Hi everyone!
We're a small AM in an unrated area doing NewsTalk (Rush, Hannity, Beck, etc)...we've got about 75 clients on the air and they're all local accounts with local production. We do a good job with production but there are many forgettable ads. Everyone is basically 7a-7p.
My question: how many clients for this format is too many? The local avails dont change b/c it's network driven but I really worry that there's too much fragmentation - and that even a client getting 4x just isnt standing out.... (And, no, we can't raise the rate LOL)
Thanks
Jeff
Jeff,
As you probably know, according to research by Talkers Magazine and the AAAA's (updated annually) the average talk-radio listener is worth 3.2 music listeners to an advertiser. Unlike music-driven programming that often provides a background for activity, talk programming is in the foreground; it involves and engages the listener to a far greater degree. (Listeners don't tap their feet to Rush while they're thinking about other things.) All other factors being equal, your advertisers are in a great position to engage your listeners.
Problem is, all other factors are rarely equal. The most important factor is usually the message, the commercial copy.
Advertising copy that grabs and engages a listener and provides timely, relevant, valuable information is much more likely to bring results than the "forgettable" ads you mention. Cliche-riddled, fill-in-the-blank, chest-thumping ads that talk AT listeners are not likely to produce meaningful returns on the advertiser's investment.
I'd wager that "too many clients" (client fragmentation) isn't really the problem. It may be too many of those "forgettable" ads instead. Given a choice between running 4 really good spots in a day or 10 "forgettable" spots, I'd take the former in a heartbeat. Frequency is important, of course, but not at the expense of content. Improve the engagement factor, the effectiveness, of your commercials and the clients running them will see better results.
There are some very good resources available for helping salespeople and copywriters to craft more effective commercials, and some of these don't cost very much. For instance, you can go to Dan O'Day's website and buy one of his excellent studio-recorded copywriting courses on CD for anywhere from $99 to $399, depending on the product. Or, you can go to Mobiltape.com and buy recordings of Dan O Day's presentations to various RAB conferences over the years for $12 per CD. I've done both and actually prefer the less expensive RAB material. Useful content largely the same, but Dan really excels in front of a live audience. I'll bet that if you invest $120 buying a dozen CD's from Mobiltape and you schedule weekly training sessions with your sales and copywriting/production staff, you'll find the quality of your commercials (and your advertisers' results) improving in a relatively short time.
As regards fragmentation, I have a number of accounts who with just a couple spots a day have carved out a dominant presence in their categories. The keys to their success have been: 1) a distinctive commercial/campaign; 2) consistency;
and 3) credibility. I'd be happy to share specifics with you, if you like.
