ScLoHo’s Collective Wisdom | The Genuine ScLoHo aka Scott Howard

Brand Building in Dollars and Sense

by Scott Howard | Jun 30, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Did you notice the title of this article has a play on words?

Or did you think it was just a typo?

Brand Building in Dollars and Sense with the word Sense spelled not like the cents we use to refer to money but as sense, as it makes sense or common sense which people say isn’t common anymore. I wonder if my grandparents said that too back in their day.

Anyway, I was reading a couple of different online articles, one from Roy H. Williams, the self proclaimed Wizard of Ads. Roy is a couple years older than me, and has created quite a reputation for media and marketing over the past few decades. He has a free weekly email called the Monday Morning Memo that I subscribe to and if you click on the picture in the email, you travel thru the rabbit hole created for that week. It’s an interesting journey most weeks.

On Monday June 21st, as I traveled thru the rabbit hole of the Monday Morning Memo, Roy shares the story of a client of his. I’m quoting Roy here:

One of my clients asked me to explain our marketing strategy to a guy from a private equity firm that is hoping to buy a chunk of my client’s company for a few hundred million dollars.

When we were retained 7 years ago, the company was bringing in barely $9m a year. Using radio as our primary driver of new business, we did nearly $250m in 2020 and are tracking to surpass $300m in 2021.

Did you catch that? In 7 years this company grew from 9 million in sales to over 300 million dollars this year and advertising on the radio is the primary driver of new business.

Here’s more of Roy’s story:

The private equity guy suggested that we should redirect our radio budget to online advertising because, “no one listens to the radio anymore.”

Now Roy goes into a lengthy and detailed explanation of how radio ratings work and how they know from the ratings service that the private equity dude is wrong. Then he decides to use not just statistics, but the real life example of this particular company.

“The objective of a radio campaign is to become the name the listener thinks of immediately and feels the best about whenever they need what we sell. Today’s ads aren’t meant to sell customers today. Today’s ads are just one more tap of the hammer as we drive our message into their minds. We want to achieve automatic, involuntary recall. Scientists call it ‘procedural memory.’”

And here’s where it gets really good. Roy asks the companies online marketing manager about the traffic they get to their website and she tells them there are just 10 search strings that make up most of the traffic to their website. The top 9 all include the name of the business. That is what the radio ads are doing… Branding the name of the business so when a potential customer needs the product or service, they Google the name of the company to get their contact information.

That last search string that drives people to their website amounts to just 5% of their website clicks. It uses a more generic search string that doesn’t include the company name.

Roy Williams continues:

So without the name recognition and goodwill built through radio, we would have done only 12-and-a-half million dollars last year instead of 250 million dollars.

That’s some real dollars there and it makes a lot of sense, right?

Don’t just take my word or the words of Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads. I also read about the benefits of branding from an article published in June from Nielsen that uses the classic buying funnel example.

WHEN IT COMES TO BRAND BUILDING, AWARENESS IS CRITICAL

The title of the article and the information point out why what Roy was saying works. Targeted online ads may be one of the ways that companies get traffic to their website, but unless their is familiarity of the company or product, we are not likely going to click on it. This familiarity is what brand building does and it’s at the top of the buying funnel.

This Upper Funnel Marketing is actually the foundation that will drive future sales because the future buyer is aware of the company before they have a need. 60% to 80% or more of your radio ads in most cases should focus on Upper Funnel Marketing. You may never need to spend money on the Lower Funnel Marketing which is the conversion stage because if we as marketers do our jobs building the brand reputations, the consumers will actually convert themselves when they have the need or want.

Want to know more about building your brand and growing your business for the future, not just this months sale? Contact me, Scott Howard. Drop me a note to Scott@WOWO.com.

Audio Insights

by Scott Howard | Jun 23, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, ScLoHo's Media, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Of the 5 senses most of us are born with, some have different filtering properties.

Those 5 human senses are

Taste
Touch
Sight
Hearing
Smell

Some of these might diminish as we get older, the most common ones are sight and hearing. Others vary depending on the individual as my wife’s sense of smell is much stronger than mine.

In the media and marketing world that I work with it’s usually the sense of sight and hearing that are most important. And there is one huge difference.

We can close our eyes and stop the visual messaging, but our ears are always listening. Even when we are dead asleep, we can be woken by an unexpected sound, right?

A recent report offers insights on different audio and why people listen to them.

Traditional AM/FM Radio, Owned Music such as CDs, Vinyl Albums, Downloaded MP3s , Music Streaming Services and Podcasts were all examined.

In my role as the General Sales Manager of WOWO radio, a news/talk station that’s nearly 100 years old, I always find these independent studies interesting and they often confirm what I already know.

There has always been an interesting relationship between music radio stations and “record companies”. When I worked for music stations we relied on the records/cds/mp3s for our programming. The record companies relied on the music radio stations to play and promote their recordings because it led to sales of their product.

There has always been a segment of the population that would find ways to get their music without either paying for it, or avoid commercials and the reality is that Never Radio group is actually a tiny percentage of the population. Most of us are consumers of multiple sources of audio.

Let’s dig in to the research.

AM/FM Radio stands alone as the audio most widely used to ‘get information’ and ‘feel connected. Podcast listeners most commonly listen to satisfy their curiosity: they listen ‘to learn something new’ but also ‘to be entertained’ and podcasts are the only audio type where many also listen ‘to be inspired.’

WOWO radio accomplishes this with our news talk format and our Federated Media Podcast network includes both archived highlights and interviews along with original content. On a personal or side note, the growing popularity of podcasts fits in with the current trend to On Demand entertainment that so many of us have been doing with TV viewing.

The top seven activities taking place while listening to AM/FM radio are: commuting by car, shopping/running errands by car, relaxing at home, working, doing chores/gardening, eating breakfast and driving kids to school/activities.

Traditional thinking has been that the most listened to times for radio stations is “drive times” because people are listening as they drive back and forth to work. Looking at the rating data I have for WOWO radio however, our listenership remains strong all day long.

AM/FM radio again carves out a distinct profile, most frequently riding shotgun as listeners commute, shop or run errands in their cars. Listeners to the other types of audio are more homebound, being most likely to listen while ‘relaxing at home.’ Many listeners to podcasts and owned music also listen in the car, unlike music streamers where data charges likely get in the way. AM/FM Radio serves a particularly distinct set of needs and use cases, reaching listeners when they are seeking information and connection and when they are out and about.

Also unique to the talk radio format is what I call “appointment listening”. Some of the most loyal talk radio listeners tune in daily to hear what their favorite talk show host has to share on WOWO. Music radio listeners are less likely to do this and may tune out if the station plays a song they don’t like or too many commercials in a row.

Want to know more about how to invite our listeners to become your customers? Contact me, Scott Howard with an email. Scott@WOWO.com is my email. I also have sponsorship opportunities for our podcasts along with on the radio, and if you’ve ever considered doing your own podcast, we have the tools and technology for that too.

Why Your TV Ads Are Not Working

by Scott Howard | Jun 9, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

It’s not nice to bad mouth others and I try to avoid it.

I also want to be truthful.

Over the next few weeks, I am sharing some information that might sound like I’m bad mouthing others, however I am more interested in providing you with the truth about advertising mediums so you can be smart with your advertising and marketing plans.

Today we look at what has happened to the world of television and why you probably need to rethink your ad plan if you have been a fan of using TV to invite viewers to become your customers.

Trade publication Radio Ink shared some highlights from an article written by Pierre Bouvard of Westwood One. I have no connection to any of them but for your information some of the programming on our radio stations come from the Westwood One radio syndication service including the recently launched Dan Bongino show on my station WOWO from noon to 3pm in the same timeslot that Rush Limbaugh used to occupy.

Anyway, after reading the Radio Ink story, I also read what Pierre wrote and have some quotes and highlights to share with you.

Why Advertisers Need Radio? A big reason is the fragmentation and decline in Television viewership. According to Bouvard the TV landscape is undergoing massive change and that all works to radio’s advantage.

The details:

One out of four persons 25-54 cannot be reached on linear TV. AM/FM radio’s 89% weekly reach among persons 25-54 is much stronger than television’s 77%.

In just two years, comparing 2018 to 2020, there has been a huge decline in people watching traditional TV. Why?

“Worst year ever” for cord cutting: Pay TV lost 5.5 million subscribers in 2020. COVID-19 caused Americans to stay home and look to media outlets for information and entertainment. The ever-increasing number of video streaming services meant a step back from traditional TV for many American households.

It’s not that we have stopped watching content on screens, it’s that the way we get that programming content has shifted.

Cable buys miss 40% of America as pay TV penetration collapses.

2009 was the best year for cable TV with nearly 9 out of 10 homes hooked up to a cable service. Now only 61% of America subscribes to cable TV. And the major broadcast networks are suffering too.

Broadcast TV’s reach is down an average of -22% across FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates. Since 2016, broadcast TV has reached fewer persons 18+ across the four major broadcast network affiliates.

The article continue with a solution but it uses a bunch of advertising agency lingo that I’ll interpret for you.

Pierre points to a study that uses consumer products giant Proctor and Gamble. Adding Radio ads to the TV ads increased the reach of their advertising messages 3 times more than if they simply bought more TV ads.

Weather Tech is another company that is using both TV and radio and the addition of radio ads increased their reach over 60%.

AM/FM radio makes your TV better by reaching light TV viewers. Light and non-TV viewers are a challenge for marketers. Advertisers can’t solve the light TV problem by buying more TV. AM/FM radio reaches 83%+ of the light TV viewer audience across all demographics.

So if you are a fan of using TV advertising, and you aren’t seeing the same results you used to, know you know why. And you also have a way to overcome this problem that I can help you with. Email me, Scott@WOWO.com

The Disappearing TV Audience

by Scott Howard | May 19, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Not even a pandemic can save broadcast television.

As America opens up again after being told to stay home last year, we’re getting new data about some of the long term affects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And since I’m a media and marketing dude, not a doctor, I’m going to focus on what I know about. Get your health and wellness info from someone qualified to advice you.

I am qualified to talk about media and marketing because that is not just my passion but it’s been my livelihood for a few decades plus I have access to data that most of you don’t.

One of the predictions about 2020 was that media consumption habits were going to change due to our being stuck at home. Less people on the road would decrease radio listenership and TV would stop the slide in viewership that it’s been suffering for the past decade.

Well, radio listenership may have shifted a bit temporarily, it’s just as strong and healthy as ever. Broadcast TV, that’s a different story.

Here in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we have had 5 major broadcast TV stations since I was a kid. ABC was channel 21, CBS was channel 15, NBC was channel 33, PBS was channel 39 and FOX was channel 55. Those were the channels my Mom watched 20 years ago without cable and people of her generation are still watching broadcast TV, but not as many or as much because they are dying off (80 to 90 year olds), or they’ve done what my generation and those younger are doing and watching TV from cable or streaming services.

We have a collection of restaurants run by the Hall’s family in Fort Wayne that a friend of mine predicted would be out of business in 10 years because all their customers were old. He made that prediction 20 years ago and most of those restaurants are still here. Why? Because they keep making old people is my answer.

But there is more to this problem for broadcast TV because the TV networks are not creating shows that younger generations want to watch. The younger generations are finding them online or on streaming services, not ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox.

MarketingCharts.com shared data that compares July thru September 2020 with the same 3 months of 2019 and except for those age 65+, the trend for watching less broadcast TV that has been going on for more than a decade, continued despite being told to stay home.

This continuing decline is because of the habits younger generations have formed that simply can’t be ignored. Teens are now watching less than an hour of TV, that’s a drop of 21% in just the last year. The 18 to 34 year olds viewing habits dropped over 23% in the past year. The only age group that didn’t lose viewers were those 65 and older and they barely retained the number of viewers and time spent watching TV. It happened to the Yellow Pages of the phone book, it continues to happen to the newspaper industry as technology changes occur and consumer habits change, the decline continues and is happening to broadcast TV. Not even a stay-at-home order in the worst pandemic of our lifetimes has been able to save the TV stations from losing viewers.

I have a couple of questions for you if you are a business owner that has relied on TV advertising to draw in new customers.

How is it working for you compared to years ago?

19 out of 20 business owners I asked this question to at the end of 2019 (before the pandemic) told me that they have seen a decrease in their return on investment on advertising on traditional local TV. The other person had no idea because business was booming and he used multiple avenues to advertise.

The other question is would you like to see an alternative form of advertising that hasn’t become less effective, that can either work hand in hand with your other marketing and advertising or replace some of the advertising avenues that aren’t producing for you like they used to? Contact me, Scott@WOWO.com and I’ll put you in touch with someone from my team to discuss what can be done to make your business successful and growing this year and for years to come.

Set The Bait

by Scott Howard | May 5, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, Sound ADvice

Whether it’s fishing, hunting, selling, or advertising, setting the bait is key to alluring or attracting that which you are trying to capture.

Since the beginning of time, it’s been known that you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression and regardless of if it’s a fish, wild game, or humans, you don’t have very long to capture their attention.

Your advertising message faces the same challenge. What your ads say, how they sound, and how they are delivered in the first few seconds, dictates whether your potential prospects will tune in or tune out to your message, or continue to read the message.

Reporters and authors have long known that the headline and the first sentence are what dictates whether the reader tunes in and continues on with the rest of the story, or tunes out. In an effort to develop the all-important “creative hook” at the top of your ads on websites, many headlines end up with more “creative” than “hook”.

In order to get the maximum effect out of your ads, we recommend you carefully consider the first few seconds of every ad, blog, text, email, or post that you create.

Here is a bonus tip. Oftentimes, you will find that the best line of any ad or letter, or the best words/sentence, is in the middle. When you find it, move it to the first line, or use it as the headline.

To read the 8 Power Openings you can use to capture more attention for your marketing efforts, click here.

And to receive these Sound ADvice tips in your email every week, sign up for Sound ADvice in the box below

Radio Back On The Road

by Scott Howard | Apr 27, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

“Nobody listens to regular radio anymore”.

I’ve heard that myth every year for years.

My predecessors, heard a similar myth I’m sure when music became portable.

Phonograph records have been around for more than a century but in order to listen to them, you needed a record player which wasn’t very portable. This changed a few decades ago with the invention of 8 track tapes. My parents could buy an 8 track tape player for their car and listen to an entire record album while driving down the road. People thought that would kill off radio stations. But it didn’t.

8 track players were replaced by cassette tapes and eventually compact discs replaced both tapes and records. The audio systems in our cars continued to evolve as well as the prediction that radio was about to be replaced by these newer, portable ways to listen to music.

Compact Discs were just the beginning of digital music players as iPods and other MP3 players made it possible to have hundreds of songs in your pocket.

And of course the internet was supposed to kill off radio stations too, especially when our cars became connected to the online world.

I mention all of this history for one reason. Like I said at the beginning…

“Nobody listens to regular radio anymore” is just a myth.

1000 adults 18 and older participated in a survey a couple of months ago and here’s some of the details:

According to results from a national CARAVAN survey conducted by ENGINE Insights for Xperi’s DTS the pandemic has increased the importance of the personal vehicle and in-dash infotainment today, versus pre-COVID. The study says this is especially true for Millennials and Gen Z.

Now you might think that they want to be able to connect to the internet while they are driving. Not so fast.

According to the study, radio is indispensable or highly important to seven out of ten vehicle owners, with nearly 80 percent of Millennials valuing radio in the dashboard. Also, nine out of ten vehicle owners say it is important to have radio in their dashboard, with over half wanting it as the anchor of their media diet.

What about satellite radio? Wasn’t that supposed to be the wave of the future?

Four in five vehicle owners (79 percent) feel it is very important that listening choices in their vehicle are free (radio/podcasts/etc.) versus subscription based.

Surely podcasts then are going to kill off radio stations.

Nope, the vast majority of podcasts have a teeny tiny audience and last less than a year. Similar to what I observed when blogging was the hot new internet sensation 15 years ago. The podcasts that have staying power and a significant audience are those linked to broadcast radio stations.

It was ten years ago that I walked away from a successful job in the radio business and joined a website firm. I came back to radio less than a year later. I left radio again and worked full time in social media, but in 2013 returned once again in radio to stay. See, when I was working outside of this business there was something I continued to do.

Listen to the radio as I drove to my internet job.

Last month, my radio station, WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana had a birthday. WOWO turned 96 years old on March 31st and it’s not about to be irrelevant. Besides our news and talk hosts and anchors doing their regular radio shows, they have podcasts too. Not to replace what they do on the radio, but to supplement it. We also podcast the interviews so listeners can listen later or share too.

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