Friday, April 13, 2012 | Edited by Daniel Moores
Radio Remains at Core of Consumers' Media Habits

Arbitron and Edison Research have released their 20th joint study called The Infinite Dial 2012: Navigating Digital Platforms. The complete study is available from either company's website (www.arbitron.com, www.edisonresearch.com).

RAB's research team dug deep into the data. Two of the most interesting findings: Those individuals who are heavy Internet users are also above-average radio users, and consumers' time with digital media is not coming totally from traditional media...total time with media is increasing.

Findings include mobile as a driving force for online radio's continued upward trajectory. Here are a few of the mobile highlights:
  • Forty-four percent of all Americans age 12 and over own a smartphone, representing half of all cell phone owners.
  • Six in ten (61 percent) own a portable digital media device such as a smartphone, portable MP3 player or tablet; 40 percent own an Apple device (iPod/iPhone/iPad).
  • Americans age 45 and older represent the largest percentage increase in social media usage in the past year, now up to 38 percent (from 31 percent in 2011), while the heaviest social media users are younger demographics with 12-24-year-olds over 80 percent.
  • Seventeen percent of all cell phone owners have listened to online radio streamed in their cars by connecting their phones to their car stereo system; this is an increase of more than 50% in the past year when only 11 percent had ever done so.
  • Heavy radio and heavy Internet users are more likely to be employed than heavy TV or heavy print users.
You will soon find many of the resources on RAB.com updated to include these new findings. Know that radio remains at the core of consumers' media consumption habits, and digital continues to be an expansion opportunity for radio.

(Source: John Potter, VP/Training, RAB)
Conversions, Not Clicks, Key to Display Ads

Marketers are often taught that click-through rates and conversion rates are the most effective metrics for analyzing their return on investment for online advertising.

But smart marketers understand that even if a display ad generates few clicks, it is doing valuable work for a company.

Here's why.

Display advertising is often the first step in the lead generation process. In many cases, a display ad campaign can provide a prospect's initial point of contact with your company. Although the prospect may not click on the ad, the display advertisement will create brand familiarity and trust, priming the individual for future conversion opportunities when he or she is ready to make a purchase.

While targeted keyword search campaigns are ideal for converting prospects who have already entered "buy mode," display advertising can help marketers reach a much larger potential audience base. A display ad can even help a prospect recognize a need for a product or vendor solution before he or she has actively started searching.

Display advertising provides a substantial lift to paid-search marketing campaigns. Running a display ad campaign alongside a paid-search campaign has been shown to significantly increase sales volume. For instance, the customer relationship management solution provider Salesforce.com discovered that running a display campaign alongside a search campaign increased branded search and conversion volume by 80 percent.

Branded display ads often lead consumers to make purchases offline. A recent series of studies into consumer packaged goods purchases by comScore and dunnhumbyUSA found that in-store shoppers who had previously been exposed to online advertising of any form were likely to spend 21% more than customers who had not been exposed to online advertisements.

Search and display ad campaigns together can lead to a particularly dramatic increase in in-store sales. Shoppers who had previously been exposed to both search and display ads for a particular store were likely to spend 83% more than shoppers who had received no advertising exposure, according to a Yahoo and comScore study titled "Research Online, Buy Offline: The Impact of Online Pre-Shopping on Consumer Shopping Behavior," 2007.

Retargeting is an effective method to increase brand familiarity and lead prospects into the sales funnel. If a consumer has searched for your product or been to your company's Web site in the past, you can use a retargeting campaign to show the prospect display ads for your site or product as he or she continues to browse the Web. While prospects will not always click on these display ads, this retargeting approach will keep your brand at the forefront of your prospect's mind, serving as an essential component in the lead nurturing process.

Focus on overall conversions, not clicks. Rather than focusing on how many clicks a particular ad receives, marketers should instead take a wide-angle look at ad campaigns and how they convert into sign-ups and sales. To increase conversions:
  • Hire a creative team to perfect the branding image and call-to-action in a banner ad.
  • Create concurrent search ad campaigns to run alongside display campaigns.
  • Focus on specifically targeting and retargeting specific types of desirable prospects.
Large brands are taking these lessons to heart. They are investing heavily in display advertising, with a 38% increase in display campaigns between the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011. For smaller companies as well, increasing marketing expenditures on display ad campaigns in combination with paid-search marketing could prove to be a wise investment for raising brand awareness and increasing sales.

(Source: Russell Glass, Marketing Daily Commentary, 04/10/12)
It's April. Time to Get Your Strategy in Order for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

I know what you are thinking, the 2012 holiday season is more than eight months away. That's a lifetime for many of us, but not for brands.

For these businesses, March and April are when the teams put together their game plan for the season that this year will kick off one day early.

With that, let's look at some of areas that marketers should consider for the upcoming season. First, as I alluded to above, they must be ready to begin the holiday push earlier. How much earlier?

Traditionally, Black Friday has served as the launching point of the season with brands focusing all their energy on that day. However, in 2011 we learned that Thanksgiving Day doesn't just kick off holiday football, but also the quest to find the best deals.

Last year sales on Thanksgiving grew by nearly 40 percent over the previous year. Translation? There is a huge amount at stake on that day, a day that traditionally was spent enjoying a meal with friends and family. With the day expanding to include a post-meal course of online shopping, retailers must plan to target the Turkey Day shopper with compelling offers while building a plan that sustains interest into Black Friday, over the weekend and into Cyber Monday.

When it comes to targeting shoppers, one method retailers should be considering are QR codes. It's true that QR codes have not lived up to their promise thus far, but one year ago we were saying the same thing about the mobile shopper. My point is that today the mobile stars are aligned and QR codes are ready to deliver. Retailers that embrace this technology now may be the ones making front-page news with their customers.

Beyond mobile, another area that is picking up momentum is social media. Last fall I spoke to far too many retailers who discounted the notion that social shopping could make significant contributions to their bottom lines. Others just threw up their hands in frustration, saying something along the lines of "I just don't understand how to use it to drive revenue."

These are the kinds of perspectives that drive retailers out of business. The fact is that the Internet has evolved from a click-based experience to a people-based experience, where the opinions for your networks matter most. Perhaps my colleague Yuchun Lee put it best when he said that social media is like "truth serum" for businesses.

With that, huddle up with your team and start asking how plugged in are you to the social channels. Are you looking at how your customers are behaving on social media? Not just Facebook and Twitter, but other sites across the Web and even your own site where consumers frequently post comments about their shopping experiences.

Next, are you able to identify patterns in how consumers are sharing specials and promotions within their networks which you can replicate and amplify in 2012?

In addition to social buying and sharing patterns, you should be examining social sentiment. In recent posts I have discussed this concept in depth so I won't delve into all the details, other than to say that now is the time to shift the focus from the social sentiment of the Superbowl champion New York Giants and the Oscars to the sentiment of your brand online.

Examine how consumers perceive your company. What are you saying? Which of your products or campaigns are generating the most buzz? Is there any negative discussion? If so, what are they saying and can you fix it now? These insights are huge and can help you predict your customers' buying behavior and avoid any potential mishaps.

The way consumers shop has certainly changed in recent times, with buyers consistently shopping across channels. With that, it's time that business leaders investigate how customers interact with their brand through a new lens.

This insight will allow businesses to not only tap into these vibrant conversations, but also determine how best to service these newly empowered customers on their terms. The business leaders who put in the time now to really understand their customers might be the brands I end up talking your ear off about this time next year.

(Source: John Squire, Director of Digital Marketing and Analytics, IBM, writing for Advertising Age, 04/04/12)

Daily Sales Tip: There is No Such Thing as a Cold Call...At Least There Shouldn’t Be

Before you pick up the phone to call a prospect for an appointment, do your homework.

Look through your LinkedIn contacts to see if you have a connection to the prospect, check out Facebook to gather intelligence about the prospect, and review the prospective advertiser's website.

Knowing this information will put you head and shoulders above the dozens of other salespeople calling on this decision-maker.

Source: John Potter, VP/Training, RAB

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