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News From Audio Graphics:
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Radio Industry, Meet Reality |
There's no going back now that Emmis and Clear Channel have stepped into selling advertising with new media. That is, both have allowed Google Audio access to inventory so it may sell avails online.
Another development has CBS announcing an upgraded version of its TargetSpot, which gives small-to-medium businesses (and all agencies) a clear path to purchasing radio advertising on CBS stations. Its "one-up" on Google Audio is that TargetSpot lets advertisers turn written words into audio ads. Credible-sounding commercials can be created online, from the comfort of an advertiser's office. They may even choose the type of voice that reads the radio ad's words.
No. There's no going back now. So take a moment to contemplate the future of internet and radio advertising sales.
The reality is that you still haven't seen a splinter of how radio ad sales and response measurement is going to play out. Selling an ad online, inserting that ad into a radio station's stream, reporting audience numbers, and comparing the exposure to sales is like a newborn fawn. It has struggled. But now it's standing up for the first time. The radio industry's use of the internet is getting its legs.
Don't wave me off with "radio web sites have been online for years." Radio web sites are still struggling to stand up for attention. The radio industry has not yet figured out how to "publish" online. Radio has, however, seen how the internet can generate revenue, and now it is straining its neck to find out more about selling radio advertising online.
Everything is about to change. Access to new advertisers will become easier. More ads will be sold (at a lower CPM, initially), and a CPM rate everyone can live with will be established. Radio may very well become a direct response advertising vehicle, too. (A return to "per inquiry" ads. Though, this new version will be nothing like the old.)
Accountability of radio through comparison of ads-served-to-products-sold is still in its infancy. It will mature when more media buyers understand how to use the metrics available today. Once this happens the change will be complete.
Today's online edition of Inside Radio carries this headline, "Entercom’s David Field on Google Audio — 'Potentially it is a very good thing for radio.'" That makes three radio execs who have OK'd Google Audio's approach. I'd expect Greater Media's Peter Smyth to be the next one giving a nod to some form of online radio advertising sales, though it may not be Google's version; other choices are SWMX, and Bid4Spots. And that's only for the broadcast side of radio! There are thousands of online radio stations with advertising avails waiting to be filled.
Buying ads for online radio stations is now catching the attention of some very important people. (Disclosure: I am a VP at Spacial Audio Solutions®, one of the world's largest suppliers of audio ad insertion technology. While you may not be familiar with Spacial Audio by name, our software powers thousands of online stations, and our ad insertion technology is the backbone of hundreds of terrestrial station streams...and that's only the tip of our iceberg.)
Change is ahead. Advertisers are now conditioned to "expect" a report on how the advertising dollars they spend affect their bottom line.
Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, MSN's AdCenter have all been operating long enough to show how advertisers can hold their advertising media accountable for results - or lack of them. "Spend this much, realize this many sales" has become a simple formula that's used by more businesses each day.
This formula has now come to radio through Google Audio Adwords, SWMX, and Bid4Spots.
But, selling these ads is only one side. Serving the ads is the other part of this equation that radio industry execs are now just beginning to understand. "How do you sell a campaign across multiple stations?" has been answered by the above companies. "Serving" those ads from multiple sources, so a station is not just limited to one of these companies, is a critical element in this new system. And that's where Spacial Audio's new StreamAds® technology bursts through. Multiple advertising suppliers - agencies, rep firms and radio groups that have sold more avails than they can deliver - can now be funneled through one ad insertion system. This is attractive software for any radio station to have.
Selling radio advertising online is starting to grow. Of more importance, though, is that Spacial Audio's StreamAds® technology gives stations the power to serve ads from multiple suppliers. Also note: "Buy Now" buttons within online radio station players are becoming standard.
Radio revenue will rise as the industry embraces each of these - which it eventually will.
With the power to obtain near-to-real-time reports on the audience (which all the above-mentioned online radio advertising sales systems posses), the client now has the ability to track radio advertising results. There's no going back once an advertiser sees that they can hold their media accountable.
There's no going back to selling by rate card, either.
Radio, meet reality.
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