RadioActive Media : Marketing, Promotions and Advertising: Radio, Television, Magazine, Internet.

800-599-RADIO | Text DR Radio to 511-511 | 714-787-0101 International

By the RadioActive Media Team

No element of a direct response campaign is more important than the call-to-action. As a consumer, I’m often bewildered by ad messages that don’t make sense. Big, expensive, pretty award-winning ads make me mutter “What was that? What did they want me to do?” What a waste of money and effort.

When you craft your call-to-action, start with the goals you want to achieve. Do you want more prospects, more leads, and more feedback? What action do you want your audience to take? Are you driving traffic to a website or to call/text? How many different ways do you want them to reach you? Thoughtfully list all the different ways and follow each through with great detail to track the response of each method by media vehicle, by day and by time slot.

Direct response requires easy and clear instructions in a call-to-action. When you only have thirty or sixty seconds to make an impression, demonstrate an excellent perceived value and ask for the order or action, you need the kind of talent and expertise that can achieve that conciseness and reaction. Talent to write strong, exacting copy. Expertise to set up, handle and track the great amount of details required to track every possible point of response.

When using radio, you only deliver the message by audio, so the message is even more important and you need to take up more of your precious time to repeat the call-to-action.

Let’s talk about how we make it easy. If we want them to know about our website, we use an easy, short URL address like www.auction.com. If we want them to make a call, we like a vanity number like 800-Auction or an easy to remember number like 800-777-7700. If you want them to text, choose an easy “short code,” the actual number after the client word or phrase, like DR Radio to 511-511.You want the URL, text message and phone number all to be memorable.

Direct response results are trackable and measurable. To that end, several URLs, codes and phone numbers can be used to discern response by media vehicle. Copy can suggest to Rush Limbaugh listeners to mention “Rush” when you call or go to the site for a discount, free shipping or the like. The same holds true for any other talk show host. Or enter a memorable code like KRTH6 (for 6AM). Change the code for each live read and you have tracking.

For more great ways to create a great call-to-action, consult Jeff Pollak at RadioActive Media at 800-559-RADIO (7234) or text DR RADIO to 511-511.

@radioactivemed

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800-599-RADIO | Text DR Radio to 511-511 | 714-787-0101 International

By the RadioActive Media Team

The right promotion will impress an advertiser’s audience, increase visibility, connecting it by association with stations, concerts, contests, or other events. At RadioActive Media we are adamant that a promotional campaign deliver 3-4 times the media investment. A client spending $100,000 to participate in a media event should expect a great return, around $300-400,000, on that commitment. It takes experts to evaluate and negotiate packages of tremendous value.

The team at RadioActive Media participates in creating packages in concert with radio stations. They look at events and contests for possibilities. Often canned station packages won’t provide enough value, aren’t appropriate or creative enough to explore all the potential added value.

If a station has a booth at an event, how can leads be generated for the advertiser? Can brochures be given out at the booth? Can visitors sign up for giveaways, expressing their level of interest for the product/service?

If there’s a concert, how about on-screen exposure and sponsor messages at intervals?

Obviously every client and opportunity has to be carefully matched and their entire program developed and planned extensively. With that said, let’s go ahead and look at many of the options for campaign inclusion.

While the rules for sweepstakes have caused stations to be leery of collecting audience information to pass through to advertisers, it’s absolutely possible and easy to encourage visitors to receive discounts, coupons, prizes or other benefits when they go to either the station or advertiser website and give permission (opt-in) for additional messages.

Stations can do emailings to their own subscribers, or promote on their Fan Pages. Advertisers should expect promos for participating as sponsors in contests. Speaking of social media, there are a myriad of opportunities for expansion of exposure in promotion on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, to name a few.

When stations use other media like print or TV, they can feature sponsors. Many times they’ll have spots voiced by talent at no additional charge. Inclusion in press releases and mentions in appearances by promotion teams are more great examples of stretching value. “Bumpers” or audio messages going into commercial, news and other station breaks kick the impression level up another notch.

New opportunities are expanding. Stations have iPhone apps. Sirius XM provides offer codes to pad displays. Radio ads have calls-to-action that ask consumers to text message which can generate text, audio, video responses and coupons. Driving traffic to websites is just the beginning of what’s possible.

To learn more about how radio promotional campaigns can be developed into spectacular successes for consumers and advertisers alike, reach out to Jeff Pollak at 800-559-RADIO (7234), text DR RADIO to 511-511.

@radioactivemed

The purpose of the program: to find information about DR programs (and the frequency of any alerts)
Message and data rates may apply
Text STOP to cancel alerts
Text HELP for information
A statement of privacy disclosure