Measuring Mobile Engagement To Create Performance Metrics For Terrestrial Radio

When it comes to marketing campaigns, success or failure can be measured in a variety of ways. Performance metrics are vital to advertisers who need solid figures to prove the efficacy of their campaign — to demonstrate how their marketing spend is clearly translated into sales leads.

New technologies can now pair the large and diverse reach of terrestrial broadcast radio with mobile engagement to create interactive radio campaigns. Now when a consumer is listening to the radio over-the-air and hears a call to action (CTA) for an advertiser’s offer, they can use their mobile device to engage with the digital content related to that CTA in real-time.  This not only quantifies the reach of a particular local radio campaign, but also generates results that traditional radio-only campaigns have never been able to produce.

Unprecedented engagement rates

Integrating mobile strategies into radio advertising campaigns delivers engagement rates that far exceed those from digital-only channels.
For example, a local auto dealership specializing in used cars created a series of interactive radio advertisements. Some of the ads were straightforward promotions, while others gave consumers an incentive to interact with the content. By offering listeners the opportunity to win a small amount of money, the campaign generated a unique open rate of 28%. One would be hard pressed to compare that to any digital-only campaign.
Similarly, a popular radio station organized a campaign to benefit local area charities. Listeners were able to vote for their favorite charities through the mobile component of the ad. For each vote received, $1 was donated to the corresponding charity. The campaign reached the 2,500-vote limit in a matter of only four days (three days before projected), with a unique open rate of 44% compared to the 17% industry average for non-profits.
The impact of these types of campaigns is considerable. The value of tying a compelling 30-second audio spot delivered by a credible spokesperson to a captivated audience that allows them to engage via their mobile device results in extremely high open rates.

Flexible messaging

Depending on an advertiser’s industry, keeping the campaign up to date with industry trends and developments can be challenging. Altering a traditional, stand-alone radio spot to reflect a new promotion or event can be costly and time-consuming. However, when an interactive mobile component is involved, companies can quickly optimize their campaigns as needed.

For instance, the mortgage industry is one that is constantly in flux. A local mortgage company used traditional radio advertisements for years and was interested in seeing how mobile could impact their campaign. By adding a mobile component to their radio ads, the organization was able to update their messaging to reflect changes in the market, and as a result, saw dramatic increase in the effectiveness of their ads.

Their interactive radio campaign not only generated the results the company was looking for, but also validated their belief that broadcast radio is an increasingly viable advertising medium.

The bottom line

While engagement and messaging are very important, once again, it all comes down to the bottom line. Can radio stations demonstrate a clear return on investment to advertisers? The answer is yes.

In such a competitive climate, where a myriad of digital media are fighting over marketing budgets, not only do radio stations need to keep up with the competition, they also need to differentiate themselves from digital or mobile-only campaigns through interactive radio. While it is mobile technology that can show the data, it’s the combination with a high-reach vehicle like radio that really generates tangible results.

by Sara Sisenwein
Sara Sisenwein is vice president of marketing for Clip Interactive.
Courtesy of mediapost