ll allow us to achieve our goals and connect with fans in ways that are meaningful to them.

iMedia: The “Audience First” approach disrupts the traditional creative process. That said, in these “Mad Men” nostalgia days, that’s a process a lot of people seem to mourn the loss of. What words of comfort (or correction) would you offer those people?

Lucio: The new and rapidly evolving world of consumer engagement is extremely challenging, but entirely worthwhile. The rewards of getting it right can mean the difference between surviving and transcending. “Audience First” is a strong starting point to ensuring long-term brand cadence, successfully engaging consumers and building your brand.

Lori Luechtefeld is editor of iMedia Connection.

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.

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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Article Highlights:

* Brands that learn how to become companions will see a lot of success in 2011
* Agencies need to focus more on clients’ business objectives rather than media objectives
* Social will evolve beyond the Facebook app or Twitter feed, growing into ongoing conversations that
are core to the digital platform

Meet the panel

iMedia asked a panel of industry experts with unique perspectives to provide their thoughts on these topics and more — and some of their insights might surprise you. The panelists are:

Evan Gerber, principal experience design consultant, Isobar

Maria Mandel, VP, media and marketing innovation, AT&T Advanced Ad Solutions

Josh Rose, EVP, digital creative director, Deutsch LA

Dave Rosner, SVP, director, innovations unit, Initiative

Marc Ruxin, EVP, chief innovation officer, Universal McCann

Shiv Singh, head of digital, PepsiCo Beverages America

Denise Zimmerman, president and chief strategy officer, NetPlus Marketing Inc.

Brands

What brands will be hot in 2011 and why?

Marc Ruxin: There’s no way to know exactly what brands consumers will go crazy for. But one thing is starting to become clear; the new way is starting to look like the old way: reach and frequency. Which is good. Over the last 10 years, you could hit it big with an innovative digital “first, best, or only” and get a lot of lasting credit from it. From Blair Witch to BMW Films to Subservient Chicken to Shave Everywhere, we saw a lot of brands change their brand perceptions with single innovations. That’s changing.

There are simply too many people doing too many things now. Everyday there’s a new piece of news. Mitsubishi has a virtual test drive, Airwalk Invisible Pop-Up stores, Black Ops machinima viral video, K Swiss Kenny Powers video. Burger King gives away Xboxs in New York. Gap donates money to charity if you become its Facebook friend. It goes on and on. That’s not to mention the really creative online projects, like The Johnny Cash Project or The Wilderness Downtown. Those are all great ideas, but they aren’t silver digital marketing bullets. I think those are going away in favor of smart, persistent marketing plans.

Shiv Singh: This is probably a disappointing response, but I do believe that Facebook will be even hotter in 2011. It’ll evolve from being the “social utility” to a brand with which we begin and end our days. Arguably, that is already happening for many consumers. Facebook will be the internet for even more users in 2011.

Another brand that will matter in 2011 is News Corp’s The Daily. It hasn’t launched as of yet, but when it does, it is going to be extremely influential as the world’s first iPad newspaper. Will it succeed? Time will tell, but we’re certain to all learn lots from it, and it will be a hot brand.

In the physical world, I’ll place my bets on Best Buy. It’s taking the concept of “social brands” further than anyone else, and it is going pay more dividends for it. Every brand is going to need to follow in its footsteps.

Other brands that I think will continue to be hot are Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and SoBe. I happen to have some insider information on what those brands are planning, and I just know it is going to be mind-blowing!

Which brands will make the best use of new media in 2011 (and how)?

Josh Rose: Brands that learn how to become companions will see a lot of success. Our Kevin Butler, from our Playstation campaign, is a companion to gamers. People want to see what he’s going to do next. That’s the kind of accomplishment in marketing that will launch brands into new territories. Skittles is that kind of brand. You want to know what it’ll do next. Old Spice, too. These are clever, new voices that you invite in.

Ruxin: The brands that will make the best use of new media are the ones that are staffed to understand and exploit opportunities. In very few cases is this skill set native to these organizations, so brands like Pepsi have actually hired digital and social marketers to help navigate the future and seize opportunities in the present.

Singh: I think here at PepsiCo we’ve done a pretty good job ourselves with The Pepsi Refresh Project, which was recognized by Forbes Magazine as a top five social media initiative of all time. The program is getting even stronger in 2011. We’ll be leveraging all facets of digital even more strategically and will be engaging with our consumers more deeply through it.

More broadly speaking, I think brands that recognize and adapt to the fact that they have become media themselves will do well in 2011. Whether it is Procter & Gamble, Kraft, or even Apple, they’re all moving in this direction without explicitly saying so. Media companies will need to adapt to this new world order and continuously demonstrate that they bring significantly larger and more valuable audiences to the brands than what the brands can do themselves.

Denise Zimmerman: Brands that have already demonstrated the value of new media will advance their efforts and make smarter investments in new platforms, strategies, and channels for increasingly more impactful and measured return. In particular, those that have embraced and engaged in social media will triumph. Social media has swiftly become ubiquitous to the extent that almost all digital marketing programs or efforts benefit from some infusion or integration with social media.

Brands and agencies that make the best use of new media will be able to develop overarching strategies and ideas that are cross-platform and maximized to meet specific, measured objectives.

Click here to read the rest of the article on Imedia Connection

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.

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.

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.