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Stephanie Winans

Business & Marketing Strategy Consulting

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Marketing Radio in a Pandemic: 4 Survival Tips

July 5, 2020 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

“Marketing in a pandemic.” Sounds so tough it could be the next hot heavy metal band name. From appropriate messaging to budget and bandwidth stressors, our clients are asking how to market their stations and shows. Here are four marketing tips for surviving the COVID-19 crisis:

1. Consider whether slashing the marketing budget is the right move. Effective marketing drives ratings and ratings drive revenue. You’re in different spots across the spectrum of the COVID-19 struggle so there is no “one size fits all” answer, but I recommend thinking about marketing the way you consider other expenses not traditionally thought of as ‘discretionary.’ In a recession the gut reaction is to cut advertising spend to protect short-term profits, but research shows that companies who keep advertising win every time. (And isn’t this the narrative our radio sales teams are pitching to radio advertisers? They’re not wrong.)

2. Focus on your core. Concentrate on the listeners that drive ratings and the channels that drive the majority of revenue. Andrew Curran, President and COO of DMR/Interactive, says, “Remember that you care first and most about measured listening — the listening that drives ratings — not all listening. Think commuters who live in the Nielsen Hot ZIP footprint for you and your competitors to recruit and engage these High Value Listeners, who comprise just 5% of the population, but can drive more occasions and daily cume.”

“Despite stations promoting station apps, smart speaker skills and streaming for the last decade, over 90% of measured listening continues to come from listening on actual radios,” Curran says. While I’m a champion for digital, now isn’t the time to distract from on-air listening. That means questioning campaigns and on-air promos centered around app downloads, online listening, and website traffic. Digital transformation can wait; there is no digital transformation without the core business!

3. Keep it simple. Listeners are juggling their own COVID-19 struggles. If “keep it simple, stupid” was a tenet of good marketing pre-pandemic, it is even more relevant today. Make your messaging clean to cut through and limit to one CTA. Every message (promo, digital ad, TV spot, social media post, billboard campaign, etc.) should tell the listener to do one thing, e.g. “Listen to [Station ID]” and not “Download our app, visit us at www…, and like us on Facebook.”

4. Apply on-air creativity to marketing challenges. This is universal but especially true in the days of budget cuts: leverage your on-air talent and producers. We’re often so siloed departmentally that we miss opportunities to inject new creativity. Your programming talent know how to engage listeners and aren’t bound by traditional marketing thinking. Engage them in brainstorming (or my favorite: brainwriting) and watch new ideation unfold. Whether you’re strapped for budget and require creative ideas outside the normal advertising strategy or not, the world is different and now is the time to think differently.

And while we’re talking creativity in times of budget reduction, take a look at small markets. No one knows creative guerilla marketing like a scrappy, small market champion.

Whether you’re strapped for budget or fortunate enough to retain your 2020 marketing spend, use this time to get creative and think strategically.

 

This article was written for The Randy Lane Company and published in Radio Ink.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: COVID-19, marketing, marketing strategy, radio

4 Tips for Marketing to Millennial Moms

October 21, 2015 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

Millennial moms are discerning. They expect authenticity and are drawn to brands that tell a compelling story with every touchpoint. Moms today demand more from your marketing than ever before.

As I shared on a recent panel at M2Moms, here are 3 things you should know when marketing to millennial moms:

  1. Think mobile first. Moms are meeting your brand on their phones, and they are a design-conscious audience that expects a cohesive user experience from in-store to TV to mobile. Given that 21% of Millennials don’t even use a desktop computer to go online anymore, being mobile responsive is no longer enough. Think about the mobile experience first, and then think about how that translates to desktop.
  2. Be transparent. They grew up with the Internet and know how to get information quickly and how to tell what’s legitimate. Many Millennials will dig into the source of information, particularly when they’re skeptical to begin with. So when it comes to creating content for your brand, make sure your t’s are crossed at all times. If not, be prepared to be embarrassed as your brand authority comes into question.
  3. Focus on the lifestyle. I know it’s painful to hear, but moms care about more than just your product. Your product is a tiny blip within the full (and often chaotic) life she is living. To build loyalty through marketing, think about the bigger picture. What is she doing when the need for your product arises? How is your product used in her daily life? Use content marketing and digital advertising to tell her you understand her—her needs as a whole and not just her need for your product.
  4. Segment your Millennial audience. A “one size fits all” approach is only good when it applies to a poncho in the pouring rain at an amusement park. Know which segment of the Millennial audience you’re talking to, and craft your message accordingly. Don’t believe me? Get a 22-year-old and a 34-year-old in a room together and tell me how much they have in common.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: brand, content, content marketing, digital strategy, marketing, marketing strategy, millennials, moms, online content

Measuring the Digital Impact of TV and Radio Ads

May 28, 2015 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

Brands and agencies love digital advertising in part because its effectiveness is easy to measure. You begin a PPC campaign and you can track the results immediately. As long as you’ve built a smart campaign, you can track everything and go down a rabbit hole of granularity.

And what’s better than granular data? Immediate granular data. It doesn’t take long with digital advertising to see what’s working and what needs to be tweaked.

With broadcast media, not all campaigns are as easily tracked. There is the immediacy issue, and some campaigns are also tougher to measure by nature. Just say the words “brand awareness” and many will stutter when answering the question “Is it working?”

Cue Adometry TV Attribution and Google search integration, a new Google initiative which aims to bridge this gap. It measures the digital impact of TV and radio ads, so you can gain insight immediately on your broadcast media messaging. This will help with optimizations to your TV and radio spots, but also with your supporting SEO and PPC campaigns as you can assess which offline messaging is driving the desired online behavior.

This is the beginning to a beautiful marriage between online and offline media, making it easier for brands to optimize marketing campaigns that involve both (especially campaigns that include TV or radio and Google AdWords!)

Read more about the initiative on the Google Analytics Blog.

Photo credit: Al Ibrahim/Flickr

Filed Under: Business, Uncategorized Tagged With: advertising, analytics, marketing, radio, TV

Why A Competitive Analysis Can Help You Succeed With Digital

March 13, 2013 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

Whether you’re developing a strategy for social media, planning to update the station website, creating a business model for streaming, or wondering why you aren’t getting advertisers’ digital dollars, conducting an analysis of the competition is key.

Why? An online analysis of the competitive landscape yields information you may not hear by monitoring the on-air product. You can capitalize on their weaknesses, or reveal your own by finding out what they’re doing better. You can also determine whether competitors are generating revenue from advertisers.

Program Directors spend time listening to the competition. It’s time to start listening online, too.

What To Review

  • Their website for design and content. Is the design modern and easy to navigate? Is the content updated frequently? Is the air talent posting blogs, videos and audio regularly? Is the station providing any content you aren’t? From a listener standpoint, is their website more interesting, and does the content give you more reason to visit often?
  • Advertisements on their website. Make notes for your Sales Manager. Who are their sponsors for promotions and contests? Is there a video pre-roll advertisement? And don’t forget to listen to the stream.
  • Engagement on social media platforms. In addition to the vanity metrics (Facebook likes and Twitter followers), review how many comments and likes each post receives. Is your station getting similar engagement from listeners?
  • Social media content. What categories do competitors include in their social media strategy? Are they posting about music and promotions? Do air talent post during their shows? Or is their engagement empty, a product of off-brand internet meme updates?
  • Their social media sponsors. Is there any indication that advertisers are spending money on social media? Look at promotional banners or timeline photos, and read posts for mention of sponsors. Look for a contest tab for an advertiser-sponsored contest.

Who To Look At3249473645_0c81fab970

  • Competitors in your market. Go beyond stations with similar formats. Do an online analysis of all radio stations in your market that share your target demographic, as well as all stations that boast strong ratings.
  • Similar stations outside of your market. Review the online presence of stations in your format that are successful in similar size markets across the country.
  • The best [your format] station in the country. While many ideas you glean from market #1 may not be practical in your market, you can tweak some and execute on a smaller scale. If you’re going to learn from competitors, you may as well learn from the best.
  • Non-radio brands in your market. Review the websites and social media strategies of local TV stations and companies who do digital well. It is likely that advertisers aren’t giving your piece of their digital budget to other radio stations, but other non-radio brands.

What Next?

  • Use what you’ve learned to improve your digital presence. If you’re missing content categories on your website, add them. If other stations’ talent are more involved online, work with your jocks to increase post frequency. If your website looks like it was built in 1999 and your competitors are rocking a 2015 design, it’s time to push hard for a design update.
  • Help your Sales Team target digital advertisers. Give them a list of companies who advertise on both the radio and non-radio brands you reviewed. Explain the different types of sponsorships, ads and contests you saw to begin brainstorming for ideas. It’s easier for Account Executives to sell a great idea than to sell a generic banner ad.
  • Set up a Google Alert to monitor your competitors (and your station, too). Add keywords for station and show names, and Google will email you once daily with any news or blogs posted.
  • If you haven’t ever run a Google or Facebook ad for the station, do it now. Not only will it improve your website traffic and increase Facebook likes, respectively, but it will show you another realm of competition. It’s important to understand the way Google and Facebook ads work, so you know what potential advertisers are getting from these ads (and what they’re paying for).

Photo credit: Harald Hoyer/Flickr via Creative Commons

What metrics or entities do you include when analyzing competitors? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: competition, internet sales, management, marketing, sales, social media manager, social media strategy

Social Media is Like Shoe Shopping

September 24, 2012 by Stephanie Winans 5 Comments

You need something new to spice up your wardrobe. You head to the mall and fall in love with a gorgeous pair of shoes. They’re shoes, and you need shoes. They’re beautiful, shiny and new, and you’ve seen them in every magazine as the hot new trend. If everyone says they’re hot, you’ve got to have them.

But what if they don’t fit?

Social media marketing is like shoe shopping.  If the platform doesn’t fit your business, it doesn’t matter how attractive, shiny and new it is.

For example, if your target demographic is male 55+, Pinterest might not be the best fit for your social media marketing strategy. It’s beautiful. It’s all the rage. It’s driving traffic and boosting e-commerce. But it doesn’t fit because the demographics don’t line up with the target demo of your business.

Don’t let the allure of a gorgeous new social platform distract you from your goal.  If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t matter how attractive the platform (shoe or social!) is.

 
Photo credit: Foeck

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: brand, digital strategy, marketing, marketing strategy, pinterest, social media, social media strategy

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