The Mass Media Myth

The Mass Media Myth

by | Jul 17, 2019 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, ScLoHo's Web World, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Continuing my series based on Roy Williams article about Advertising Oversimplified with my thoughts on points 2 and 3…

Roy talks about Mass Media and targeting your advertising message:

They call it “mass media” for a reason: it reaches the masses. Consequently, you can’t really target using mass media. (TV, radio, billboards)

But don’t worry about that. Use mass media anyway. Targeting is overrated and ridiculously overpriced.

I just got my hands on the latest ratings for radio listenership and I’m going to use that to prove Roy wrong.

Sort of.

Since I have my hands in both the traditional mass media and the new digital media worlds, I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two, (to borrow the tag line from Farmers Insurance ads.)

I’m going to clear up some misconceptions about targeted digital ads first.

The people selling you these highly targeted ads are liars. Most of them don’t know they are lying because they don’t dig deep enough to see who those targeted ads are really going to.  When I sold them, I only dug deep enough to see the good stuff, but when I looked deeper, below the surface, I pretty much stopped selling targeted digital ads.

Why?  Because all the targeting and algorithms and “stuff” just wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

For example, when I examined the response rate of a targeted campaign and saw where we were getting clicks and somewhere from locations that we did NOT target, I started to see the cracks in the not-so-perfect world of targeted digital ads.

Heck you probably have seen so-called targeted ads when you are online, maybe playing a game on your phone and you keep getting ads for dog food which you’ll never buy because you don’t own a dog.  True story.  That was my story recently.  You probably can come up with your own now that I’ve pointed this out to you.

So the alternative to digital ads that are targeted is to use mass media, as Roy mentioned.

Mass media reaches the masses.

In the most recent radio rating survey for Metropolitan Fort Wayne, Indiana, they listed the area has a population of 460,900 people age 12 and older. The radio station with the most weekly listeners had 141,202 listeners. while the station with the smallest audience had 4,936 weekly listeners.

That’s a huge difference.

However there is more to the story than just the number of listeners.  Each station has a format that attracts fans as listeners and those fans/listeners have characteristics about them.  The station with the largest audience is mine, WOWO radio with a news and talk format. Also in the top 10 are a Pop Music Station, a Country Music Station, a Rock Music station, a Public Broadcasting station,  a Contemporary Christian Music station,  a Classic Hits Music station, a Soft Pop/Rock Music station, a Hip-Hop Music station and a Classic Rock Music station.

That’s just the top 10 of 29 stations that had enough listeners to get mentioned in the Spring Rating period.  There are also another dozen stations in the area that didn’t make it because their weekly audiences are even smaller.

The point is that each of these radio stations have an audience that you can target with your advertising simply by advertising on the stations that have the target listeners that you want to invite to your business.

You can target with mass media.

I’ll even give you a deeper example that I have with my station, WOWO.

We just launched a new weekly feature and a new weekend talk show that is focused on health news.

My friend Lee Kelso, whom I’ve known since we were in our early 20’s, is now WOWO radio’s health news correspondent.

WOWO radio’s audience of 140,000+  has less than 1,000 teenagers and less than 7,000 18 to 24 year olds.

That means 95% of WOWO’s audience is age 25 and older.

When we reach the age of 45, our interest in health and well being increase significantly compared to when we were in our 20’s.

WOWO’s audience of people age 45 and older is 70% of our listeners.

Once a week on Tuesday Mornings at 7:10, Lee Kelso reports with his 5 minute HealthCall feature during Fort Wayne’s Morning News with Kayla Blakeslee.  Lee also does another report on Health most Thursday afternoons during a segment on the Pat Miller Program also on WOWO Radio.   Our news department also uses Lee’s stories in their regular newscasts.  

All of this HealthCall stuff that Lee Kelso does during the week reaches the masses of people who listen to WOWO each week.

That’s one way we’ve combined mass media with a targeted message matched with an audience that has a significant number of listeners who are interested in the targeted health messages.

But wait, there’s more…

We have now launched an hour long Saturday morning talk show called, you guessed it: HealthCall Live! 

Hosted by Lee Kelso, HealthCall Live features interviews with health care professionals and listeners call in and ask the doctors questions.

The Saturday HealthCall Live radio show on WOWO is very targeted.  If you don’t care about health, then you’ll find something else to listen to during that hour.  But if a doctor or health care practice wants to target their message directly to the people they want to serve, this is it.

See, mass media, when used properly can also be targeted media if you work with someone who knows how all this works.

(That’s me, waving my hand.)

Want to know more?  Contact me: Scott@WOWO.com

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Are Your Employees REALLY Working?

Are Your Employees REALLY Working?

by | Jul 6, 2019 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

An old business owner joke goes like this; a reporter one day asked the CEO of a major company, “So, how many employees are working in your company?”  The CEO replied, “approximately half of them”.

 

It’s funny, but the problem is, it’s not necessarily a joke!  Today with the ever-expanding network of digital and social capabilities, the problem is getting worse, not better.

 

A fortune.com article stated that the average worker spends a full day of the work week doing things other than, work!  Paying an employee for 8 hours and getting only 6 hours of quality time is troubling, at the least.

 

According to an article posted by thebalancecareers.com, the most significant reasons why workers waste time were:

 

35% were not challenged enough

32% felt that there was no incentive to work harder

30% got no satisfaction from what they do, and

23% were just downright bored.

 

It’s no surprise that motivated employees with clear expectations get more done than those that simply show up and do what they “think” should be done.  The trick is, how do you keep them motivated?

 

I have a list of  “10 Leadership Tasks to Inspire Performance”  that suggests it starts with hiring. Hire on attitude and effort, you can train them on the skills required. Task #4  on the list suggests you have “clear expectations”.  Most people appreciate clear direction and boundaries and will “respect only what you inspect”.  Make sure they understand that doing non-work-related tasks are not tolerated, and you can bet the time wasted will be far less.

Now there is a fine line or grey area between wasting time on the job and taking a break.  It really depends on the requirements of the job and clear expectations set at the beginning.  Most employees don’t want to be micro-managed but they may need some help and guidance at first. 

In our company, we strive to use a coaching instead of managing set-up.  Because of the different roles people play, some have more flexibility while others need to follow procedures to the T.  Our on-air staff at the radio stations have to be on time.  As a former radio personality who sometimes worked non-traditional hours, I know how important punctuality is.  Same with meetings.  Time is a valuable resource for everyone.

Yet sometimes brainstorming, research and creativity can’t be easily measured or monitored by a time clock.  The coaching model of employee management takes into consideration the individuals work style along with the requirements of the job and finds a way to make it work. 

You may wonder what does any of this have to do with media, marketing and advertising that I usually write about.

Here’s the answer:

Your staff are a huge part of your marketing.  The customer experience can turn a first time caller or visitor into a life long customer, or it can create such a negative experience that you lose their business forever.

Even if I can bring you enough leads and potential customers through an advertising program to make you a millionaire, unless you treat them right, you will go broke.  And when I say you, I mean your entire team.

If you would like a copy of the “10 Leadership Tactics to Inspire Performance”, click here. 

I also invite you to subscribe to my Sound ADvice marketing newsletter for tips on running a better business, you can subscribe in the box below.

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Summertime – Fun Time!

Summertime – Fun Time!

by | Jul 2, 2019 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Regardless of what part of the country you live in, North or South, East or West, for most, summertime is a fun time and a great time to launch and execute promotions for your business.

The next time you are planning a significant event or promotion, consider the power of live radio remotes. 

But let me also include a word of caution: If you’re not REALLY having an event or promotion, DO NOT have a live remote broadcast. Live remote broadcasts can be one of the most exciting and profitable traffic builders you can buy, if…  you don’t expect your remote to be the event but, use it to promote your event.

All too often advertisers depend on and expect radio personalities, station vehicles, tents, swag (prizes) and the immediacy of live broadcasts to create a successful event.  There is more to it than that!

Sure, a small percentage of people will show up simply for the “free stuff” and the excitement of having a radio station and personality at your business, but the goal of an event or promotion is really three-fold:

1)    Drive immediate traffic

2)    Increase sales for that specific event or promotion

3)    Increase awareness to your business

…and a bonus is reason 4) Residual business.  A well-executed event powered by a live remote broadcast can drive more traffic in the select days that follow the remote than it did the day of the remote.

The remote broadcast should not be about the radio station.  It’s key that the majority of the focus be on the specials you have for this specific event.  Giveaways and registrations are great and can add excitement, but make sure they play second fiddle to the business and the promotion.

At Federated Media, the company I work for, I have a couple of exceptions to all of this.

The first is Station Events.  With our 6 radio stations, through out the year, we have our events that your company can be involved with. Take for example the Rock n Brew event that had over 2 dozen brewers take part in an event at our downtown baseball stadium.  Our rock radio station 98.9 The Bear was the host station last month and we did some live remote breaks from the event that featured some of the sponsors and participants.  This is different from having a live radio remote at your business location.

Another example of a Station Event that I take part in is our Fort Wayne Job Fairs.  Again this event is hosted by Federated Media and we use the promotional power of all our stations on air and online to invite candidates to our event that we hold in the spring and fall each year.  About 30 companies pay to have a booth at the event.  

Here’s the other exception I’ve been doing successfully for the past several years in partnership with Doc Dancer Heating and Air Conditioning. Around the first weekend of March, a promoter puts on the annual Home and Garden Show at the Memorial Coliseum.  Over 100,000 people attend to visit the booths of over 100 companies and one of those companies is Doc Dancer.  Friday afternoon, we have our afternoon talk show, the Pat Miller Program broadcast live from the Doc Dancer Heating and Air Conditioning booth at the Home and Garden Show on WOWO Radio.  What makes this an exception to a traditional Live Radio Remote Broadcast is that instead of broadcasting from the business site of Doc Dancer, we broadcast from a huge event that Doc Dancer is a part of and where we know there are going to be a heck of a lot of people.

Live Radio Remotes are not for every business and there are certain things to keep in mind before saying yes.

If you would like to see a guide titled “12 Tips to Successful Remotes” click here, and Good Luck with your next event!

 

 

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The Online and On-The-Air Marketing Mix

The Online and On-The-Air Marketing Mix

by | Jun 19, 2019 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

If you are a business owner or in charge of handling the marketing and advertising, a wise thing to do is to pay close attention to what the BIG GUYS are doing.

The “Big Guys”, the likes of GEICO, Home Depot, Proctor & Gamble and others, have huge budgets to track what works and what does not work in advertising. And they have marketing experts to think strategically in all of their planning.

There’s a strategic reason why GEICO and Home Depot remain strong radio advertisers and why Proctor & Gamble, after a short but strong run with digital, has come back to radio. These successful marketers understand something about their customers that most of their customers don’t even understand about themselves.

They understand the difference between HOW people buy, and WHY people buy.

The internet is where people do their due diligence and research, just before they purchase. They are trying to justify what they already believe based on Pre-Need Branding advertising that helped you decide WHAT you wanted to buy. They search online to learn more about the prices, warranties, policies, and technical specs of what they are about to buy.

But the smart advertisers understand that their digital media is typically not why people choose to buy from a particular business. The “why” is the pre-need preference and feelings great marketers create before their prospects search online.

Broadcast INSPIRES – Internet INFORMS!

It’s okay for you to steal proven marketing strategies from the big advertisers. Proctor & Gamble, GEICO, and Home Depot have already made a considerable investment to determine the most successful media strategies, and they use “radio to inspire, internet to inform”.

What I just shared with you is from my free email marketing newsletter, Sound ADvice that you can sign up for below.  

I’ve got a couple more tips to share with you right now…

Because you probably aren’t the size of the big advertisers I just mentioned, your advertising budget probably isn’t as large as theirs either.

It’s going to take more than a scaled down copy cat strategy, we really need to dig in an do our best to make the most of the ad dollars you have to get the best return on investment and help your business grow.  I can help.

I have several WOWO radio advertising partners that are doing both online and on-the-air advertising and marketing and I help them with the messaging on both.

Contact me and we’ll get started on what is appropriate for you. 

 

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Boomers Still Have The Money

Boomers Still Have The Money

by | Jun 13, 2019 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Last month when my wife and I were on vacation, the publication Mediapost shared a story that I was living at the moment.

My wife and I are Baby Boomers.

Our kids are Millennials.

The business world, or more specifically the advertising world, is focused on convincing our kids to spend their money with them, which is great except…

Except they are ignoring the Boomers.

And guess who really has the money to spend on stuff.

Boomers.

Boomers Still Have The Money.

Our kids are having kids.  5 kids and their partners have created 9 grandkids.

When you have 2 or 3 kids to support, life as a 30 year old is expensive, no matter how much you make.

But when you are an empty nester, you have more choices on what to spend your paycheck on.  

And usually that paycheck is just as big or bigger in your 50’s than it was in your 20’s and 30’s.

The Mediapost article asks:

Why do advertisers ignore boomers to focus on the “it” demos: millennials and Gen Z?

Although millennials officially outnumber boomers, let’s not forget the spending power wielded by boomers.

Age is just a number to boomers, who aren’t sitting at home wondering how to connect to the WiFi and counting the minutes until they take their next round of pills. Instead, they are traveling, spend time outdoors — and, according to U.S. News & World Report, control 70% of the country’s disposable income and spend $3.2 trillion a year.

You see, that’s what we were doing.  I had 11 days off counting the Memorial Day holiday and a couple of weekends, so my wife and I traveled to Philadelphia and New York City.  We saw a Broadway musical, took time sight seeing and exploring some historic landmarks.  We hiked in the woods, ate what we wanted, stayed in nice hotels, treated our friends and had a great time.  We really didn’t need to save up for this trip, and we didn’t go into debt.

Meanwhile my younger coworkers, whose incomes are similar to mine enjoyed their 3 day Memorial Day weekends and had to spend a larger percent of their take home pay on regular living expenses for their families.

Are you getting the picture?

Here’s another quote from Mediapost:

Millennials and hot on their tail Gen Z may have some money to spend now — but boomers have it yesterday, today and tomorrow. Targeting boomers might not be as Instagrammable as a millennial demo, but it is instantly gratifying.

Advertisers, for years, were targeting the youth.  I was one of the Pepsi Generation of the 1960’s and 70’s. The sought after age demographic, when I started in the radio business was 18 to 34 year olds.

Then as that group of people who we now refer to as Baby Boomers got a little older, the desirable demographic for advertisers was 25 to 54 year olds.  That worked for awhile, when Baby Boomers were still in the age group, but now the boomers have aged out.  Boomers are now 55 and older.

The so called wise-ones in the advertising world have it wrong.

A mere 10% of marketing budgets is allocated to the boomer audience, while 50% goes to marketing to millennials.

and

Baby Boomers outspend every other generation by $400 billion annually, providing over 50 percent of U.S. consumption.

So, how can you, as a business owner or advertising marketing director, get some of this Boomer Money?

Simple.

Invite Boomers to spend money with you.

Set aside an appropriate amount of your advertising to reach the Boomers.

I currently work with three radio stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I have a rock music station, a sports talk station and a news talk station.

The news talk station, WOWO is king.  It is the station that Baby Boomers grew up listening to back when they played music and it was a personality radio station.  WOWO still is a personality driven radio station with our news and talk format, it is the leading station for all grown-ups and the most listened to by Boomers.

The advertisers that are using WOWO to invite Boomers to spend money are doing very well these days.  

I have a couple of travel agencies that each promoted special vacations to Ireland and Alaska. (Those were two separate trips.) I saw over 50 WOWO listeners and their friends pony up the bucks to go on these exclusive trips and we in the planning stages for next year.  That’s just one example I bring up because of my vacation travels last month.

What else are WOWO radio’s Baby Boomer listeners spending money on?

Health care.

Financial Planning.

Home improvements and new homes.

Nielsen established that boomers spend almost $90 billion a year on cars — nearly 30% more than other age groups. 

and remember those grandkids and their parents?  

We spend money on them too!

Honestly, if you want to grow your business over the next few years, contact me about inviting Boomers who Still Have Money to spend it with you.  Drop me a note to Scott@WOWO.com 

Also for more marketing tips and insight, you can subscribe to my free weekly newsletter titled Sound ADvice in the box below.

 

 

 

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How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on WOWO Radio?

How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on WOWO Radio?

by | Jun 6, 2019 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Most of the business people I talk to these days are listeners to one of the radio stations I work with but they are not necessarily advertising partners with me, yet.

A big question that comes up is, “How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on WOWO Radio?”

When I started this year, I decided to focus my time and energy on working with people who listened to the radio station I work with.  In years past, I was also offering digital online services that I can also help you with through our digital department.  I will still do that, but the first criteria I am looking for is that you are familiar with WOWO.  If you listen to WOWO, we have a common bond, because I am also a fan and listener.

There are at least a half dozen factors that come into play when coming up with an answer to your question, “How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on WOWO Radio?”

Let’s take a look at them:

  1. Time of Day Your Ad Runs.  Certain times of the day cost more than others.  Nearly every time I work with a business, I place their ads in one of the most listened to times of the day for our radio station.  Why?  I want your advertising message to be heard by as many listeners as possible that can become your customer.  According to the latest rating information I have, over 118,000 people in the Fort Wayne area listen to WOWO every week.  Over 90% of them listen weekdays between 5 in the morning and 6 in the evening.  About 30% of them listen after 6pm. Ads that run during the day cost more than ads in the evenings on WOWO because of the audience size.
  2. Inventory.  We are very straight forward with our prices and use a supply and demand system. Every week or two, I get an updated rate card. This rate card tells me:
    1. How many ad slots we have sold and how many are still available
    2. It is divided by the different shows that air each week and also has a different rate for each week.
    3. If a show is 85% sold out or more, it will cost you $100 for your commercial to air.  If we are 100% sold out, we will still put your ad on WOWO, but you will have to pay more.  $125 up to $200, depending on the demand. 
    4. When inventory is tight, then ads that were bought at a lower price risk getting bumped.  I see this happening a lot a few times every year.
    5. There are times when commercial advertising inventory is less than 85% sold out and our prices are lowered to reflect that when it occurs.  However, that has become much more rare.
    6. My pledge to you is to get you the best price for your advertising campaign that takes all of this into consideration. Which brings me to another factor that determines the cost of advertising on WOWO Radio:
  3. Type of Ad. At WOWO, I have more options than nearly any other radio station I have worked with. Here’s a listing of some of the types of ads I may have available for your business with WOWO:
    1. Recorded 60 second ads
    2. Recorded 30 second ads
    3. Recorded 15 second ads
    4. Recorded 10 second ads
    5. Streaming ads heard online during our radio shows
    6. Live 60 second endorsement ads
    7. Live 10 second news/weather/sports sponsorships ads
    8. Recorded 5 to 10 second sponsorship ads
    9. Live Remote Broadcasts
    10. 30 minute (or longer) radio shows and podcasts
    11. Special Feature Sponsorships
    12. …Some other idea we come up with and get approval for 
  4. Number of ads. I do not sell one ad.  This is not worth your money or my time.  It is not effective, it is not the best practice by anyone’s standards.  Instead, I create campaigns that include numerous ads.  Now when I say ad, I am talking about the actual airing of an ad. When I am putting together a schedule for your advertising campaign, I prefer to air at least 10 ads per week in a 3 or 4 hour radio show that airs 5 days a week.  That means you are buying a majority of the show and reaching a majority of the listeners. I will gladly explain this to you in person and I’ll probably write another article and podcast on this subject.
  5. Talent Fees. This is a fee that is paid to an air talent or production talent that goes above and beyond the money spend on the air time for your ad airing on WOWO.  Those 60 second live endorsement ads you hear on WOWO, the radio host is getting paid extra for giving their endorsement and testimonial for those ads. Again, I’ll go more in depth in the future.  We also have a talent fee for writing ads if we use certain copy writers and producers on staff.  I usually don’t do this, but if there is a fee, we pass that along.
  6. Extras… Need a jingle?  I have connections.  Want to be a presenting sponsor for an event? We may have that event available for sponsorship.  Want to have one of our national talk show hosts record your ad?  That is also available under the right conditions and for a fee.

Bottom line is, if you need help, let’s talk and see what makes sense.  My goal is to make it profitable for you to become an advertising partner with me. 

And the real bottom line regarding, “How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on WOWO Radio?”  I have advertising partners who spend over $100,000 per year and some that spend $30,000 a year or less.  Contact me, Scott@WOWO.com

As a side note:

I work primarily with WOWO Radio however, I also can help you with our local ESPN Sports Talk Station and with our companies Rock Station, 98.9 The Bear.  These are 3 of the local radio stations owned and operated by Federated Media in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I can also connect you with the appropriate Federated Media co-workers that handle advertising on our other stations, WMEE, K-105 and BIG 92.3.

 

Looking for more free marketing tips?  Sign up for my free Sound ADvice newsletter below:

 

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