Fresh off seeing Garth Brooks and The Who play shows in Cincinnati this weekend with crowds totaling 100,000 people, it was a great early kick-off to summer. Weekend ticket sales alone for these concerts totaled $10 million.
Radio’s core audience of employed consumers with money to spend led the way, which will continue with the warmer weather and the unrestricted return of concerts, festivals and live events. It’s a summer that promises to be unlike any other.
How much can Americans fit into 100 days of summer? We’re about to find out! Radio stations are uniquely positioned to help listeners and advertisers make the most of it.
In fact, with a strategic focus on first-party audience data for radio, we have identified several important trends that you can leverage heading into summer.
P1s Are Telling Their Friends and Co-Workers about their Favorite Station.
Across demos and formats, audience acquisition and engagement are essential components to radio’s success. “When it comes to generating awareness that converts to daily cume, Word of Mouth marketing by your station’s Super-Fans and Amplifiers beats a computer algorithm every time. Not only do these efforts increase listening, but each time a listener invites someone new to your station, it deepens their own connection to your brand,” says Tony Bannon, VP of Marketing Strategy with DMR/Interactive.
Heavy Listeners Are Ready to Win the Day.
According to contest entry data from both group and local contests, morning appointment listening times as early as 7am are consistently the most popular choice and regularly generate the most entries. “It’s hard to have a bad day at work when you start the day winning money with your favorite station,” says Bannon. Despite the challenges that can accompany leaving the house on-time, especially on school mornings, this insight reflects the ongoing importance of both the commute and employed listening.
Households With Kids Are Underrepresented in PPM Samples.
With the ongoing challenges faced by parents, getting a 6 year old boy or a 13 year old girl to wear a meter to school, not to mention turning in their homework on-time, is more than many moms and dads want to deal with. As a result, households with kids are being weighted up across markets, which creates opportunities to strategically incorporate this important audience segment. Long term, the move to PPM Wearables and the companion App should help with the recruitment and retention of households with kids. It’s just one of the many PPM insights and trends we’ll be studying and incorporating in the months to come.
Discipline is Critical to Executing OTT and Digital Ad Campaigns.
Just like a baseball player waiting for his pitch, getting results with OTT and digital ad campaigns requires a disciplined and selective approach. Any batter can look good in batting practice where hitters swing freely at any pitch and there’s no pressure to perform. However, when it comes to placing OTT and digital campaigns, the impressions, clicks and video views that you don’t bid on are as important as the ones that you win.
There are any number of ways to inadvertently water down your targeting and misallocate campaign budgets, especially in pursuit of greater reach, lower CPMs or a mythical magic bullet. Don’t confuse the ability to reach any audience with the importance of engaging the right audience. OTT and digital ad campaigns are powerful cume building platforms that we use to Protect, Grow and Acquire new listening from the employed heavy listeners who matter most to your ratings and revenue.
TikTok is Helping Connect a New Generation to Radio.
Air talent are becoming TikTok influencers and they are sharing the power of radio with Gen Z and beyond. Reimagine your request line with key words, take people behind the scenes at your station to showcase the magic of radio and most importantly have fun. Not sure where to begin with TikTok? Email TikTok@dmrinteractive.com and let’s discuss specific insights according to the current familiarity and comfort level of your team, whether they are beginners, influencers or somewhere in between.
Local radio serves the community and provides the soundtrack of summer along the way. 2022 promises to be no exception, so let’s make the most of it.
Andrew Curran
President & CEO, DMR/Interactive
DMR/Interactive is the leading strategic marketing partner for the broadcast industry. DMR/Interactive provides radio stations with integrated marketing strategies that include precision-targeted, multi-contact personalized campaigns across mobile, digital, social, telephony, direct mail, e-mail, word-of-mouth and database marketing services. DMR/Interactive also provides data analytics and business intelligence services to clients. For more information, visit www.dmrinteractive.com