Why Businesses Should Advertise Every Day

During a recent keynote address to business owners, I posed a question that has been asked many times over the years. Which is more important in advertising, the frequency or the message? The majority of hands were raised for the message. Surprisingly, quite a few of those hands represented radio stations whose main feature is frequency.

As an example of message vs. frequency, I told the story of Ajax, the lost wonder dog, who was fetched for a cool thousand-dollar reward. Ajax was found because of both the strong message and the frequency. For advertising to be successful, it must have both.

Listed below are the three top reasons a business should be advertising day in and day out, 365 days a year.

People Move
Here are some interesting facts from a study conducted by the United States Department of Commerce: The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 11.6 percent of Americans changed residences between 2010 and 2011. Of those who moved, seven in 10 relocated within the same county, nearly two in 10 moved from a different county within the same state, and approximately one in 10 moved from a different state. So in an area of 150,000 people, expect that 18,000 of those people will have recently moved, and many of them are new to the areas.

What happens to their shopping habits? They change, of course. These new residents are looking for a business they can trust. They are also searching for the same quality and customer service they found in their previous location. A business owner can no longer say, "I've been in business at this location for 48 years, and everybody knows about me." Yes, some will remember the business. But the establishment has not advertised recently, there is an even better chance many people won't know about it. The point is, there will always be new people in the area who need to know about local businesses.

People Forget
When it comes to advertising, what people encountered a month ago, a week ago, or even yesterday is mostly forgotten. At a recent advertising seminar, I asked 300 business owners who advertise regularly what advertisements they remembered from the previous day. Just 3 percent could remember one advertisement from the day before, and only 1 percent could remember more than one.

According to Advertising Age, the average consumer encounters between 254 and 5,000 messages per day. The magazine points out, "The ability of the average consumer to even remember advertising for 24 hours is at the lowest level in the history of our business." And that was written in 2007, at the beginning of the Internet shift.

Who stands a better chance of being remembered? Is it the business that advertises once a day? Or the business that advertises with frequency, day in and day out? ROS (run of site) on a strong local website will make a difference also. The best remembered business is the business that is consistently present and has a great message.

People Don't Make Decisions Overnight
I live in Houston, Texas. Population 5 million. How many people woke up in Houston today and decided to buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle? Just decided to go to their nearest Harley-Davidson dealer and write a $20,000 check for a new Harley? Answer: Zero.

What did they do? They thought about it. It takes those potential buyers about nine months to go from first thinking about buying a Harley to actually going inside a store and seriously considering purchasing one. Where was the Harley dealership over those nine months? I am not talking about advertising a special event or July 4th promotion. I am talking about being there all the time, in front of the consumer.

A 2003 LPG survey, updated for 2011, found that there are four stages to the buying cycle. When it comes to products and services, with the exception of groceries, consumers take a long time to make a purchasing decision. Hit-and-miss advertising means your ads will hit and miss. Being present all the time means the advertiser will be in the consumer's mind when it comes time to make an important buying decision.

When I first lost Ajax, I posted 350 signs -- 8.5 inches by 11 inches, with his picture and the word REWARD (though no amount was given). I put a flyer on every signpost and telephone pole that I could find within a two-mile radius. When I failed to get results, I took a different approach. I added $1,000 for Ajax's reward, changed the sign to black letters on a yellow background, and doubled the size of the sign. It took all of 45 minutes to get Ajax back -- after five days of no results the smaller signs with the unspecified reward.

I needed both a compelling message and frequency of signage in order to get Ajax returned. The same rules hold true for your advertising. Be there with a good message, and be there all the time!

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and can be reached at luceperformancegroup@gmail.com

A MUST READ!!! This is SO true in every aspect of your life!

The "A" Player Factor

Want to be a success? Want to INCREASE an already successful career? You already know what to do. Stop hanging around getting infected by "B" and "C" players and surround yourself with "A" players only.

THE "A" PLAYER

Someone who goes well above and beyond, this person offers more service than he or she is paid to deliver. Someone who is always in a frame of mind to achieve, this person sees problems as opportunities, rarely gets discouraged, and greets everyone in an enthusiastic way.

Businesses that are wildly SUCCESSFUL have an OVERABUNDANCE of "A" players. They are usually attracted by great leaders, by other "A" players. They will feel wanted and successful under an "A" leader. "A" players do not try to bring others down in order to make themselves look good; they do not offer excuses on WHY something cannot be done. They offer CAN DO solutions and plans. They figure out a way to win -- even when winning seems downright impossible.

"A" players set GOALS and LEARN from their mistakes. Like everyone, they make plenty of mistakes ... that's being human. But the great difference is what they take away from a defeat. While "B" and "C" players are crippled by setbacks, "A" players rise to the challenge of a defeat, more excited than ever to reach the ultimate goal. They know that failure is a TEMPORARY condition that can only be corrected by action. A defeat to them is nothing more than an opportunity to re-set the compass and make another run at the goal, being wiser from their loss and immediately getting CLOSER to the win.

NO BRAKES

When I speak to groups about achievement, I always love to bring up one of my favorite sayings: "Get in a car with no brakes before hanging around folks with bad attitudes ... because the car is SAFER." That one always gets a good laugh. But while there is certainly humor in that line, the truth is that hanging around people with "can't do" attitudes WILL rub off on you and cause you problems unless you inoculate yourself against their negativity.

"B" and "C" players default to "can't" often. I am sure you have heard this before: "A" players simply identify what is causing the "can't" and then they become more determined (almost more excited) than ever to break through to success. At the end of the day, hear the "can't" and ask them what would it take to turn "can't" into "can." The energy will be infectious and they may just be able to see the light that yes, they CAN achieve the goal. "A" players live to push through the "can'ts" of the world.

You will see "A" players at the top of organizations, in high places in society, and winning. They won't win every time, but even when they don't win, they learn so much from the failure that it only serves as a reason to make the next win even bigger.

Are you living the "A" player life? Your success depends upon it.

"...but what really blew me away..."

A simple fill in the blank for creating a remarkable service, partnership or experience:

"I was pleased that I got what I paid for, that the food was properly cooked, that they honored their contract, that the roller coaster worked, that there was no trash on the ground and that the staff looked me in the eye. But what really blew me away was _____"

By definition, whatever goes in the blank is an extra, more than you had to do. But what you must do to be considered remarkable. (Remarkable is what we call something we remark on).

A worthwhile goal for all of us! WHAT MAKES US REMARKABLE!?!?!

REASONS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR HOSTS LIVE READS!! IT'S DEFINITELY WORTH IT....

From Inside Radio Wednesday September 21, 2011.

In media landscape cluttered with ads, endorsements proving to be an effective alternative for some brands. Product placement and integrated marketing campaigns have been growing in importance among advertisers for years, and radio can play a role. From Rush Limbaugh to the local morning host, endorsement radio is having a moment. “It’s not that spot radio doesn’t work — it’s just that I have never seen a spot radio campaign outperform an endorsement campaign,” says Ad Results Advertising president Russell Lindley, whose agency has placed nearly $1 billion worth of such ads on radio in the past 13 years. In one case study, the agency calculated that call volume jumped 3.8-times higher than when a traditional :60- or :30-second commercial was used. But even more impressive was that every dollar spent on live read ads brought in more than $3.50 in sales, while the pre-recorded spots essentially broke even with sales. Lindley, a former radio sales manager and station owner, says the agency does get resistance from stations that want to keep live reads within traditional spot length parameters, even though a more natural conversation may run short or long. “If anything, a live endorsement ad is like a free ad — the listener is not interrupted by it and they will stay with the station,” he said. Lindley told the RAB-NAB Radio Show last week that Arbitron rank is also “very low on the scale” when the shop decides which stations to buy. A packaged goods company used sports radio to reach a female 25-54 demo and saw sales jump 20%. While the strategy took some selling, Lindley says “they didn’t question it again.” Demonstrating just how effective the live read ads can be, the average conversion rate on a campaign is 19%, Lindley says. But when the air personality is out on vacation and two recorded spots are substituted for one live endorsement, the conversion rate drops to 8.8%. Lindley says his agency places live read campaigns on about 1,200 stations a year — and it makes sure the air talent is actually a customer. For instance, for Select Comfort Mattress, the host is required to sleep on one of their products for at least two weeks. Once the live reads are on the air, the copy is changed at least twice a month to keep the presentation fresh.

Good reminder... Journeys Of Imagination What Do You See In Your Mind?

The goal of the batter is to hit the baseball. This is why every kid who holds a bat is told, “Don’t take your eye off the ball.”

Later, when endurance is needed, we say, “Keep your eye on the prize.”

Can you name the ball you’re trying to hit? Can you name the prize?

As a consultant to business owners for more than 30 years, I can tell you without equivocation the question that is the hardest for the average businessperson to answer. This is the question: Drum roll, please. (rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble) “What are you trying to make happen?”

With death hanging in the balance, mountain climbers turn my question into the imperative command: “Don’t Look Where You Don’t Want to Go.”

The first step in any journey is to see your destination.

Your mind is an amazing thing, crammed with invisible and unknown mechanisms* that move you unconsciously toward whatever future you believe to be real.

What future do you believe to be real? Do you have the audacity to believe in a happy ending? Do you have the courage to move toward that ending with every action you take? Persons who are frightened, angry or bitter will see this and call you “naïve.”

Sadly, this will be most people.

Your choices and your actions are merely reflections of what you see in your mind. What do you see?

The first step toward accomplishing a thing is to project it onto the visuospatial sketchpad of working memory. This is the scientific phrase for “see it in your mind’s eye.” You can do only what you have first imagined.

What do you imagine?

Boredom is a kind of death. Human beings need strong emotion. This is why we would rather be angry than bored. Anger is a type of excitement.

Fear is another type of excitement. The success of horror movies is proof of this.

Our thoughts are informed and our moods are altered by the voices we let into our minds. What voices do you invite in?

In the dark, oppressive days of colonial America Thomas Jefferson wrote sparkling words about the bright future he saw in his mind, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal…” I believe Jefferson’s ability to see this bright future was rooted in something else he wrote, “I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.”

My greatest luxury in life is that I have a terrifically strong wife. Pennie pays attention to all that's happening in the world and shares with me only those things she believes I’d like to know. The Princess of my world is one of those rare people who feels no fear and is slow to anger. For these and other reasons, Pennie can gather news about current events and not be affected by it. I do not have her gift. Most people, I believe, do not. Had the Princess and I not been married these 35 years, I’d have had to choose between being woefully uninformed or being made miserable by the demons who smile from behind teleprompters and microphones.

Call me childish and broken if you want, but I avoid woeful country music for the same reason I avoid self-important newscasters: my world overflows with possibilities that seem not to exist in theirs. Sad country singers and somber newscasters try to drag me into their world but I hang tightly to the one I prefer.

In my world, each of us is swimming in opportunity and everything is possible. I see opportunity all around you. You can see it too, can’t you?

My highest wish is that you should have a crystal clear vision of what you are trying to make happen.

1. See it clearly in your mind. This is the first step toward a happy ending.

2. Commit. Don't waffle. Waffling diminishes focus, negates serendipity and triggers boredom.

3. Talk about it. Words are rockets that launch thoughts into reality.

4. Take action. The size of the action is less important than its relentless regularity. Miracles are made of Exponential Little Bits.

5. Don’t look where you don’t want to go.

Personalities...

The disc jockey remains a major attraction of terrestrial radio and is
something the internet audio services can’t match. Radio personalities are
often the first voice people hear in the morning. They become part of their
lives, part of the family. They help them navigate to work and get through
the day. They become trusted “friends” who deliver messaging that is
listened to and acted upon. Personalities are viewed by many as an old
friend who has been there for the best moments of their lives....

You should read the linked article below and remember why endorsements work!!
Our hosts here are well known and trusted by our listeners. They wouldn't endorse something or someone they didn't believe in or trust. Their of great credibility and that transfers to your business!

To read this article in it's entirety.... Click here

Will Groupon Really Boost Your Local Business?

Pretty interesting article I read today! If any of you are thinking about advertising your business through Groupon you should read this first!
Groupon has been hailed as the new miracle advertising tool. It has also been accused of being a ruthless corporate giant, preying on the ignorance of small businesses.

Since its inception in November 2008, Groupon (think social media meets coupons) has transformed the way local businesses promote their products and services.

How does it work?

First, you agree to become a featured business on their network. You then reduce your product or service price by 50% or more. Groupon promotes the deal and gets new customers through your doors. For every deal, Groupon gets between 30% and 60% of your drastically reduced price.

What? You only get half of your discount price? That’s right. But it’s worth it when 800 new customers come storming in for your product. Or is it?

At 58% discount, this restaurant is giving away food for exposure.

There are dozens of businesses that have been all but ruined from their Groupon deals. Like any decision in business, it’s easy to get swept away by trends and promises of future earnings. Now here’s a little secret – Groupon is not for everyone.

Small and large businesses alike have felt the keen sting of a Groupon feature gone wrong. It’s up to you, as the business owner, to make the right choices for your business.

This means carefully weighing the pros and cons before leaping headfirst into what could be a raging failure.

You need to decide whether Groupon makes sense for your business. Then you need to learn how to use it properly.

Seeing Groupon Through a Marketing Jam-Jar

If giving Groupon 50% of your already discounted price doesn’t raise some red flags, then you need to start seeing it through the eyes of a marketer. Marketers don’t like giving money away.

They calculate the repercussions of their actions long before they commit to something new.

Your Groupon deal could change your business. It could dismantle your loyal customer base. It could lead to the degeneration of your brand identity.

Weighing the negatives means actively looking for them. Unfortunately for Jesse, owner of Posies Bakery and Café, she didn’t see it coming. Her Groupons made her lose money to the point where she could hardly afford her expenses.

Groupon sold so many coupons her bakery nearly went under.

For 3 months, Jesse watched as Groupons rolled in – eating up all of her profits. At the time, her only intention was to get more customers through the door.

The moral of the story? Ask yourself these tough questions first.

• Are you willing to replace your customer base with one-time-only coupon holders for the entire time they’re valid?
• Are you willing to trade in loyal customers for customers who are loyal to Groupon, and will probably hunt for the next deal once yours is over?
• Are you willing to sacrifice some brand loyalty for mass promotion?

If all you’re after is exposure, then Groupon is a viable option. If you’re expecting a massive boost in profits – first, tally up the most successful outcome of your deal with Groupon. The figures may shock you!

Tip #1: Limit the length of your Groupon promotion. Take note of what the Groupon sales rep has to say, and haggle for the best deal possible.

Addicted to Groupon Success

You’ve decided it’s worth the risk – and your Groupons were a huge success! This is great as long as you’re running deals, but what happens when they stop? If you use Groupon too many times, you might lose a lot of money.

The eager coupon holder, leads to loss of profits. Image source: iStockPhoto

Essentially, you’re creating an army of customers who only buy from you because you’re cheap. Your customer base will dissipate as soon as you give up on the coupon system. Plus your brand perception will change. The discounted product or service will not sell as well at its normal price.

Don’t get stuck in the Groupon addiction cycle. If your Groupons are that successful, your business will expand in a few short months. You might not be able to sustain the sales boom without more and more coupon discounts. As the deals fall away, you could be stuck in a situation where you have even less business than before.

Tip #2: Use Groupon to get people through the door. Entice them with some specials of your own. Focus on the upsell, on turning these one-off customers into repeat business.

Groupon in Context

Many businesses are still trying to recover from the economic recession. They cut their prices down to barely earn a profit from their sales. Competition based on price is an unhealthy way to grow your business. Yes, there are many advantages of an excellent Groupon promotion, but it has no real long-term returns.

The problem is that struggling small businesses see Groupon as their marketing savior. They don’t take into account the fact that they will have to work harder for less money, or order more stock to sell for next to nothing.

Groupon says that many people don’t claim their purchased coupon, which leaves more profit for the business owner. Be aware that the larger your product or service, the fewer people are likely to ‘forget’ to collect their Groupon.

J. Haynes of Hat Trick Associates says, “The truth is, when you charge some (current, satisfied, loyal) customers full price… and other (brand-new) customers half off, you make some people happy and others unhappy. And you are making the wrong category of customer happy!”

Tip #3: Prepare yourself for a boom in interest and sales. Display your Groupon ‘terms of use’ where your customers can see it in your store. It will prevent arguments about expiration, changes and repeat use by a single person.

Leveraging Groupon for the Right Reasons

Groupon is not advertising. An advert works to sell your product at a price that will be the most beneficial for your business. Groupon basically sells your promotion by showing thousands of people an incredible bargain associated with your brand. It gets people into your shop, but it doesn’t keep them there.

The best feature of a Groupon experience is the exposure that you get. It will boost your website, blog and social media traffic, which will lead to more signups, likes and follows. This is what you’re paying for when you’re running a Groupon.

This promotion lost this company $61,100.00 in profit. Imagine what you could do with that kind of ad budget.

What’s the key to making it successful? Do the numbers. Calculate the risks involved. Prepare for more sales in your shop. Work on upselling other products and services to take advantage of the boost in business.

Don’t rely completely on your Groupon deal. You might find that a well-orchestrated pay-per-click campaign renders the same results, at far greater financial reward for your business.

Groupon is part of the geolocation sales craze, so it can be a positive marketing tool. But take their promises with a pinch of salt. Maximize the opportunity and prep for the profit crunch.

Remember that Groupon will boost your business temporarily, but not necessarily your profits or your customer base!

Social media is just another facet of marketing and customer service. Say it with me. Repeat it until you know it by heart. Bind it as a sign upon you

I just read a great article on social media that EVERYONE should read!!! We should be embracing this new technology and merging it with what we’ve learned already. Not taking away everything else and thinking this is going to be the answer to all your prayers!! Come on!! I think it's a great added bonus and we've been helping our clients now with social media optimization but this should be done with traditional solid media as well! LIKE RADIO :)

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-i-will-never-ever-hire-a-social-media-expert-2011-5#ixzz1O9jxh4iC

GREAT SAYING!

Surround yourself with people courageous enough to speak truthfully about what's best for your organization and the customers you serve. Lift your teammates up versus tearing your teammates down. Anyone can be a critic. What takes guts is to see the best in people.

Daily Sales Tip: Buyer Beware

Both salespeople and companies, whether they currently use social media or not, are struggling to figure out how to use it effectively. In fact, few -- even those with sophisticated marketing departments investing time and effort into the process -- have any real social media strategy.

Undoubtedly, this will be true for quite some time to come -- and, of course, that means there are and will be thousands out looking to take your money to help you learn the hows of making social media work.

The lesson here: Be extremely careful as there are many who know little more than how to construct a tweet who are anxious to take your money.

Source: Sales author/consultant Paul McCord

normally I don't give you two in a day but this was too good!

You open your mailbox and grab a handful of paper. How long does it take you to sort that mail? Do you open each envelope and consider its message, or do some of them get tossed into the trashcan unopened?


More than 71 billion dollars were spent on direct mail marketing last year according to the US Postal Service and each of these dollars was spent in the hope that:

1. your attention would be gained by the advertiser’s message and

2. you would spend time – at least a moment – considering it.


Less than one fourth the amount spent on direct mail – 17.3 billion dollars to be exact – was spent on radio advertising in 2010 according to the Radio Advertising Bureau and each of these dollars was spent in the hope that:

1. your attention would be gained by the advertiser’s message and

2. you would spend time – at least a moment – considering it.


More than 131 billion dollars was spent on television advertising in 2010 – not quite twice the amount spent on direct mail, but nearly 8 times as much as was spent on radio – and each of these dollars was spent in the hope that:

1. your attention would be gained by the advertiser’s message and

2. you would spend time – at least a moment – considering it.


Business owners are excited about Facebook and Twitter because these social media outlets offer them potential access to – wait for it – your time and attention.


Are you beginning to see a pattern here?

Time and attention are currency.


Shoppers today are confronted with an unprecedented number of possibilities. Welcome to the 21st century, where shoppers carry the world in their pockets, giving them instant access to everything they want to know. Now what were you saying?


A 1978 consumer behavior study by Yankelovich indicated the average American of that time was confronted by more than 2,000 selling messages per day. These “selling messages” included the signage in front of strip centers, posters in windows, point-of-purchase displays in convenience stores, product packaging on shelves, stickers on gas pumps and all the major media, of course. Yankelovich revisited that study in 2008: today’s shopper is confronted by more than 5,000 selling messages per day.


Shoppers don’t buy things until they know about them. And they have far too little time to consider all their options. This is why the value of time and attention has risen to unprecedented heights.


And it’s also why clarity is the new creativity.

If today’s advertisers want to ring the bell, win the prize and cash the check, they must:

1. Gain attention

2. Speak with impact and

3. Prove what they say

4. In the fewest possible words.


A few final thoughts:

1. Radio has weathered the techno-storm better than any other media.

2. Following a brief flirtation with the iPod, Americans returned en masse to broadcast radio for exposure to new music and breaking news.

3. You can close your eyes, but you cannot close your ears.

4. How many hours a week do you spend driving?

5. World-class radio ads are cheap to produce.

6. It costs big bucks to look good on TV.

7. A modest budget for a national advertiser to produce a 30-second TV ad is $350,000. Your TV ads, by comparison, will always look “homemade.”

8. But national advertisers have no advantage over local advertisers on radio.

9. Advertising agencies can’t pay the bills by producing radio ads. Their profitability – indeed their very existence – depends on their ability to steer advertisers into high production-cost ventures: television and direct mail.

10. The smart place for local advertising is usually on the radio.

Streaming Ads Increase Ad Recall and Ad Response

KCBQ & KPRZ streams LIVE 24/7!!

When used together with broadcast radio, streaming audio can improve the response rate and recall of advertising. That’s one of the key findings behind TargetSpot’s outstanding Ad Impact Study released last week at the National Association of Broadcasters conference. TargetSpot sells targeted streaming audio ads.

Their study claims that when an advertiser used broadcast radio and internet radio together, the campaign achieved a 3.5x higher ad response than broadcast alone.



(click for a larger image)

The ad recall of broadcast radio was most impacted by internet radio in the insurance, retail stores, financial services, telecommunications, and travel categories.



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The study reports that most (96%) listeners access internet radio on a desktop/laptop computer. Approximately half (45%) listen on a mobile/smartphone and 15% listen on tablet devices. Tablet listeners are the heaviest users of streaming media; 25% of those who listen on a tablet device tune in 4+ hours daily.

This is an important signal to broadcasters. A simple path to “heavy users” of audio would appear to be mobile and tablet compatible apps and streams.

Broadcasters that are providing integrated campaigns with streaming audio and broadcast spots should also be encouraged by this study. Streaming audio spots increased ad responses for broadcast campaigns and online ads alike.



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Four out of ten listeners to internet radio advertising have responded to an ad.

• 17% visited the company website
• 15% searched online for product information
• 13% clicked on an ad
• 10% became a fan / clicked “like” on a social network
• 10% became a fan / clicked “like” on a social network
• 7% sent e-mail or text to the company
• 5% called the company

The most likely action for a listener to take after hearing an internet radio ad is to visit the client’s website.

Internet-radio listeners are also influential, with over half saying that they tell friends, family, or co-workers about new products or services they like.



(click for a larger image)

This study sheds light on internet radio’s growth and viability as an ad delivery venue. I believe the most important takeaway from this study is that streaming delivers engaged heavy users. As much as this study points to the validity of internet-radio for advertising, it makes a case to broadcasters for continued strategic investment into mobile and tablet apps as well as multiple streaming options for desktop computers.

Adding internet radio to an over-the-air campaign more than triples ad response

Don't miss the boat!!

A new study provides ammo for sellers pitching internet radio to media buyers. Adding internet radio to a broadcast campaign elicits an ad response that’s 3.5 times greater than the response produced by a broadcast campaign on its own. That’s one of the top line findings from a second, separate TargetSpot-commissioned online study of ad effectiveness among 2,127 U.S. broadband households conducted by Parks Associates. By comparing ad recall and responses for broadcast radio listeners who don’t consume internet radio with those that do, the researchers make a strong case for the additive value of internet radio. For example, only 4% of those who recalled hearing a broadcast ad visited the advertised company’s website or searched online for product information. But the percentage jumped to 15% when an internet radio ad component was added. “Internet radio is effective on its own, as well as boosting the effectiveness of other mediums,” TargetSpot VP of marketing Amy Becker says. The study found the additive impact occurred across multiple categories. Adding internet radio ads doubled broadcast campaign recall for ads in the insurance, food and beverage and financial services categories, and tripled it for travel campaigns. Increases were lower for restaurants and automotive products. “This audience is highly engaged in the content and this engagement is driving recall and response well beyond the click,” Becker says. The percent of those who purchased a product or service at retail rose from 4% to 11%, those who became a fan or clicked “like” on a social network went from 0% to 8% and those who purchased a product or service online increased from 2% to 5%. TargetSpot execs will present the findings to ad agencies in New York tomorrow during a road show. Some results were also presented yesterday at the RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas

Stay ahead of the game!

Faster, Better and More

The trifecta of competition:

Faster than the other guy. Faster to the market, faster to respond, faster to get the user up to speed.

Better than the other guy. Better productivity, better story, better impact.

and More. More for your money. More choices. More care. More guts.

You have more competition than you did yesterday. I expect that trend will continue.

Wondering if you want to voice part of your commercial??

The Friday Poll Question for members of Radio Sales Café was a two-parter:

1) What percentage of your advertisers voice their own ads?
2) What are your thoughts on having clients doing their own voicework?

Some stations said "zero." Others reported that 15-20% or more of their clients did their own ads.

My answer was decidedly, and perhaps remarkably, on the high end: two-thirds of my top local clients voice all or most of their own commercials!

Of these, most read from scripts. They have been doing this for so many years that they're quite comfortable at the microphone.

Admittedly, I'm a fairly driven coach. I have no problem requiring repeated readings or "takes," until I have sufficient material to piece together an effective spot.

Former Los Angeles radio production whiz Blaine Parker, who now operates a boutique advertising agency/creative services company atop a mountain in Park City, UT, is adamant about the conditions under which he allows his clients to get near a mic. He says:

We're a general agency, and at the moment, we have two clients on radio. One of those clients is voicing his own commercials. The other client has testimonials. Both campaigns were produced exactly the same way: non-professional voice talent sitting behind a microphone, answering relevant questions about the business and what it means to be a customer. Then, those extemporaneous recordings are cherry picked and massaged to create glowing sound bites. When we know what the performer is saying via the magic of non-linear digital editing, we write announcer wraparounds.

That is just about the ONLY way we ever let clients voice their own commercials.

When you hand them a script and crack the mic, most clients' voice over sound like exactly what it is: amateur product. Sometimes, that can be endearing and work in their favor. Too often, it just sounds bad. If it must be done that way, there are simple tricks to directing them that make them sound much better. But overall, I try to never make a client read a script or carry the entire weight of the voice over on his shoulders. Whenever possible, I record him extemporaneously and pull out the nuggets. It's more real than anything we could ever write, and it presents the client in the best, most flattering light possible.

I would tend to agree with Blaine's approach: recording conversations and extracting the gold. It's time-consuming and painstaking, and a labor of love that typically results in an exceptional and effective commercial. This is the only technique I employ when creating testimonial campaigns, and it's a great way for an advertiser to tell his story, one nugget at a time.

Do my clients have the training and polish of voice actors? Of course not.

Nor is it important that they do.

In the context of a local market where they are known by many, what's important is that they come across as who-they-are, doing what-they-do, that they sound authentic and credible, and that the content of their communication meets their customers' needs. When all these factors line up, the results speak for themselves*.

Now, I don't disagree with Blaine's analysis for the most part, based on the fact that too many client-voiced commercials one hears seem to have been done hastily and without critical analysis. Whether due to a lack of education or training, a lack of time or effort, or a lack of concern, there's no good reason to settle for second-rate work. But the salesperson, producer and client must be of the same mind on this, each willing and able to invest the time and effort to persist until it's right.

Either do it well or don't do it at all.

It's interesting how attitudes toward client-voiced ads have changed over the past couple of decades. Today the practice is widely accepted. When I first started pushing for clients appearing in their own commercials back in the late 1970's, most radio programming and production people resented it as an incursion onto their sacred turf. Their attitude was not unlike what we encountered from the education establishment when the home-schooling movement began to gain some momentum in the late 1980's. These days, the accumulation of success stories has demonstrated the merit of both ideas.

Article featured in RAB Sales and Marketing.

How should you treat your best customers?

Here's what most businesses do with their best customers: They take the money.

The biggest fan of that Broadway show, the one who comes a lot and sits up front? She's paying three times what the person just three rows back paid.

That loyal Verizon customer, the one who hasn't traded in his phone and has a contract for six years running? He's generating far more profit than the guy who switches every time a contract expires and a better offer comes along.

Or consider the loyal customer of a local business. The business chooses to offer new customers a coupon for half off—but makes him pay full price...

If you define "best customer" as the customer who pays you the most, then I guess it's not surprising that the reflex instinct is to charge them more. After all, they're happy to pay.

But what if you define "best customer" as the person who brings you new customers through frequent referrals, and who sticks with you through thick and thin? That customer, I think, is worth far more than what she might pay you in any one transaction. In fact, if you think of that customer as your best marketer instead, it might change everything

Radio can deliver leads, but it can't deliver sales

I wonder if people in radio know that the wrap on Radio in DR circles is that radio can drive high volume of calls or leads but often radio leads hardly convert at a paltry level relative to TV and Online.

As an integrated direct response agency, Integrated Media Solutions has a unique purview. Our agency works with clients across all direct response media. This gives us perspective to review results across all media and make our optimization decisions based on what is based for the account, (in most cases, overall cost per acquisition or ROI). We are in a unique position in the market because we actually have expertise to assist our clients after the initial lead and all the way down the path to conversion.

Often a client or DR agency that has been too reliant on TV or Online is will quickly bail on a radio campaign that is not converting to sales even though the lead volume is there.

High lead or call volume is an indication that listeners heard your message, raised their hands and said “This offer applies to me and I am interested.” The challenge for marketers, agencies and stations is to take a deep dive into exactly why these interested consumers aren’t converting and create solutions to improve results.

At our agency we recently had an example of a DR radio client in the financial services area who was savvy enough to work with us on a careful analysis of their hand-raisers before abandoning the entire radio medium…but not before an initial gut reaction of distress!

Our client began a radio campaign received over 1,000 calls during their first month. This was excellent! In fact, the cost per call was lower than what they had seen from TV.

However, by the end of the month we saw that over 50% of the calls they received lasted less than 12 seconds. The client naturally asked why exactly they should pay to generate calls when half the calls don't even connect.

Rather than abandon the campaign entirely we decided ask a question...why were these callers hanging up? And we asked the callers themselves.

Using the caller’s phone number captured when they called our 800 number we reached out to a small sample of these short callers (about 30 callers).

The first interesting thing was that we were able to speak to about 80% of the callers. And for the most part they were happy to hear from us. When we asked what happened to their call the most common response was that they had dialed the number on their cell phone and then hung up quickly in order to save the number on their phone.

In this case the solution was clear: make an outbound call effort to those “short” callers. This allowed them to maximize the calls they got and increase overall conversion from calls.

It also points out the need and opportunity to find alternative tracking mechanisms for radio campaigns. For instance, perhaps marketers could consider using SMS Text to capture the response. You could offer to text back the phone number via text to the consumers. An opted in text campaign allows you to capture the “hand raisers” and create multiple follow up texts to take the respondent all the way through the sales funnel.

Call abandonment rates at 50% are not typical issues TV focused marketers. Ultimately the great strength of Radio –its mobility - can also make advertising more challenging for DR clients in day and age of ubiquitous cell phones and smartphones. Yet radio continues to drive high volume of quality respondents.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR YOUR BRAND: 10 THINGS TO TRY IN 2011

By Shawn Parr, CEO of Bulldog Drummond (BulldogDrumond.com)

BE COURAGEOUS, OFTEN

Take bold steps to stand out from the crowd. Reflect on 2010 and look at what you did well, and what you could have done differently. Take courageous steps to help your brand stand out in 2011.

REVISIT AND REFINE YOUR PURPOSE

Take the time to look back at your mission and vision and ask if you were living it in 2010. Look for places to bring it to life with your team and explore whether you need to refine it. Remember: the words aren’t set in stone. If they’re not resonating, rewrite and revise!

SHUT UP AND LISTEN

Make sure you ask your team for feedback, ideas and suggestions. Listen to your consumers and pay attention to research.

FIND AN ENEMY

An enemy gives you and your team something to push against, something to challenge. An enemy inspires passion! This year, define a clear enemy and rally your team. It could be a competitor, a trend or an element of your internal culture. No matter what it is, create a plan to beat it, share the mission with your team and go forth!

STRETCH AND SET SOME BIG GOALS

Set at least one wild and audacious goal for 2011, something you’ve never tried before. Outline the goal, share it with your team and challenge them to play their part in achieving it. Just don’t forget to celebrate the small victories and successes on the journey.

BUILD A PASSIONATE AND ENGAGED TEAM

Your most valuable resource is your people. This year, weed out those don’t contribute and aren’t engaged. Replace them with active, passionate and energized people who will make a true difference to the rest of your team and your brand.

INJECT FUN INTO THE EVERYDAY

Start doing small things that make your employees happy. A monthly massage for a those who have put in extra hours or a weekly potluck for the team.

PLAN FOR LEARNING

Create a program that allows your team to take classes. Host a “learning lunch” monthly with guest speakers.

MAKE FRIENDS WITH OTHER BRANDS

This year, chart a “circle of love,” identifying brands with similar values that you’d like to partner with in 2011. Set one member of your team with a potential relationship and have them explore how to collaborate. You’ll be surprised by the results, even just the initial conversations you’ll have about your own brand.

SAY THANK YOU AND SHOW THAT YOU REALLY MEAN IT

And, lastly, do what your mother told you! Thanking people goes a long way to creating valued and appreciated fans, both internally and externally.

To view this article in it's entirety or to learn more about San Diego's branding guru Shawn Parr follow this link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/03/san-diego-branding-guru-knows-what-sells/