Radio advertising that delivers
measurable results and profitable new customers

« Previous | Main | Next »

July 06, 2006

Ironman Lessons For Radio Advertising

Building a successful radio advertising campaign can seem like a monumental undertaking. When you step back and see how many elements must come together for the campaign to be profitable and achieve some degree of longevity, it can seem overwhelming.

The same can be said for the Ironman. The idea of completing a 140.6 mile swim, bike, and run event - in a single day - can seem way out of the realm of possibility.

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to take part in the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. As I reflect on the experience that lasted over a 6 month period culminating on race day (June 25, 2006), I'm struck by how many aspects of the Ironman experience are relevant to building successful direct response radio advertising campaigns. Here are my top seven observations.

1. Have a plan. To prepare for completing the Ironman, you don't simply go out and randomly swim, bike, and run whenever and however much you desire. No, you (actually your coach - see #2) develop a training plan. That plan is your 6+ month roadmap. Follow it and you'll have the best chance of success on race day. But it's not a random plan. It is a plan that is based on what is known about how the body adapts to training - things like periodization, training zones, and nutrition. While all plans are customized to each individual, they are also all based in this information. Success in radio advertising also requires a plan, one that is customized while also informed by the best knowledge about what works and what doesn't in direct response radio advertising. Deviating from the plan significantly lowers the chance of success for the campaign.

2. Consult Experts. You need the wisdom of experts to assist you in completing the Ironman, and the same is true with radio advertising. Without experts, you wouldn't know start wide on the swim to avoid the "floating bar fight" that ensues over the 2.4 miles, or to avoid solid food in T1, or how to pace your bike or take in enough calories so you aren't forced out of the race on the run. There seem to be hundreds of little details that could knock you out of the race. The same applies to radio advertising. There are numerous pitfalls that you wouldn't know to avoid if you don't work with people who've been there many times before.

3. Success is available to anyone. You're thinking "no way, I could never do that". You're wrong. I know, because not more than two years ago I said the same thing. And there are 2,000 other people on race day who at one point in their life very likely said it, too. The reality is this: if you follow the right process, you can do it. The same is true in building a successful radio advertising campaign. I'm not saying that success will be served up without some blood, sweat or tears, but I am saying that all campaigns have the potential to be successful and the #1 way to maximize the chances of success is to follow a smart campaign development process.

4. Multiple types of discipline are required. This isn't just about completing the workouts, or getting up early for the workouts, or feeding your body properly. It's also the kind of discipline required to reign in the ego when others are passing by so you race your own race plan. It's the kind required to take in liquid and calories when you don't feel like eating. Success in radio advertising works the same way. Discipline is required not just in product development and vendor selection, but also in sticking with the proper creative development process, keeping ego in check, and staying methodical about the testing design so you can glean and apply the insights that result.

5. In Ironman, you get time splits and a finishing time. In direct response radio, you get CPL's, close rates, average revenue per sale, and a media ratio. In Ironman, finishing is good, similar to earning a profit in direct response radio, while "dnf-ing" (did not finish) is like seeing a media ratio below break-even.

6. Control what you can. In both Ironman and radio advertising, some things are out of your control even with the best of planning. You know before you go in that there will be tough times, trying times, so you prepare mentally for them so you endure with as much equanimity as possible. Weather, bodily breakdown, competitor moves, legal, manufacturing, natural disasters, and other problems can strike unexpected blows to the best athletes and advertisers. So you plan, prepare and execute as best as possible to ensure the highest chance of a positive outcome. At the end of the day, you know you've gone as far as you can to reach your potential.

7. It's about connection. The lasting satisfaction from the Ironman experience comes not from winning, placing high, or beating others. Any satisfaction from these things is fleeting, by their very nature. The lasting satisfaction comes from connection that is created by the entire experience - connection with yourself by reaching for your potential, with friends and family who've supported you, with race volunteers who handed out food, water and endless cheer, and with other triathletes who swam, biked, and ran along the same 140.6 mile course. In radio advertising, lasting success also results when connection is created - between you, your company, your product, your vendors, and the customers. Connection is the essence of an effective radio commercial that initiates the first sale, and connection is the essential driver of the repeat purchases behind a campaign that achieves success over the long term. Indeed, connection is the common thread among the best radio campaigns. Create it and you flourish, reduce or destroy it, perish.

Posted by Brett Astor at 01:33 PM | Permalink