Effective Radio Advertising Starts with Singular Focus
We’ve all heard the radio ads before. The audio reads like a lifeless brochure. How much sales material can be crammed into thirty or sixty seconds?
Radio advertising is different than print advertising, yet many advertisers, ad agencies it the same.
Keep in mind that radio listeners are preoccupied with other tasks – driving, working, etc.
Why make your message more difficult to absorb than it needs to be. Want your radio commercial to be more effective? Stick to a singular focus.
First, you need to know what the focus of your radio campaign is. Many ad campaigns are built upon price offers and special deals. If that’s what makes you unique, and your campaign is singularly focused around offers, that’s great!
Most of the radio advertising on the air is not focused on offers, but on products, services and their respective businesses. Branding is a term that many advertisers hear all the time, but seem to only reserve for the big boys. As a small or midsized business taking advantage of radio advertising, branding is just as important. To define branding in its most elemental form, it is essentially what people PRIMARILY think of when they think of you. Many times, the business owner is not able to answer that question. To find out what your brand is, you should talk to your customers.
If you are a service based business, what is it that people really value about your service? If you sell goods, what is the core reason people buy those goods...and why from you? The idea is to find out what really makes people feel comfortable buying from you. Find out what customers think about you overall. You should see a pattern develop here. This is basically your brand.
Once you nail down what it is that makes customers want to come to your business, its time to exploit it in your radio advertising.
Next, your radio ad should not do anything else but communicate your brand. The commercial should be centered on that one key element that makes you special. If quick turnaround is your specialty, don’t fill your radio ad with extra garbage. No mentions of low price, no radio cliché phrases about superior service, etc. Just focus on the quick turnaround. Pound that singularly focused message over and over with frequency and you will start to be branded as the “quick turnaround” company. When people need your service, and quick turnaround is important, you will be top of mind. Reinforce the brand in your radio commercial and make it easy for potential customers to reach you. Of course this is just one example. You and your customers will determine what is important.
Lastly, find creative ways to communicate that singular focus. In today’s media saturated, over-marketed society, attention is the first step toward awareness.
Humor works well (if it’s funny), testimonials (if they’re real and not poorly acted sales copy) and thought provoking stories also work well. You must do something that captures the attention of the radio listener. If your radio commercial is ever going to make that singularly focused impression, it must connect.
Radio advertising can be powerful. You must understand how to properly use it. Know what is important to your customers. Keep the message focused, and make it attention getting. These tips will increase your chances of a more effective radio advertising campaign. Call one of our marketing professionals will even further increase your chances of successful marketing.
Yellow pages
• Have been around almost as long as the telephone itself. In fact, they've been a part of America's culture for over 100 years. Only newspaper can claim more longevity. And, as with newspaper, longevity begets credibility. In fact, most businesses cannot imagine not having an ad in the yellow pages. Despite significant changes the advertising landscape, the yellow pages still finished first in a survey of people who were asked to name the place they would go to first if trying to find a business in their area. No wonder advertisers feel they have to be in the yellow pages.
• But what does "being in the yellow pages" really mean in the context of modern advertising? Does it mean being in every "yellow pages" directory that's published, or just the one that is best known? Does it mean being in the online version as well as the print version? Like all other media, the yellow page industry is faced with trying to maintain and grow their relevance while contending with new competitors and evolving consumer shopping behaviors.
• Radio salespeople who tell a customer or prospect that they shouldn't be in the yellow pages run the risk of undermining their own credibility. A better strategy might be to point out the benefits of scaling back on the bells and whistles, such as color and bigger-than-necessary ads, and then reallocating the savings into a complimentary Radio schedule. The addition of Radio can be used to brand the company, which will make their yellow pages ad more effective. A portion of their Radio copy can be written to actually draw attention to their yellow pages ad.
• Point out how effective Radio is in capturing the attention of consumers, creating interest in a product or service, and driving the desire to purchase. Then let the yellow pages take credit for helping consumers find the business so they can take the action of buying the product or service being advertised. Otherwise, the advertiser runs the risk of losing customers to one of the many companies whose ads surround theirs in their business category. Advantages
• Widespread: Ninety-nine percent of U.S. adults are familiar with the Yellow Pages. (Yellow Pages Association, 2005)
• Emergency Reference: Consumers often rely on the Yellow Pages during emergency situations.
• Targets Consumers: Ads primarily target consumers already interested in purchasing a product or service.
• Traditional Acceptance: Having a listing in the Yellow Pages has historically been a "must" for retailers.
Disadvantages
• Limited Exposure: Just over half of U.S. adults (53%) refer to the Yellow Pages during an average week. The other 47% will not see your ad. (Yellow Pages Association, 2005)
• Minimal Consumer Awareness: Since the Yellow Pages typically are consulted after the decision to buy has been made, top-of-mind awareness must be built in other ways. As products continue to proliferate and the retail business becomes saturated, you must create demand for your products before the buying decision has been made.
• Ad Clutter: Your ad is lumped in with all the others for the same product, where shoppers can compare.
• Inconvenient: Phone books tend to be bulky, hard to store, and not readily available to consumers outside of the home or office. Their availability is limited to the locations where most purchases are made. How many pay phones have you seen that have a complete book? (Indeed, with the ever-increasing use of mobile phones, how many people even us phone booths anymore?)
• Inflexible: Most directories are published once a year, and advertising must be purchased well in advance of the publication date. You can’t make corrections or changes resulting from dynamic business conditions or opportunities.
• Too Many Books: In many communities, there are several different directories all competing for listings. Who reads them all?
• Encroaching Competition from the Internet : Yellow Pages-like services on the Web are appearing more often. They can offer a more logical organization of data, and the capability to update information more often.
Plus Radio
• Limited Exposure: The combination of Radio and Yellow Pages can work more effectively to reach, motivate and inform your customers. Radio can create demand and influence shoppers before they decide to buy, and the Yellow Pages can reinforce where they should buy once they have made the decision.
• Top-of-Mind Awareness: While your competition is content with advertising only in the Yellow Pages, you can increase your top-of-mind awareness through Radio – and greatly increase your market share. Radio can help you communicate the unique selling proposition of your business and help draw attention to your Yellow Pages ad instead of those of your competitors.
• Flexible: Radio’s great flexibility lets you make copy revisions at your discretion to accommodate changes in your business. You’re not stuck with the same ad for more than a year, you increase your creative options, and you can generate maximum impact when you combine Yellow Pages with Radio.
Broadcast TV
• The past couple of decades have been tumultuous for broadcast television. Up until the mid-'80s, the big three networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC) ruled the television airwaves and, along with newspaper, they dominated advertising revenues, as well. Then the cable industry began its expansion into neighborhoods and homes all across America. Since then, things haven't been the same. The technology that made it possible to deliver dozens of channels into America's television sets also created a programming vacuum. We all know how nature feels about a vacuum, and it wasn't long before fledgling networks began springing up to fill the void. As programmers experimented and gained experience, new and better programming was developed, and new networks became more competitive. Still, local affiliates of the big three networks thought their dominance, while chipped, was safe. They hadn't seen anything yet.
• Twenty years later and the big three are still major players, but they are no longer the only ones. If viewers want news, they also have Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC to select from. If they want sports, they have multiple ESPN networks to watch. If they want movies, they have premium and vintage movie channels. And if they want first-run prime-time serial dramas and comedies, they can find them on dozens of channels in addition to the big three. High-tech services such as video-on-demand, internet TV, and cellular phone video programming all threaten to further fragment America's viewing habits in the future. To further complicate matters, broadcast TV also is dealing with pricing and value questions created by digital video recorders (DVRs) because of the ability they provide to avoid commercials.
• Broadcast TV still remains expensive to buy, and television commercials remain expensive to produce. Agencies still like to buy broadcast TV for their clients due to the commissions they earn, but establishing effective reach and frequency is something only national advertisers and large local companies can afford to do.
• Buying targeted TV programs and augmenting that with Radio buys on complementary formats is a great way for advertisers to get the ego gratification from being on TV while still getting cost-efficient and effective reach and frequency.
• Explain the realities of TV to your clients, and help their business be a survivor. Advantages
• Mass Appeal: In addition to the 98.2% penetration rate among U.S. households enjoyed by television in general, 79.0% of these homes are multi-set households. (Nielsen Media Research, 2006)
• Reach Vehicle: TV reaches 90% of the population on a daily basis. (Television Bureau of Advertising, 2006)
• Big Events: Programs such as the Super Bowl or popular series finales can reach a large mass of audience.
• Visual appeal: TV has the ability to capture attention through sight, sound and motion.
• Water-cooler appeal: Broadcast has the ability to generate next-day conversation about nightly programming, especially popular programs.
Disadvantages
• Fragmentation: Marketers distinguish between Broadcast TV and Cable TV because of the differences in the way they are bought. Broadcast TV is generally sold locally by one staff for one station. Cable TV is typically sold locally by one staff for all the advertising-supported cable channels. On the other hand, viewers do not differentiate between Broadcast TV and Cable TV channels. Time spent viewing Broadcast TV is being divided among Cable TV channels.
• Diminished: Consumers' broadcast television time is being further diminished by Video On Demand (VOD), video games, Internet video downloads, and Internet browsing.
• Disinterested Viewers: According to Western International Media’s Advertising Receptivity Study, only 11% of TV viewers said they are “mostly or fully attentive” during commercial breaks in programming. (TV Dimensions, 2006)
• Commercial Avoidance: TV household penetration of DVRs (digital video recorders) reached approximately 11% in mid-2006, equaling some 12 million homes. According to research firm In-Stat, some 87% of consumers who own DVRs fast forward through commercials. (BusinessWeek, 2007)
• Commercial Clutter: Clutter, particularly on ABC, CBS and NBC during primetime hours, has risen noticeably over the last two decades. In the early-1980s, 19% of TV content was devoted to commercials. By the mid-2000s, it had risen to 24%. (TV Dimensions, 2007)
• Escalating Costs: It is estimated that one :30 in the 2006 Super Bowl cost advertisers $2.6 million. Apart from one-time programs or large special events like the Super Bowl, one average :30 can cost double or triple the amount of one :30 in Radio.
• Production Costs: The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) said that in 2005 production costs for a network TV commercial averaged nearly $400,000. Producing quality commercials significantly impacts ad budgets.
• At-home Medium: TV is primarily an at-home medium.
• Lack of Recency: TV is mainly viewed in the evenings when viewers are less likely to be making purchases.
• Seasonal: TV usage is greatly affected by vacation and weather cycles and the effects these have on viewer interest and availability. Usage is lowest in the summer months. (TV Dimensions, 2007)
Plus Radio
• Excellent Reach: Radio reaches 93% of all persons 12 years and older, with fewer Radio stations than the number of Broadcast TV and Cable TV channels available in most cities.
• Personal Relevance: The Radio Advertising Effectiveness Laboratory (RAEL) study on Personal Connection, Personal Relevance in 2004 shows consumers connect with Radio stations, saying their Radio station plays commercials personally relevant to them. The study shows consumers do not feel a connection with a television channel nor the commercials played on the channel.
• Efficient Schedules: Radio is usually less expensive than television when judged by any standard. Advertisers moving some expenditures from TV to Radio can take advantage of Imagery Transfer to increase reach and frequency. Three out of four consumers who have seen a TV commercial will recall the visual images when they hear a Radio commercial of the same or similar audio.
• Quality Production: Quality Radio commercials can be produced for a fraction of the cost of a quality television commercial. Most Radio stations offer free creative and production for advertisers.
• Mobile Medium: Radio is listened to at home, work and in-car and reaches people closest to the time of purchase intent.
• Recency: Consumers are most influenced by advertising most recently exposed to before making a purchase. Radio is most often the medium used before making daily purchases.
• Consistent: Radio listening is consistent year round.
• Increase Brand Recall: The 2005 Radio Advertising Effectiveness Laboratory (RAEL) study on Synergy shows replacing one of two television commercials with two Radio commercials increases brand recall by 34%.
Cable/Satellite TV
• Over the past 10 years, cable TV has increased significantly in prominence as an advertising medium, both in perception and in revenue generation. But does perception equal reality? There are several key points that must be addressed in any conversation with a client or prospect that is currently using or considering cable advertising.
• It's easy to see why advertisers find cable so compelling. With almost 70 percent household penetration, your clients and prospects probably have cable in their own homes, which makes it a comfort zone for them. Further, cable programming has become much more mainstream in the past few years. With shows like "Sex in the City" and "The Sopranos" rising in profile, the perception that cable TV is the same as broadcast TV is also on the rise. Finally, over the past 10 years the cable industry has seen a statistical increase in ad revenues that is the envy of all the other mainstream media.
• The cable industry has demonstrated a rather steep learning curve over the past decade. It has become more effective at telling its story to the advertising community, and the results speak for themselves. In a nutshell, cable positions itself as offering the geographic targeting of newspaper and direct mail, the pricing and demographic targeting of Radio, and the visual impact of television. Many advertisers have responded to that positioning by making cable a part of their advertising strategy, and they don't respond well to Radio salespeople telling them that they are spending their money in a foolish or unwise manner. Cable's single greatest strength is the wishful thinking of its advertising customers. They want to believe that they can buy the impact of broadcast television at rates that are below those of Radio. Unfortunately (for them) they are wrong.
• Still, it's always dangerous to tell someone they are wrong ... even if it's true. At the same time, we must be able to address these perceptions when we discuss cable with these wishful-thinking advertisers. They need to know that cable's increases in viewers come nowhere close to matching their increases in revenues. They need to know that cable's top-rated programs offer ratings that are no greater than those of top-rated Radio programs in their markets, and in many cases the ratings are lower. They need to know that they can buy astoundingly powerful Radio production for less than they will pay for mediocre-to-awful video production. They need to know that most of cable's prime inventory is snatched up by national advertisers and that the inexpensive rates their local cable system is offering them are for broad rotators that will deliver neither reach nor frequency. Finally, they need to understand that the DVRs being offered by the local cable system to their subscribers are significantly undermining the value of the commercial inventory they are selling to their advertising customers -- a phenomenon that is going to get much worse in the months and years to come.
• The way you can address these concerns with your customers and prospects without offending them is to point how they can avoid the pitfalls by combining Radio, along with its complimentary strengths, with cable to enjoy the best of both worlds. Advantages
• Reach: Cable TV now reaches some 85% of U.S. television households. (Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, 2007)
• Targeted: Cable networks are targeted to specific demographics and clusters of people.
• Affluent Audience: The average cable household income is 21% higher than the average non-cable home. (Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, 2007)
• Cost: Low CPMs.
• Programming Diversity: Cable channels are willing to take chances on the types of trendy programs that broadcast networks typically will not consider.
• Appointment TV: One-third of Cable watchers set aside time to watch specific cable programs, showing that cable is becoming appointment TV. (CAB & Knowledge Networks, 2005)
Disadvantages
• Limited Reach : National cable channels can reach 85% of the households, which means national cable advertisers will never reach 15% of the households. Local cable systems reach 67% of households, which mean 33% of households will never see an advertiser’s cable commercial.
• Small Audiences: You can’t have large audiences for any given channel or program when there are dozens, even hundreds of channels from which to choose. Individual cable channels rarely pull in the big ratings.
• Production Costs: The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) said that in 2005 production costs for a network TV commercial averaged nearly $400,000. Producing quality commercials significantly impact ad budgets.
• Commercial Quality: A certain percentage of cable commercials done on a local scale tend to be poorly produced, creating a poor image for cable TV advertising.
• Ad Clutter: Commercial clutter is very high on some cable channels.
Plus Radio
• Excellent Reach: Radio reaches 94% of all Americans 12 years and older every week. According to Arbitron/Edison in 2006, Cable TV reaches only 61% of Americans in an average week. And branding requires reach. Can you think of a single advertiser who has used cable to create a brand?
• Larger Audiences: Radio has fewer channels in most markets than the number of Cable TV channels available to subscribers. Fragmentation of audience across dozens, or even hundreds of channels, means an average Radio station can reach more people than an average cable channel.
• Quality Production: Quality Radio production costs a fraction of what quality TV production costs. Advertisers buying inexpensive Cable TV commercials are unlikely to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in TV commercial production. Inexpensive commercials create a poor image for the advertiser. This is especially true when the spots airs near a quality network commercial.
• Reduced Clutter: Advertisers have expressed concern over the number of commercials per hour on Radio, yet Cable TV airs on average twice as many commercials per hour. Commercials are more powerful when limited as they are on the Radio.
• Power of Persuasion: Adding Radio to a TV campaign can increase a consumer’s brand preference in relation to purchase intent.(RAEL Synergy study, 2006)
• Communication: Effectively communicates a message that can be received, remembered and played back by consumers. (RAEL Synergy study, 2006)
New Media
Remember the story of Pandora's box? Those of us in "traditional" media are now convinced that her box contained iPods, cell phones, digital video recorders, satellite Radio receivers, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices. Like it or not, the offspring of technology have been unleashed and there's no turning back. Americans have an unquenchable thirst for tech toys and gadgets. But, each time a new device is introduced, America's media consumption is fragmented even further. More to the point, each new device is accompanied by people who are looking for ways to convert it into an advertising revenue generator.
The first step is to crank up the public relations machine. Of course, the print media is always more than accommodating. Why? Because they stand to gain whenever the perceived value of advertising in "traditional" electronic media goes down. So, the business community is influenced by the print media's skewed coverage of new electronic media technologies.
Fortunately, the dust eventually settles, and the damage to us is always considerably less than predicted. This isn't a new phenomenon, by the way. First record players were going to be the death of Radio, followed by eight-track tape players, cassette tape players, and CD players. We are also responding with our own technological evolution: HD Radio. The point is, don't resent or fear all the new media choices. Take the time to learn as much as you can about each one so you can help your clients develop an accurate perception of them and a better understanding of what they can do ... and what they cannot. Then remind them of Radio's past successes, and how Radio is still the most cost-efficient and effective medium when it comes to branding local businesses using the time-tested combination of reach, frequency, and great creative. When it comes to media, new does not necessarily mean better. Advantages
Appealing: New technology appeals to younger demographics because it is new, fast and sexy.
Portable: Most of the new technology is portable and at the beck and call of the consumer who can access what they want, when they want it.
Disadvantages
No Accountability: Currently the new technology has no accountability in terms of measurement.
Availability and Usage: The availability and usage of most of these new media is still too small in terms of U.S. penetration.
Don't accept Advertising: Many of these vehicles do not accept advertising, and for those that do, the industry is unable to capture their advertising revenue.
Reduces Overall Attention: Most of these vehicles allow for multi-tasking, and multi-tasking reduces overall attention levels.
Requires Investment: Acquiring the hardware requires an investment that is substantially higher than the purchase of Radio.
Plus Radio
Strong: Radio is still strong despite the competition. A study conducted by Paragon Media found that a majority of Internet Radio station listeners are listening to broadcast Radio about the same amount. Three-quarters of MP3 player owners are listening to broadcast Radio about the same amount, and 40% of satellite Radio subscribers are listening at about the same level. The Radio industry is also competing with new media through its innovative new Radio technology -- the HD Radio.
Outdoor
Billboards have come a long way since the Burma Shave days. From the first advertising mural painted on the side of a building to today's animated "diamond vision" boards, outdoor advertising is an established part of the great American landscape. If it stands or rolls, chances are it has an advertisement on it. Bus sides, transit shelters, sidewalk benches, even privately owned automobiles, all reflect the value the business community sees in making their name visible to the public.
Many of today's billboards are impressive. Vinyl technology provides advertisers with the ability to display images that are photographic in quality. Diamond Vision technology is turning some billboards into giant flat screen televisions. Inflatable and structural attachments make an advertiser's message 3-D. These technologically evolved billboards do more than create visual impressions; they create word-of-mouth message proliferation. As a result of these advancements, the outdoor industry has been able to grow their revenues at an impressive rate.
Still, there are distinct limitations to what outdoor messages can achieve. While outdoor is effective at brand maintenance (assuming an adequate number of boards are bought), it is ineffective at initial branding. Due to the minute amount of time consumers can spend reading them, billboard messages must be brief. Some experts recommend no more than eight words. As a result, comprehensive messages cannot be conveyed with a billboard. Advertisers regularly must alter the messages they communicate to consumers. Marketing situations such as new locations, new departments, new products or services, and special events all require a new message. However, changing messages on existing billboards is cost-prohibitive and require significant amounts of time to accomplish.
For all these reasons, Radio is the perfect partner for outdoor advertising. Not only can Radio do the things that outdoor cannot, we do them all cost-efficiently. And considering the primary purpose of billboards is to reach consumers in their cars, can you think of a more compatible medium than Radio?
And by the way ... the Burma Shave outdoor campaign was brilliant. Advantages
Attention Grabbing: The combination of size, color and illumination attracts attention.
Strategic Placement: Billboards can be placed in high-traffic areas or other strategic locations, while transit signs can be affixed to the backs and sides of buses, in bus stops, and in rail stations.
Low Cost: Outdoor's cost-per-thousand is significantly lower than that of any other advertising medium – in some cases by a factor of 10 or even 20.
Building Word of Mouth: Billboards can generate curiosity in "teaser" campaigns.
Full-Time Audience: Outdoor's message can appear year-round. For additional fees, outdoor advertisers can purchase evening lighting – or in some cases, even 24-hour illumination.
Directional: Billboards can be used as directionals, guiding consumers to the location of a given business.
Disadvantages
Brevity: The very nature of outdoor advertising demands that the commercial message be brief and relatively simple. Therefore, it is difficult to communicate product details, competitive advantages, and specific consumer benefits. Billboard companies generally recommend no more than seven words on a billboard, or people speeding by will not have time to read the message.
Limited Availability: Prime outdoor locations (in high-traffic areas) often are controlled by large, long-term advertisers. Construction of new billboards is restricted by costs, space availability, and sometimes-rigid municipal codes and environmental regulations.
Lack of Effective Measuring Tools: Unlike other advertising media, outdoor advertising has no truly reliable method to measure its effectiveness. A few studies have been done, but they mostly apply to limited geographical areas and employ widely varying methodologies.
Low Recall: Commuters behind the wheel and other potential customers are exposed very briefly to outdoor messages, minimizing message retention. Such adverse conditions as heavy traffic or bad weather also can limit message impact and recall.
Ugly Image: Because of growing environmental concerns, many communities have eliminated, reduced, or limited the volume and placement of outdoor advertising.
Inflexible: Once a message is up, it generally stays up through the duration of the contract, even if the advertiser's needs have changed. In addition, printing a new message is expensive, possibly taking weeks to produce and days or weeks to have it displayed.
Plus Radio
Power of Sound: To be effective, billboard messages must be brief. That’s where Radio can help. Use Radio to enhance and expand on the message displayed in your billboard showing.
Recall: Radio blankets the market. Your outdoor message can be seen only where it is displayed, but Radio allows your message to travel with your customers wherever they go – at home or at the office as well as in the car. By combining Radio with outdoor, you can build your message’s range and frequency – and reach more of your customers more often building recall.
Personal Connection: The Radio Advertising Effectiveness Laboratory (RAEL) shows that Radio listeners enjoy listening to their station and believe the advertiser's message is directed toward them.(RAEL Advertising Effectiveness Laboratory, 2006)
Flexible: Radio gives you the option to easily make copy changes. Use Outdoor for image, and Radio for timely information. A billboard can grab your customers' attention; Radio can give them the details. By combining these two complementary marketing forces, Radio can deliver all the information on your products and services your customers need in order to make intelligent purchasing decisions.
Bad weather and adverse traffic conditions: Both are known to decrease outdoor ad exposure, but Radio listening actually increases under these circumstances. American consumers depend on their car Radios for weather and traffic reports, so billboards and Radio make an effective drive-time combination.
Newspaper
For the past 30 years, if there has been a soundtrack for Radio's battles against newspaper, it would have to be "The Impossible Dream" from The Man of La Mancha.
To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
In more contemporary terms, we would have to say that newspaper has been Radio's daddy for decades. Advertisers have been so convinced that they had to be in the newspaper that they have continued to give the medium the lion's share of their ad budgets in spite of arrogant pricing and lackluster service. Meanwhile, Radio salespeople have had to prove themselves and our medium constantly in return for table scraps.
While it's true that commercial Radio has been around for almost a century, newspaper is almost two-and-a-half times older. With longevity comes credibility, and newspaper is considered to be part of America's very foundation. Another thing advertisers find compelling about newspaper is that their competitors also use it. Many believe they have to be in the newspaper for that reason alone. On a more practical basis, newspaper is definitely effective at providing advertisers with a visual representation of their goods and services. Newspaper also allows advertisers to list a lot of details and technical information. Finally, newspaper is where consumers habitually go for prices and sales when they have made the decision to buy. Those are some pretty good justifications, and you run the risk of looking self-serving and less than credible if you tell a client or prospect that advertising in the newspaper is foolish.
But there are some very real concerns with newspaper advertising, and the medium is more vulnerable to these concerns than ever before. Demographically, if an advertiser is targeting consumers younger than 55, newspaper will be very ineffective. Circulation penetration has never been lower, and it's still trending down. News junkies have many more sources for the information they crave, and all of them offer more up-to-date stories. Why pay for a newspaper subscription when more timely information is available online for free?
When you compare their decrease in circulation to the astronomical rate increases most newspapers are imposing on their advertisers, it's not hard at all to raise the question of value, and let the clients answer it for themselves.
While newspaper is great at communicating price to consumers who have made the decision to buy, it does a very poor job of communicating the emotional value of a product or service, and we all know people decide to buy based on emotion. People who do read the newspaper usually don't read every section, and most people who see an ad in the newspaper don't recall the ad after they've seen it.
Finally, the most important concern is the inability of most local advertisers to afford an effective level of frequency. Frequency is critical to the branding process, and it is cost-prohibitive for most of the advertisers you are calling on.
The most effective strategy is to explain the benefits of simply reducing the size of the client's ad and reallocating the savings into Radio. It's been said that opposites attract, and the polar differences between Radio and newspaper make them a very attractive advertising combination for clients who want to see a substantial increase in their return-on-investment without an increase in the investment itself.
It's time for all in Radio sales to wake up to the fact that converting newspaper dollars into Radio schedules is no longer "the impossible dream." Advantages
History: One of the oldest, most highly regarded media in the U.S. Among its loyal readers and advertisers, it enjoys a high degree of familiarity, acceptance, credibility and respect.
Visuals: The newspaper's combination of text and graphics, when used effectively, can create visual appeal that reinforces the messages of its advertising.
In-Depth: Newspaper ads have the ability to communicate lengthy, complex or detailed information and descriptions.
Mass Audience: Newspapers reach a relatively large mass audience throughout the market with a single exposure. A single ad in the newspaper typically can create more impressions than a single commercial on television, a single Radio commercial, a single outdoor billboard, or single insertion in any other medium.
Ad Variety: The medium offers a variety of ad sizes that allow advertisers to meet their budgetary constraints, from a one-column-inch ad to two full-page ads side by side called a double-truck.
Ease of Tracking: It's relatively easy to track response, primarily through couponing.
Lead Time: Advertisers can place orders and copy with a relatively short lead time.
Exposure: The reader controls the amount of exposure to a given ad. They can spend as much or as little time with an ad as they like.
Geographic Targeting: Zoned editions of newspapers in large metro areas allow for less than full-run advertising.
Disadvantages
Decreasing Penetration: Gone are the days when almost every American household subscribed to at least one newspaper. Today, newspaper’s household penetration is right around 50%. (RAB Newspaper Performance Reports, based on ABC data, are available for most U.S. markets.) (Editor & Publisher, 2005)
Ad Clutter, No Separation: Ads account for more than 60% of the space in the typical newspaper. Your ad placed next to your competitors’ can only be an advantage if your price is absolutely the lowest.
Passive: The paper provides information once consumers decide to buy, but it does not build brand awareness or create product demand. Newspaper advertising thus works mainly for comparing prices.
Browsers, Not Readers: Most people don’t read all sections of the paper every day. Ads in a given section reach only those who read that section.
Can’t Target: It's difficult to accommodate selective approaches that improve your cost efficiency and enhance frequency against clearly defined, high-potential customer segments.
Couponing is Declining: Despite increased coupon face value, redemption has been declining for years.
New Competition from Outside: : One of newspaper's ad categories (classifieds) is under attack both from Internet sites and savvy Radio stations.
Plus Radio
Radio Excels: Where newspaper is deficient, Radio excels. Combining the two in a media mix capitalizes on the advantages of both media.
Excellent Reach: Radio reaches 74% of every American aged 12 and older every day. Radio reaches 93% every week. Using Radio together with newspaper increases the reach of your advertisement among light readers and younger consumers.
Time: Radio reaches 63% of shoppers age 25-54 within one hour of purchase time – providing the greatest "purchase proximity" of all major media. Combining Radio with newspaper allows you to influence more customers and closer to the point of purchase when they are most receptive to critical marketing information.(Arbitron, 2005)
Linear Medium: Commercials featured one at a time: Radio is a linear medium, unlike newspaper where the reader can skip past ads. The listener hears commercials between other programming elements.
Intrusive: The success of your marketing strategy depends greatly on how you reach and motivate your customers before their decision to purchase has been made. The intimate power of Radio can stimulate new demand by creating emotional reasons to buy your product and then directing customers to the newspaper for detailed information. It can help maintain loyal customers by keeping your name or brand image top-of-mind.
Listeners hear commercials: Newspapers like to be judged on how many subscribers or readers they have, not on how many people read an ad. Radio judges itself on how many people are available hear a commercial (Average Quarter Hour). Newspaper readership is more comparable to Radio’s cume audience.
Reach: Studies show that ad size has little impact on ad recall, so you can decrease the size of your newspaper ad and redirect those dollars into Radio. By doing so, you’ll boost your reach and build message frequency without increasing your cost.
Targetable: Radio programs many different formats, each attracting a particular demographic or lifestyle listener. Advertisers targeting a specific audience often find Radio more efficient than newspaper.
Message Frequency: Radio adds impact through message frequency. That means bigger and faster results because repetition sells.
Radio Advertising Effectiveness Laboratory: Additionally, information in the 2004 RAEL study on Synergy shows when used in conjunction with newspaper, the use of Radio added 100% of total brand recall when compared to newspaper alone.
