Twelve Resolutions For Radio In 2011

   1. Change Our Language. Today the buzz for measurement is "monthly uniques." If it's good enough for Google, it's good enough for radio. Drop the term "cume." Start using monthly uniques in every pitch and presentation.

2. Kill Average Quarter Hours. Why do we insist on complicating things? Don't sell by AQH. As Bob Pittman said, it may be a tool for exact placement, but it's not a tool for selling. In Internet terms, this is "simultaneous usage." But the number isn't great, so Internet companies don't talk about it. Why should you?

3. Promote Our Growth. With all the negative press about "old media," I think we've started buying it. The fact is, PPM shows that more people listen to radio than we ever knew. Our reach in 1970 was 92.7 percent, and in 2010, it's 93 percent. We're going up. When was the last time you updated your clients?

4. Change Perceptions. The perception of radio, perpetuated in the media, is much worse than the reality. Each of us needs to do our part to show the real truth. Get the facts, and set the record straight. Fight to tell radio's powerful story.

5. Look At Digital As An Opportunity. Not a threat. Yes, digital is hot, but so is radio. Our numbers hold up against theirs. Digital + radio is better than digital alone.

6. Cannibalize Dying Media. Newspapers and Yellow Pages ARE dying. Newspapers still have 16 percent of all ad dollars, and Yellow Pages have 7 percent. That's a total of $31.3 billion that has to go somewhere. Why not to radio?

7. Keep Your Rates Up. Do you want to be known as the local prostitute? Low prices and cutting rates send bad signals. Fight a little harder for every dollar. Don't give in so easily.

8. Spend More Time With Clients. Seems simple, but management people and owners sometimes get stuck behind the desk. More time with clients will not only help you sell more, it will help you understand more. That will impact your business.

9. Focus On Campaigns, Not Spots. Campaigns work. Spots don't. Clients (and your sellers) need to understand the difference and be shown why they will see better results with more time on the air, over longer periods of time.

10. Focus On Moving Product. Rather than focusing on hitting budgets and numbers, make sure you're there to SERVE your advertisers. Change the focus of every discussion so it's about moving product and solving their problems. If you move product, people don't care about audience sizes or listening levels.

11. Overdeliver. Got extra inventory? Fill it with more spots from your paying clients. You don't even need to tell them. The goal is to pack their stores and move more product with every tool at your disposal… your airtime, your website, your newsletters. Blow them away with what your station is willing to do to bring them business, and you'll have friends for life.

12. Only Run Ads That Will Work. Crummy ads written by our own stations, our advertisers, and local agencies simply don't work. Develop a test internally to determine whether an ad is likely to work, and if you believe it won't, fight to change it. The more time spent on ad effectiveness, the fewer clients lost because "Radio doesn't work." Remember, they are renting our airtime to reach our audiences, but if their ad is bad, we will get blamed. Help advertisers see the light by pointing out ads that won't work and suggesting alternatives. If they insist, you'll be on record as saying the ad won't work. But you'll probably change their mind, and change their results.
 
Have a great 2011.

Eric Rhoads
Radio Ink
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
LINKEDIN
 
Share:
 
 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Anonymous]

Maybe I missed it, but the one thing left out of this list is "improve programming."

[Eric Rhoads]

From Bob Pittman:

Aqh (which is based on time spent) is a mechanical device--a tool in
actually making an ad buy. Yes, you cant calculate the impressions
without it. And, time spent on a page should also be considered even
withGoogle (if someone doesnt have time to see the ad, what is the
value of an impression). But, my point is that aqh should not be used as
the measurement of relative size of audience for radio vs other media.
The internet metric of monthly uniques --monthly cume for radio-- is the
proper apples to apples comparison.

[Jacquelyn]

To point #1 (& #2): The distinction not being recognized is that Google works like Billboards: here is how many people came to the site & all were shown your ad (so monthly uniques works). Radio (&TV) have a little annoying element called "time" that they also need to consider...when a person visits determines whether or not they heard the message hence the need to include time into the equation. AQH Persons recognizes time as part of the equation and that is why its necessary.

I realize this is a Pittman thing and I wish him luck on this endeavor but any competent media buyer will know it's not apples to apples to treat Google (or Billboards) the same as Radio (or TV).

I'd also like to point out that customers would rightfully be upset by this change which would be in direct contradiction with many of the other fine points on this list.

[Tired of HD Radio]

13. Put the HD Radio/IBOC jamming machine out of its misery - oh, Keefe Bartels and Galax Wolf will do that for us! LOL!