Friday, October 29, 2010 | Edited by Daniel Moores
Using Research to Sell More Digital

The Media Audit released the National Radio Format Report (see article below) and this week we caught up with Phillip Beswick, President of The Media Audit, for a video tip on how to increase digital sales by using research (2:43).
Radio and the Internet: Radio Sees Continued Growth in Website Visits

According to The Media Audit's National Radio Format Report, 17.7% of U.S. adults have visited a radio station's website in the past month, a figure that has grown by 38% in only three years. In 2006, only 12.8% had visited a radio website in the past month. The latest figure represents more than 25 million monthly unique website visitors across The Media Audit's 80 measured markets.

The study also finds that nearly three-quarters of radio website visitors are considered heavy or moderate listeners, listening to radio for almost three hours per day on average.

The findings also reveal that radio station websites are a strong asset for most radio companies looking to strategically bundle their existing stations with their website audiences. According to The Media Audit, 88% of monthly radio website visitors have made one or more e-commerce purchases on the internet in the past year, compared to 63.1% of heavy radio listeners. Furthermore, 36.7% of radio website visitors make twelve or more online purchases in a typical year, a figure that is 61% higher when compared to heavy radio listeners. As a result, advertisers looking to bolster awareness, online transactions and website traffic could do well by combining radio spots with radio website ads, rather than advertising on radio alone.

Listeners to Adult Alternative stations are the most likely to visit radio station websites. According to the study, 33.8% of all listeners to this format have visited a radio station website in the past month, followed by Modern Rock (31.6), Sports (29.4%), News Talk (27.1%), Rock (26.9%), Public Radio (25.8%), Hot Adult Contemporary (HAC) (25.8%), Classic Rock (25.7%), Contemporary Christian (25%), and Dance CHR (24.4%).

Top metro markets for radio website visitors include Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, where 25.4% of the market's population has visited a radio website in the past month. Orlando, Florida ranks second with 22.1% who have visited a radio station website, followed by San Jose, California (21.4%), San Francisco, California (21.3%), and Seattle-Tacoma, Washington (21.3%).

(Source: The Media Audit, 10/26/10)
Consumers Look Online To Verify Purchase Recommendations

American consumers are no longer taking the recommendations of family or friends at face value, according to the latest Cone research. Before deciding whether to purchase recommended products or services, more than four-out-of-five consumers (81%) will go online to verify those recommendations, specifically through researching product/service information (61%), reading user reviews (55%) or searching ratings websites (43%). These are among the findings of the newly released 2010 Cone Online Influence Trend Tracker.

Who Do Consumers Trust?

As consumers have become increasingly impervious to traditional media, marketers have realized that consumers are turning to their personal network of friends, family and acquaintances to confirm their opinions prior to making purchase decisions. Heeding this behavior shift, marketers began targeting consumers' inner circles with word-of-mouth then social media campaigns as the new marketing tipping point for purchase decisions. Today, these campaigns are no longer enough. Data from the 2010 Cone Online Influence Trend Tracker reveal consumers have added yet another step prior to reaching for the credit card -- online verification.

Online Verification: The New Consumerism Norm

Increasing skepticism of traditional media, technology advancements and growing online connectivity have all combined to give consumers ultimate control of their research volume before deciding what, when and how to buy. Thus, personal recommendations alone are no longer enough to guarantee a purchase, as three-quarters of consumers (77%) agree they are more likely to purchase products or services when they can find additional recommendations about them online. Among 25- to 34-year-olds, online verification is even more vital; 91 percent will go online to verify recommendations before making a purchase and nearly the same number (90%) are more likely to purchase products or services after finding additional online recommendations.

Cost Not a Factor, Consumers Verify Product Claims

This information-seeking behavior is not exclusive to high-cost purchases. Consumers will verify recommendations online for products or services at a range of price points, including:
  • Low cost: 72% of Americans would go online to do additional research about recommended movies or restaurants;
  • Moderate cost: 85% would go online to do additional research about recommended computer equipment; and,
  • High cost: 82% would go online to do additional research about a recommended car.
Cost may not be a factor, but the tone of online information plays a powerful role in the purchase decision, often outweighing the initial recommendation. More than two-thirds of consumers (68%) agree negative product or service information found online can be a mitigating factor in deciding whether to purchase. Conversely, positive information reinforces purchase recommendations for a full 80 percent of Americans. Online verification does take on a more crucial role for certain purchase criteria. For example, two-thirds of consumers will go online to verify recommendations about products or services they'll own for many years (66%) or those that have an unfamiliar feature (65%). Product claims are also fair game, as Americans will verify recommended products or services with health and safety claims (66%).

(Source: Cone, September, 2010)

How You Can Make Money:
Create a website section for listener or station personality reviews of businesses, products and services in your community and sell advertising on those pages.

Daily Sales Tip: The Elevator Speech

You've probably heard recommendations before to have an "elevator speech" about what you and your company do that can be delivered in a short elevator ride. Jeffrey Hayzlett expands on the elevator speech in his book, The Mirror Test.

If a prospective client asks what you do, Hayzlett suggests you keep it less than 2 minutes, hook them in the first eight seconds with benefit statements, know your speech cold, and practice your speech.

Be prepared to talk benefits with a prospective advertiser at every opportunity.

Source: John Potter, VP/Training, Radio Advertising Bureau

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