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January 27, 2010
Direct Response Radio Advertising And Social Media - What's the Best Approach?
It's well known that direct response radio advertising drives oodles of web activity. Failing to catch it and measure it is the affliction of far too many campaigns. But just when you thought you had the web figured out, along comes social media. What the heck?
So, what should businesses who've relied on direct response advertising - and the direct, sales-driving effects that are crucial to their profitability - do?
Here's our take, which is still evolving on almost a weekly basis.
First, don't change a thing you're doing to capture and measure the web activity driven by your direct response campaign. You simply must do this - otherwise you won't be able to optimize your media spend to maximize profitability.
Second, if your product targets an audience that engages with online social media like Facebook or Twitter or the like, then you will further enhance your products' life and profitability if you establish a presence using social media marketing.
"Facebook has become the most popular destination on the web for U.S. mothers. Moms who use Facebook say that keeping in touch with friends and family is their biggest motivation to log on, but they're also receptive to marketing, if it's done right."
For example, let's say you market an educational product that helps young kids learn to read. Your ads will talk to the buyers, the Moms. Well, according to this article and related research, moms are huge on Facebook. In this case, you'd be crazy not to pursue a social media strategy - in addition to, not instead of - your direct response campaign. Even though incremental sales will undoubtedly result, social media appears to be a much stronger brand-building opportunity than a sales-driving opportunity. Few businesses have the luxury to do one without the other.
Obviously a social media strategy won't be right for everybody. But for some direct response advertisers it is a no-brainer. If you do decide to implement a Social Media strategy, one social media agency we can confidently recommend is Room214. They make lots of good info available free at their Capture the Conversation site, including an insightful blog, helpful articles as well as podcasts and even video tutorials.
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Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely
Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell
Made to Stick, Heath & Heath
The Power of Persuasion, Robert Levine
Influence: Science & Practice, Cialdini
Words That Work, Frank Lutz
My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising, Claude C. Hopkins
Or Your Money Back, Alvin Eicoff
Being Direct, Lester Wunderman
Radio Blog
Comments
Great point Jeff and Brett,
With social media - especially with Facebook, you can get very granular with ad targeting. So if in the example above you wanted to after a target of moms in a specific geographic region you could do that.
The other thing is that platforms like Facebook and Twitter are viral in their nature. So one mom tries the system and likes it - she thumbs up or joins your Facebook page - all of her friends see it.
So in a sense - it's the digital word-of-mouth that can quickly move a campaign's total response rate.
As a social media agency - we love the idea of integrating DR radio into the process - the awareness needs to start somewhere - and capturing and leveraging that awareness is pot of gold.
Posted by: James Clark | January 29, 2010 10:45 AM