New Year's Best Resolution: Proving You Deliver
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I can't help think that there are thousands of people rubbing their eyes this morning as the new year faces them down. Their only consolation is that things can't get much worse than they were in 2008. Or can they? If you are in the radio industry, there's no real way to answer that because we've yet to see if the indusry is taking a need for change seriously.
To radio employees, worse would mean a steeper decline in radio advertising revenue, increased cost for operating online, and a performance fee rammed down their throats (courtesy of the RIAA). Worse would also cover a decline in the professional image of radio executives on the sales and programming sides. You only get so far today when you can't tie an ad campaign into an accountable ad vehicle. Same can be said if you don't present topics of interest to an audience that's looking for the latest on digital anything.
Radio has had a tough time adjusting to this new digital world. The HD Radio folly has fooled no one. HD Radio's "digital" title is not something that anyone who knows digital would consider the selling point of HD Radio. Let's repeat the refrain: HD Radio brings CD sound to FM, AM sounding like FM, new programs on stations-between-the-stations, words on the radio tuner (as long as they are no more than "X" characters), and iPod-like tune tagging. Here's the problem: Not one of these items is desired or considered a must-have by consumers - the audience or advertiser kind.
2009 brings with it only one requirement for everyone who works in radio - your world must change. Everyone involved in radio must evaluate what radio offers in reach for advertisers, and in content for audience, and do what they can to make major adjustments. The act of playing a commercial is only half the equation now. How many people responded to the commercial is starting to be a valuable answer to have. In 2009 it will be even more important as advertisers seek proof that reaching your audience is putting money in their pockets.
A major point to consider is that "going digital" also means knowing how to use a digital environment to your advantage. My cast iron skillet still works fine. Add Pam spray, and it works better. Radio still works fine with analog transmission. Coupling a radio signal with the internet is the answer, and here's an example. This morning on NPR there was a story about competition in commercial crab fishing. It ended with the announcer stating: "I'm looking at pictures from (reporter's name); you can view these and hear audio excerpts at NPR.org." All of those responding audience members can be tracked through site visits, time-stamped to coincide with the on-air mention. Within fifteen minutes of the mention, change the home page link and you may tabulate a very close report on audience response. Place this concept in a commercial station, and you can sell those audience responses at a premium.
Maintaining a shroud of mystery around radio's ability to deliver effective advertising is not an accepted practice anymore. Just playing an advertiser's message is not acceptable, either. We, defined as anyone involved in media, must realize that verification of response will grow in value.
I find it unique that we can read about a Clear Channel GM meeting where the soldiers will be given marching orders based on the worth of talent and sales people, calculated through formulas designed to improve a cluster's efficiency. Yet the industry refuses to accept that advertisers now deserve (command?) a similar type of math-proven documentation.
Search engine keyword ad buying was only the first step in introducing response metrics. More advanced online operators are deep into supplying multiple layers of metrics that allow formulas to determine success. Their selling point: Numbers don't lie.
Just getting out of this recession is not going to solve radio industry problems, as today's CEOs wish you to believe.
Riding it out is not an option, unless that ride includes substantial adjustments to radio's business model.
Think in these terms: 2009 is the year when PPM becomes fully deployed in major markets because it delivers more precise audience measurement. You get a better grip of the numbers of people in your audience.
2009 also needs to be a year when radio offers an even more reliant form of response metrics to advertisers. This pay-for-performance thinking is not going away.
The cold hard numbers delivered in analytics and metrics are the answer. Open your eyes to ways they can be used within radio programming. The good news is there are many options if you're willing to change.
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