A Shifting Landscape for Radio in Search
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We are being treated to reports of hopeful revenue increases from spending by the automotive sector and the High Court's decision to let companies spend dollars in political campaigns. No sense dashing hopes here. Though, I won't waiver from my January prediction that the radio industry revenue increase in 2010 will be 1%-2.5%. There are still choppy waters ahead.
A little check this morning on search engine returns for the keyword "radio advertising" brought up a few points needing your attention.
Can't remember the last time this topic was addressed at AG. But I do know the act of searching for information on how to advertise on the radio brought scant results today, with no major radio group showing up in the top 20 returns. Besides RAB and Radio Ad Lab, mentioned below, the first radio industry related listing is from Detroit's Radio Group - radio's consortium in that city. One might expect a little help from it, but this web site is no more than a rah-rah for radio. Here are telling signs of it being outdated: 1) On its "Partnership" page, there is mention of Television, Newspaper, Outdoor, Cable TV, Direct Mail, and Yellow Pages, but nothing said about the internet. 2) Its "Resources" page still lists Radio & Records.
Clear Channel is the first radio group listed in a search for information about "radio advertising." Clear Channel, around #50 (about five pages into the search return), is clearly sitting in the back of this bus. Not a radio group or station, Dan O'Day's blog bests CC by 30 positions - and this respected industry educator does have a prominently listed "Radio Sales Promotions For Car Dealers" link. (This is a webinar Dan is hosting for radio sales execs on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. I suggest you attend.) However, it could be harmful if a car dealer looking for help and doing a search on radio advertising uncovered this site to find "HOW TO GET A BIGGER SHARE OF CAR DEALER ADVERTISING DOLLARS" when the link is clicked; kind of makes radio look like a shark to a dealer searching for info on radio advertising.
Here is what appeared at Audio Graphics on July 23, 2009: "Let's say you're one of thousands of small business owners looking for advice about advertising on the radio. You do what any person does in 2009, you turn to Google and type "radio advertising," "advertising on radio," "radio advertising information," or any number of keywords describing what you want to accomplish." The article then expounded on what is lacking in the highly-ranked return for Radio Advertising Bureau.
A little has changed at the RAB web site, holding strong in the #3 & #4 slot. It still says nothing to a local advertiser about how to build a campaign, though it does have a lot of information about "why" to advertise on radio.
The Radio Ad Lab comes in at #12, one ahead of Audio Graphics. Walking around the Radio Ad Lab web site doesn't uncover a great deal for me as a local advertiser looking for ways to build a radio campaign. Again, there is a great deal of information as to the reasons for using radio - but that's not why I visited.
There are two new web sites listed since last year's AG article. Strategicmedia has landed the #1 slot in many radio-related keywords. It's a direct response, radio advertising company that goes to great lengths explaining how radio will provide return on investment. Nicely done, but that "direct response" connection means its principle goal is to bring accountable radio advertising to its clients. And, from the statement on its home page, "We combine that knowledge with our rock bottom remnant media rates...", we know which part of the radio ad-pie it is fighting for and on whose side it is fighting.
The other web site appearing in the top 10 Google returns for "radio advertising" and deserving mention is gaebler.com - "Resources for Entrepreneurs." Gaebler has a section that places a best-guess answer on radio advertising rates. While its claim of gathering radio ad rates from across the country could be challenged by simply comparing a variety of cities listed that all hold the same value, it is a unique site where a local advertiser might spend time answering that one question we've all received: "How much does it cost to advertise on radio?"
Radio is local. Local business owners interested in using this medium to reach their community need to find more information online when doing a search for anything related to radio advertising, radio ad buying, radio advertising creative, and radio's documented success. As of this morning, I found very little created by a radio group or other radio industry organization. This needs to improve.
Search results do change. Any radio group wanting to put this as a priorty could push their way to a top 10 listing (with effort).
Looking at how the search results for "radio advertising" have been juggled over the past year, it doesn't appear that this approach to reaching local advertisers is even being considered by radio industry executives. Radio, for the most part, is in search - still missing in action.
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