Committing to the Right Partner

By Ken and Barb Michelini

The radio community is experiencing pressure to monetize its web presence. But what's interesting is that even radio rep firms are passing on placing revenue on their partner stations' websites. For instance, a friend of ours just bought 36 million impressions at an $8 CPM, and he could have put a little of that money on select radio stations across the country. The problem he faces, however, is most stations don't know how to traffic the ads. They have the tools, but not the expertise.

When you're placing 36 million impressions, you can't go station by station, buying up 100,000 impressions a time (20 percent of a typical large market station). So what are your choices? You could look into independent networks claiming they have the ability to sell station inventory, but watch out, because even though they have the contracts to place the business, they also have reputations for not delivering. Why? Station sites have "value" and these networks are more interested in telling their advertisers they can buy up the impressions cheap. What you want to do is take advantage of station assets like their big antenna with 50,000 watts, text messaging and the "loyalty factor."

Another idea is to go directly to the top. Call the digital departments of the largest companies, like Clear Channel, CBS or Radio One. But you'll still be faced with making a considerable dollar commitment to a banner ad. And without a seasoned campaign and millions of impressions, do you really think your banner ad campaign will work?

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
So what are prudent marketers to do? Find the right station partner, and develop a small, yet duplicatable, joint online and on-air campaign.

Those in the traditional radio culture sell their inventory as an investment. They even put it on their proposals. Instead of saying this proposal will "cost" you $10,000, they often say your "investment" is $10,000. This is hardly a partnership. But if you look hard enough, you'll find a station that's willing to engage in a revenue-sharing arrangement. It still may require an investment, but when both parties are committed and invested, you now have a platform for success.

One of the coolest campaigns we've seen recently was an advertiser who was trying to target people with broken windshields. He ran 10-second spots telling customers to text the station if they want to win a new windshield. He then utilized a call center to: 1) Call everyone back in real-time, letting them know they were in the contest; 2) Verbally collect their contact information (so they didn't have to go to an online form); and 3) Get permission to call them back to let them know if they won. After the contest, he offered a station prize package and special offer should they want to replace their windshield.

Running a permission-based radio campaign can be incredibly effective, but you have to start in the trenches. You have to convince stations to move beyond their radio paradigms. They need to care about your campaign, and the best way to do that is to allow them to share in the results.

Ken and Barb Michelini are a husband-and-wife team and owners of Result Advertising.Net, an interactive/direct response agency specializing in radio based in Farmington Hills, Mich. They can be reached at (248) 471-1300.