You hear this all the time:
"We do all these cool things on our website but we just can't seem to monetize them."
There are two key elements in play: having great digital content and developing and training a staff that can create and market it to advertisers.
We know from every article about where ad dollars are headed that online, social media, and mobile are all hot spots. So if you give advertisers great content, fun and engaging digital tools, and reps who can make the sale, it all can work.
Just ask CBS-TV. They estimate digital revenues that revolve around the NCAA Tournament will total $37 million. And they are moving toward that advertising nirvana where their online revenue will match their traditional TV advertising. As the chart above shows, CBS is showing steady growth every year as advertisers and consumers get revved up for March Madness in their digital domains. Everyone in traditional media wishes they owned this trend line.
The network gives away streaming video on the web but has a mandatory registration policy. And they charge for their games for mobile devices (now $9.99 for their March Madness iPhone app).
There's no reason why local radio stations shouldn't be reaping some of the benefits from their "March Bandness" type promotions. In many cases, these online voting extravaganzas drive huge traffic to the station website while "pinballing" listeners back to the air. They engage the audience, parody one of the biggest events in sports, and give jocks great talking points for a couple weeks.
Yet, how many stations have put together bona fide sales packages around these online/on-air promotions? Even though many stations have run these successful promotions for years, how much money is being generated?
There is opportunity here, and CBS-TV is leading the way.
(Wonder what CBS is planning to do online to promote Tigers Woods' comeback at the Masters next month?)
There is no shortage of great digital ideas, and incredible opportunities for revenue and ratings growth. But we have to make them happen.
Good luck with your bracket!
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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