As is often the case on the move to tomorrow, you'll find people who embrace new concepts and those who hold on to the past. A recent message at the Google Inside AdWords blog has drawn attention to what the future holds for advertisers, online. It also gives cause to visit radio station web sites, to see if the radio industry is any closer to falling in-line with Google and its attempt to educate advertisers on getting more response.
Consider this headline: "AdWords brings you insight about the competitive landscape." Read a short explanation on how an online giant continues leading its clients to better results. Keep in mind that nearly all major online advertising players offer the same sort of education process for people who choose to spend money with them. In short, this blog entry gives advertisers a chance to see how their advertising response rates stack up against competitors. If there's hope in stopping the flow of ad dollars to new media, the radio industry needs to start sorting out how radio advertisers can receive a similar set of guidelines.
We won't spend time on the Google side. What you need to know about it can be learned there.
But let's spend a few moments looking at radio industry web sites, and comparing their approach to industry standards.
There are twelve sites in the example below. Each was picked at random and visited to view two items: 1) what happens when a banner ad is clicked, and 2) any evidence that the radio station has become involved with offering advertisers a way to improve response.
Column A shows the station, and Column B the station owner. Links to the ad placed are followed by the landing page or home page of the advertiser in columns C and D. Column E indicates whether the visitor ends up on a home page or landing page. (For this demonstration, we are showing local advertisers on the web sites. We are not considering ads placed by third-party ad-serving networks.)
Note that it's standard practice in online advertising to avoid sending ad-clickers to a client's home page; this makes the customer do work to find the information that a banner ad displays. The preferred method is to create a landing page that speaks directly to the item being sold through the banner. The benefits of doing this are evident. A person clicking on an ad immediately gets to see details on what the ad offers. Construction of a landing page can be tailored to an individual offer, or to give clients the chance to test different landing pages.
The radio industry, online, still lags far behind in this approach to helping a client improve response. In nearly all cases listed above, when an ad was even found on a radio station's web site, there appeared a continuation of the thinking that radio functions to just serve the ad. After that, the client is on their own.
Without a specific landing page for each ad that's being run, the radio station does nothing more than pass a person off to the advertiser - instead of working with the advertiser to make sure their potential customer's response is maximized. This is not the way advertising is being done in new media.
We all are operating in a new advertising environment, where advertisers have different expectations. It's time for the radio industry to acknowledge a need for incorporating some form of accountability - online and off. It is not difficult to offer a client this service for either form of ad delivery. You just have to lose the fear of entering new waters.
The most important improvement in advertising is being able to hand a client a spreadsheet which outlines the exact metrics of their campaign. Google and other online media have this as standard practice now. Until radio offers the same, it will continue to struggle in convincing media buyers that reach is just as important as response.
Spend a few minutes watching this video. It will force a smile - and shows what's keeping traditional media from moving into the future.
