For more than a year now, we have been gently reminding (and lately, hammering) our clients to get serious about creating couponing programs with local businesses and retailers.
Once those department store Santas put away their pillows and fake beards, drumming up business in January and February will be tough hills to climb.
Here's where radio can be effective. Because as Amazon.com visitation slows down, and those gift cards run dry, store traffic once again becomes a major issue for retailers.
And there's no medium better than local radio to drive consumers to "windshield businesses" – stores and companies that folks see while driving around their cities and towns.
Our Tech Polls and ongoing focus/L.A.B. groups confirm the need for consumer relief. And many radio listeners would love to see stations get serious about connecting audiences to retailers in order to pump up the local economy.
Oftentimes, these initiatives run counter to the mighty wind of Internet and search advertising that has diluted traditional ad dollars, and has contributed to crippling radio billing. As radio advertising markets constrict, it puts even more pressure on local stations to get on the buy, lowering rates, offering more clutter-producing promotions, and ultimately less profits and more brand damage.
But there is something that local radio can do better than any other medium – be it a website, a newspaper, or a TV station – and that's to develop a strong, vital, and viable couponing program. The data continue to show that more and more consumers are clipping coupons, looking for discounts and deals, and trying to find ways to save a few bucks on the goods, services, and entertainment that provide a decent quality of life. As those holiday credit card bills come rolling in, getting better deals will become even more important.
To beat back this economy, to cement lasting relationships with local businesses, and to truly show the power of the medium, it's not just about selling :30s and :60s or remotes. It is about demonstrating viable ROI in the most tangible way – consumers showing up with station-generated coupons to buy product and services.
And now, a recent study from Performics and ROI Research confirms that consumers who are part of social networks are especially open to marketing messages that deliver discounts, specials, deals, freebies, points or sweepstakes.
As the study's authors note, "The increasing hunger for more coupons and deals on social networks comes at a time when coupon use is increasing overall and has hit record-high levels. A study released last month by RetailMeNot.com found that coupons are now the deciding factor in purchases for nearly one-third of consumers."
Results from "half-off" programs already tell a great story. And if you take the time to survey your listeners, they'll tell you why these discounts work. Your station is a trusted source that can help direct the audience to great deals. And like no other personal, local medium, advertisers can benefit from your station's ability to motivate listeners to take advantage of client discounts.
Now you may be thinking that this study is really about Facebook and other traditional social networking sites. But I would submit to you that the KISW "Rockaholics," the WRIF "CyberCrew," and the X96 "Freeloaders" are all social networks. Your audience has opted in, they read your emails, and they are part of your tribe. They share a similar lifestyle, taste in music, love for your personality shows, and they've taken the initiative to become a part of your station's database program.
Providing your most active, P1 listeners with solid discounts, coupons, and other ways to save money works for them – and it works for your local advertisers.
But it requires a bona fide initiative from sales management with programming's help and blessing. For some time now, I have openly asked about precisely what a DOS does inside stations and clusters. That position simply has to be more than forecasting and setting up one-day sales. This economy and the state of radio in general demands more creative and strategic thinking.
And Catalyst's Cory Treffiletti notes that couponing does not appear to hurt a business' normal sales efforts: "According to a study from Coupons.com that was published in Q3 2009, online coupons are indeed driving incremental sales, with as much as 40% of redemptions coming from new or lapsed buyers. According to the same study, 63% of the redemptions drove incremental volume rather than cannibalizing existing sales. This would suggest that online couponing is a valuable and required tool for driving incremental sales!"
If you have a database, you have a research foundation from which you can survey listeners, find out what they want and need, and then work with advertisers to give it to them. As we are all fond of saying, this is not rocket science. It is, however, a call to re-examine selling philosophies, get your head around what's happening with your listeners and advertisers, and then create tactical solutions that address the changing landscape of consumer spending.
When the going gets tough, the tough assess their strengths and opportunities, and plan accordingly. Sometimes it requires different thinking, experimentation, and innovation. But running around with rankers and PPM data isn't going to move the needle in this environment. Especially in a challenging first quarter.
It's time for radio to demonstrate its true ROI.
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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