Friday Poll: How Do You Track the Results of a Radio Ad Campaign

    • 1373 posts
    October 17, 2013 10:56 PM PDT

    Happy Friday, everyone!

    In last week's poll question, we asked you to share your favorite and least favorite parts of radio sales. In his reply, Joseph Palmer mentioned that while there are many things he enjoys about his work, his frustration is "not being able to track [radio] results with precision," and a couple of other RSC members chimed in to share their thoughts on the topic. 

    I thought it was a subject that would lend itself to further discussion, so here is this week's poll question:

    How do you track the results of a radio advertising campaign?  How do you measure its effectiveness?

    Looking forward to reading your replies!

    • 8 posts
    October 18, 2013 5:08 AM PDT

    If the client buys again, it worked. In all seriousness in this age of big data and on line metrics all traditional media face the same question.  However, if the client does more business during your campaign than they did last year same time...that plus the reorder will continue to be your best "tracking"

    • 49 posts
    October 18, 2013 5:08 AM PDT
    are statins exist in the Louisville market but yet outside the metro area so Arbitron doesn't work for us therefore we fail to mini agent she buys just on that factor alone however we do a lot of business with local and regional business is outside of the metro area and along the French who rely on using our stations which give them the coverage of the Louisville Market metro stations for a lot less money. gauging success usually equates to building traffic for that business. if they have generated traffic and comments about their ad then they generally are happy and satisfied and continue to advertise with us. however some businesses like to try to track the success of a radio campaign by having customers come in and mention they heard it on the radio for a discount or even print a coupon from their website or from our website but sometimes that is not a very accurate way to gate 6 s of a radio campaign because very few people actually can remember to do that because we are living in such a busy sis I did they get to the store and say I forgot the coupon or I didn't I didn't print it off for yes I saw it or I heard it but I didn't make that connection
    • 83 posts
    October 18, 2013 5:36 AM PDT

    I've dealt with that question since my entry to broadcast sales in 1971.  Now it's even more difficult due to the trackability of on line programs.  However I generally ask my customers to take a step of faith.  Radio stations have listeners.  If you have a good commercial that tells your customer's story (free of cliches) and repeat it often enough to penetrate the minds of your listeners, then we must believe that some "top of mind awareness" of your customer's business will occur, so that when your listener has a need for the product or service, he/she will respond to the commercial.  Some of my favorite sayings are, "repetition builds reputation,"  and "a compelling commercial repeated often is the only way advertising can really work."  Tracking takes place when the cash register rings up a sale.  Some people believe (step of faith) some never will.  However radio ads have been working for over 90 years...that should say something.

    • 56 posts
    October 18, 2013 6:49 AM PDT

    Great question. I think this is where many sales reps fail and therefore allow radio to fail. We allow the customer to decide how they will "measure" instead of us explaining to them how to measure.

    Many will want to ask, "how did you hear about us?". Don't allow them to ask that question. Most consumers don't remember and the answer does not benefit the business. Have them ask this question, "Thank you for being our customer today, I know you had choices, why did you select us today?". The business may hear how the customer heard about them somewhere but more likely they will hear things like, "I hear you are the best at...", or "I was told you do this better than anyone else" or many other replies. It's those replies, the reasons people are doing business with them that need to be turned into commercial messages.

    So if a client is determined to "measure", you must control the conversation and set the guidelines. Explain and get their agreement that radio does one job and that is to communicate a message. What the message communicates determines the action of the customer. Your client will use their message to share a specific benefit and then make that call to action such as call on the phone, come to the store or visit the website. This is how you track results.

    Ask your client today, do you know how many people visit your website, come to your store of call on the phone each week? If they do, they should be able to track an increase in those numbers over time. Here is the reality, most don't know those numbers. So when they say, "I don't think it's working" you get to ask, "based on what, have you been tracking your numbers?" 

    Here is the reality, few if any ever do. So you start over and have them start tracking. Put the responsibility on their shoulders.

    • 15 posts
    October 18, 2013 7:21 AM PDT

    So they want to measure results.

    1. Run a good special (not dogs from the back room) on a good schedule. Be very clear with them.  You have to give listeners something to respond to.  Response is all about the OFFER made.  Radio is just the delivery system – and a good one.  But if what you’re delivering is weak … that’s the reaction you’ll get. 
    2. Have the client cut a line or two in his ad.  All his friends will comment.
    3. Do something in the ad that will make people react.  Example:  I ran an auto repair spot, where a family-man asked for a fleet discount because of his wife and teenagers’ cars.  The mechanic got wise cracks from his customers for weeks.  
    • 12 posts
    October 18, 2013 7:45 AM PDT

    We have a brokered show on Saturdays.  That same show has been airing for years on a competitor's station (they also do print, direct mail and social media).  We talked at length about tracking when they signed and they assured us that they have a fool-proof method of tracking at which point, the receptionist was called into the meeting.  She showed us her spread sheets and she explained how she personally questioned each and every caller to ascertain how the caller found out about the company. 

    Fast-forward, a month goes by and we were told that our station was generating ZERO calls, while the other station's numbers were up.  A meeting was set up where the client expected to cancel, but our A/E had other plans. 

    We showed up at the meeting and sure enough...we were told that they want out.  The A/E then pulled out his cell phone, put it on speaker and called the phone number to the client pretending to be an interested customer!  With the client listening in, the receptionist asked a series of questions and when asked, the A/E said he had heard "the show on the radio".  He was never asked to recall 'which station'...all he said was "the radio".  A few minutes later, the receptionist was called into the meeting and confirmed that she had just credited our competitor with the call that had just come in!  

    It turns out that the receptionist was never told that they had signed with us, therefore she had no reason to alter her "fool-proof tracking" methods.  Four years later they are still on the air with us, and their tracking indicates consistent ROI from our station.

    Like Jeff said...we should put the burden on the client...and at the same time, we need to do our due diligence.

    **By the way...our A/E had already planted a call a few days earlier, so he knew what he was doing.  A gutsy call none-the-less.  He has since moved on to a career in commercial real estate.  We miss him!

        

    • 37 posts
    October 18, 2013 8:22 AM PDT

    Joseph, you are to be commended for wanting to be held accountable to your advertisers.  It will give you a competitive advantage in selling our great medium.


    From the 1980s through to right now, I've fed my family of 6 utilizing what I'm about to share, and so I am quite specific and adamant about the matters at hand.  This reads like an ad, but the blessed things work again and again, and if they can help RSC colleagues prosper, so be it.

     

    It's time that radio stepped up and started taking responsibility for delivering specific results instead of just taking the dollars.  "I heard about it on the radio" isn't sufficient anymore, now that advertisers are demanding and getting greater and more specific accountability for their ad dollars.   

     

    Here's two ways that radio advertisers measure results to the penny; both of which produce proven 7, 8 and 9 figure results...  

     

    ONE:  Devoid of platitudes or generalities, first know how to lead the client's prospects to the upfront and instant conclusion that your client would be their retailer/service provider of choice.  

     

    Extend to your client's prospects, a series of specific, low risk/no risk, low cost/no cost offers of "hard to Google" decision facilitating information of value, or for a decision-facilitating experience.

    This will get your clients engaged with those "Now" buyers (2-4% of prospects) and "Future" buyers (the rest) that respond to the offers.  Do a drip marketing campaign to keep the prospects engaged, and track the purchases of said offer's respondents.  

     

    I've used these principles to produce 7 figures time and again for clients as small as owner-managed businesses with one employee.  They’re part of a specific process to develop the customized marketing systems, strategies, tactics and tools that any business can execute the very next day to increase sales and profits.

    The parameters you'll need to address will be sent to you if you go to www.AndyMcNabb.com/General_Enquiry_Form.html, and click on the MYM Marketing option in the “I am responding” section, and the pdf will be sent to you.  It's a 15 minute read, so once you digest it, I'll pass along any free advice if you want it. 

     

    TWO:  The following has generated $2 million in notarized radio advertiser sales results in Gettysburg PA to $115 million in notarized sales results in Akron OH; also working here in Canada in markets as large as Toronto to as small as Lindsay, ON.

     

    I've walked the talk on this three times.  Sell like you normally sell - no discounting, no calling 3,000 prospects, no seminars - regardless as to your ratings, you'll capture the consumer buying power of 10 to 25% of the households in your community and direct it to your advertisers, instead of their competition.  

     

    I've attached a two page media summary as described at www.AndyMcNabb.com.   It also links to the "how to" video, but you better put aside the better part of half an hour for the video.  If the summary doesn't upload here, go to that address and click on a General Enquiry Form link if you want the details.  Contact me if you need anything.

    • 39 posts
    October 21, 2013 6:00 AM PDT

    Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and advice! It has all been helpful. The thing I try to do most to track response is let the client know not to ask "How did you hear about us?" but ask something that mentions our station and frequency specifically like "Did you hear our ad on 800 AM?" People don't necessarily know our company or our call letters, but our frequency shows up on their radio dial whenever they tune us in. Of course this strategy depends on the business owner training those who answer his phones, but it's the best I had come up with so far. Have a great week!

    • 455 posts
    October 21, 2013 10:04 AM PDT

    In radio, I believe we are held to a higher standard than most other media. That riles me up so my response is normally, "how are you tracking your billboards, tv, newspaper (minus a coupon, etc.)?"

    Buyers make it much more complicated than it needs to be. A tell my clients' from the start that we are going to execute a campaign and that our results really will not be known until the end of the year when we look to see if sales are up or down. We will of course monitor as we go along.

    The worst thing a business can do is quiz someone who is trying to make a purchase. All they are doing is giving the customer a reason not to come back.