Local Interactive Ad Spending to Equal Radio Advertising

Check out a new research study by Borrell Associates indicating local interactive ad spending to reach $14-billion this year.   They also have a neat market calculator to see what’s in your home town.  

Local Interactive Ad Spending

As radio advertising continues to fall the two businesses might be equal in size within two years … both about $16 Billion per year.

Here’s the good news.   Radio stations can use their broadcast reach to build new revenue streams in local interactive ad spending.  Most radio stations haven’t touched interactive advertising yet.  The missed opportunity is a radio station with 500,000 listeners might only have 25,000 web visitors.  Radio stations can change that and grow revenue.  

If you need help with dynamic content then contact CELLit.  We are ready to help.  Need more information?  Check out this Wall Street Journal article.  If you don’t get going soon then the local TV stations and newspaper will beat you to this revenue.

Flip Cam Sale

Amazon has Flip Video Cameras on sale $59.  These are great little camcorders.  30-minutes recording time.  Built in USB  connector works with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.  Does not require a lot of memory or disk space. 

Order a couple and use they with your promotion crew or sales force.

Amazon Flip Phone Sale

Top-10 Radio Industry News Sites Lead the Way

Here’s an interesting “eat your own dog food” example. 

The top-10 radio industry news websites are up … big!  Unique monthly visitors are up 68% over January’08, month-to-month growth is 19%, news-site visits approach 1-million, and time-spent-online includes 5.5 million page views averaging 53-seconds each.  Radio operators know for timely, valuable news that it’s online.  

Download the January Information Here

The most popular radio news sites have great content, valuable perspective, message boards, and multi-media tools.  The lowest traffic sites have fewer or no interactive tools generating less time-online and fewer page views.

Radio business people get radio news online and appreciate web tools.  Now, take a look at most radio station websites.  If one-million radio news readers “get it” then why are most station websites falling so far behind?

Take a look at the January’09 information.  Then look at your own radio website.  Start with a few new tools like CELLit. 

You are online.  Your audience is online.  It’s time for your station’s website to move up.

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Top 10 radio news traffic sites:  www.Radio-Info.com; www.radioandrecords.com; www.allaccess.com; www.radioink.com; www.rbr.com; www.rab.com; www.insideradio.com; www.kurthanson.com; www.hear2.com; www.nab.com.  Credit to http://www.Compete.com for this information. 

Make Money between Google and Rate-diving Mega Groups

Start a Client Farm Team.  Clients are already playing with Google.  They like it.  Client use search ads and some even do well with display banners.  In a 500,000 pop market you should think there are 970 Google ad clients spending an average of $1,500/month.  Google may be taking $18-million/year out of your market. Local merchants have better websites than you think.  Besides map directions and phone numbers, their sites offer very nice product and service descriptions complete with pictures.  Some even use videos.

Local merchants want more online selling tools.  Tools that send traffic.  Tools that link to their sites and improve the search engine results.  You have the tools and most radio operators just don’t get it.  So, take advantage now before they figure it out.

Here’s the opportunity.  Feature local merchants on you radio website.  Just the page mention and link will increase the client’s search page rank and produce new results.  Create a program of increasing importance and build a “Farm Team” that will eventually become major league broadcasters.  We recommend a 5-Step Program.

Step 1 – Create an online directory.  Display the merchant’s name, web address, contact information, and brief description.  This is free to the client.  You want every merchant with a web site on your radio farm team.  Get their email address.  In a market of 500,000 you should look for 2,000 listings. For no other reason, do the directory so the sales call produces a great contact list.

Step 2 – Add their logo or picture to the listing for a nominal annual charge $50 to $100.  Your web manager will know how to hyperlink the graphic and double the search engine results for the client.  This is a good deal for all.  You can step up half the directory for $50 each … $50,000/year in new revenue to you.

Step 3 – Add a video, their own web page on your website, and let the audience link, tag, comment, share, email, and embed the video.  CELLit can show you how and the video program costs you nothing.  This video program is worth $500/quarter including a 2-minute video.  Think 10% or 100 … $50,000 program or $200,000/year.  You’ll need to buy a $200 video camera.

Step 4 – Make those web banners work.  When the client starts to see your traffic it’s time to add web banners.  Look to $250/month for a web banner from the top 5% … $12,500/month … $150,000/year.

Step 5 – Time for the big guns … broadcast spots.  The Farm Team is ready for the majors.  You’ve shown them how your audience appreciates their services. Combine the on-air reach and the powerful on-site messaging to make a very handsome relationship for all.

Then again you could continue rate-diving.