by Scott Howard | Jun 13, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
WOWO Radio has more Baby Boomer women listeners than any other Fort Wayne radio station by at least 10,000. That was one of the items I pointed out in our last article.
Baby Boomer women control the biggest pile of consumer spending still and for the next 7 to 10 years. 
Let’s continue with part 2 in a series from Mediapost, How To Connect With Baby Boomer Women. Here’s the highlights that I can help you and your business with WOWO radio:
1. Don’t forget the purchasing power of self-employed Boomer women. Recognize that she is working and wants to find meaning through work as long as she can.
2. Avoid using the word “retirement.” She wants to connect with her aspirations through the increased freedom to choose how and where she will contribute through the full utilization of her skills and abilities.
3. Engage her in dialogue; she wants to establish an authentic relationship with you and your company.
4. Don’t make assurances on which you can’t deliver. Tell her what you’ll do for her, not how great you, your product or company is.
5. Listen to learn what is motivating her. The most important question you can ask is “What are you hoping your planning for the future will allow you to achieve.”
6. Don’t be afraid of a spiritual slant in your messaging. Survey results show 44% of Boomer women are turning to sources other than organized religion for spiritual guidance.
7. Although not very happy about it, she can laugh at the physical effects of aging. You can successfully use a “women like her” to comment humorously on conditions and circumstances only one of her own would fully understand.
8. Baby Boomer women are more active than you may think. Your images should reflect her full level and range of engagement in life.
9. Avoid using a single relationship to define her. She may be managing health care for her parents but she’s not only a “caregiver.” She’s also “grandma” but she would define her life much broader. The brands of suppliers who best support her multi-relationships underlying her purchases will win her business.
10. Cater to her desire to learn. Link your brand and products to opportunities to learn more about issues and concerns she faces every day. Her focus has shifted to experience, rejuvenation and personal growth.
11. Don’t talk down to her. What she didn’t gain through formal education she gained through experience. Insult her intelligence at your peril.
Want to know more? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Jun 10, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo Sales Tips, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Ironically, if you are here because of an email notification, it was a mistake and the real article will be published on June 15th. Sorry about that, enjoy your weekend.
by Scott Howard | Jun 10, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
A few years ago when I started on the WOWO radio advertising sales team and I was sharing information about the WOWO listeners, I kept running into women who would say, “I’m a little unusual because I listen to WOWO.”
I pointed out to them that they were in good company. Look at these numbers from our last rating survey:
Total Weekly WOWO Listeners age 12+: 107,000
Total Weekly WOWO Female Listeners age 12+: 44,000
Total Weekly Female Listeners age 45+: 34,000
That last number is important. Baby Boomer Women are the ones that have the buying power that most businesses want. Of all the radio stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana, WOWO has more than any other station by at least 10,000. 
Last month Mediapost shared an article, How To Connect With Baby Boomer Women and I’m sharing the highlights because these are the Women of WOWO that I can help you reach.
1. If she feels your authenticity, that you have really listened to her and you genuinely care, she will reward you.
2. They love products that make them feel more creative and helps them connect to their friends and family.
3. If you are looking for better-educated women with more discretionary income, you will find her online. She is not just a passive observer; she is quickly adopting the internet usage patterns of younger generations and posting content herself.
4. She is free to choose the “best of” from all stages of her life, as well as incorporating new products, services and behaviors.
5. Marketers in search of aspirational messaging are advised to look higher up Maslow’s pyramid toward new levels of simplicity and altruism and away from icons drawn from the assumption that she spends money only to gain the approval of others.
6. Boomer women are more than six times as likely to make purchase decisions based upon their personal values.
7. Perceptive marketers recognize that the Boomer woman knows she has entered and is transiting through a new lifestage and will reward them for recognizing her special needs and interests.
8. Market to her through women like her. Keep in mind that women want to know that the person offering advice or inspiration is someone from both the gender and lifestage that has personally advanced through the same lifestages and transitions.
9. She doesn’t aspire to be ignored. They don’t like ads that never feature women 50+.
10. Show her respect by providing her the facts. A product example is Olay anti-aging products. Olay used an abundance of useful information and straightforward facts about their products with extensive reviews and ratings from other women rather than clever imagery.
That’s just the first 10. Mediapost shared a follow up article this month that I’ll share the next time.
by Scott Howard | Jun 8, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
I recently wrote a couple articles that gave you the specific price per ad on WOWO radio.
But I must warn you.
The wrong way to buy advertising is by price alone.
If you only use price, then odds are you are going to go with the lowest price.
And lowest price with nearly anything often is the lowest value.
I’m not saying price is unimportant, but it is all relative.
A better way to buy advertising is to start with the end in mind. You need to know why you want to advertise before you decide how much to spend on advertising.
You need to know what success looks like.
Not just success, but Top Of The Mountain Success!
Also you need to know what medium level success is.
And break-even success. Because the odds of success are against you.
The majority of businesses that were started in the past 5 years went belly up.
I’m talking post-recession too.
So if considering price only is the wrong way to buy advertising…
and…
you need to know what the different levels of success look like, (in black & white)…
What is the Right Way To Buy Advertising?
It involves creating a business plan that includes a Marketing Strategy Plan.
This marketing strategy requires discovering who you want to invite to do business with you, what those people are looking for, who else they could buy from, why your business compared to those others and then what is the best advertising vehicles to use to invite those folks to you.
It’s not until the last step that price is a factor.
Want help? Ask me.
by Scott Howard | Jun 6, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
When I started on the WOWO radio advertising sales team, I needed to create a new recipe for building successful radio advertising campaigns. Seems like most of my established co-workers were using the formula that included Live 60 second Endorsement Ads because they worked.
They worked so well that my options were limited. Those live 60 second endorsement ads carried exclusivity for the advertiser. If I wanted Charly to endorse a dentist, he wasn’t available because he was already endorsing another dentist. Same thing with other business categories that were successful on WOWO.
So here’s what I did. 
Instead of live 1 minute endorsement ads by the personalities, I opted to use live 10 second embedded news sponsorship ads. These shorter versions when used the way I set them up worked and still work under the right circumstances.
It’s not really a secret, but it was something my peers were not doing the way I did it.
Live embedded news sponsorship ads that are just 10 seconds long are read by the WOWO news hosts and WOWO personalities within the context of the news, weather, or sports reports. We have 37 slots each weekday between 5am and 6pm.
My first year at WOWO, I started using these to get my advertising partners on WOWO and because of the way I did it, it was successful. It became so successful that we had to start keeping track of the amount of inventory we have each week for them and applying the supply and demand price model.
When we are nearly sold out, these are $50 each. That’s less than 1/2 the price for a 60 second radio commercial on WOWO, but there are certain conditions that must be met for this kind of campaign to work. Also, I don’t believe you can transfer this recipe to a music based radio station with the same results.
Here’s what I look for to even consider using this:
- Can we communicate the advertising message in 10 seconds or do we need more time due to the complexity of what should be said and/or competition? That is a must.
- Is there a simple call to action, usually a website or location that we can direct people to in the message? This depends on what we are looking to accomplish.
- Is there going to be enough of a commitment of money and time to enable this to work? This is a question I need answered no matter what kind of marketing plan I develop.
Will this work for you? Maybe. We should talk first. Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Jun 2, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
Trust. It’s what makes the world go ’round.
Trust is important in all of our relationships and business transactions.
When we spend decide to spend money, we do it because we trust the value in what we are buying. Doesn’t matter if it’s a $5 cup of coffee or a $75 dinner out on the town, we trust the people to serve us food and drink that it’s what we expect.
What does trust have to do with advertising on WOWO radio in Fort Wayne?
I have a not-so-secret tool in my advertising solution toolbox that helps your business earn trust.
Endorsement ads with Pat Miller, Charly Butcher, Rick Wolf or any of our news hosts.
image from http://media.21alive.com/images/NBC33_WOWO_Morning.jpg
Here’s how they work:
Last time I mentioned we have 97 one minute commercial slots each weekday during primetime available. Out of those 97, WOWO has a very limited number reserved for live endorsement ads. Just a few each hour between 5am and 9am and between 3pm and 6pm.
These are the most powerful 60 second ads on WOWO. For years, before I joined WOWO, these where the Gold-Standard for the very best type of advertisement your business could have on WOWO, because of the trust factor.
Here’s why they work:
I’ll use Charly Butcher as an example. Charly has been a radio personality in Fort Wayne for over 30 years. 13 years ago Charly moved from doing mornings on our sister station, music based WMEE, to host Fort Wayne’s Morning News on WOWO. Charly Butcher is a well known radio personality in Fort Wayne.
When Charly is interviewing the Mayor, the Governor, or one of our Indiana U.S. Senators or Congressmen, he is trusted and credible. When Charly and his morning news team are keeping us up to date on news, sports, traffic and weather, he is trusted too. That trust factor carries over to the advertising partners he endorses.
Live endorsement ads carry the full power of WOWO plus the added endorsement power of the WOWO personality. When Charly mentions Wicks Sugar Cream Pie, people know that they are good. When Pat Miller mentions Doc Dancer Heating, Cooling and Generators, people know they can trust Doc Dancer. When Rick Wolf mentions the specials at Milan Center Feed and Grain, people know the value because they trust Rick, Pat and Charly.
One other thing we do to protect the credibility advertisers receive when signing up for endorsement ads on WOWO: Exclusivity.
First off, we on the WOWO advertising sales team do our homework to find companies that are honesty and trustworthy. But the radio personality gets the final say on whether or not, he (or she) will endorse each company. Each radio personality will only endorse one company per business category.
A couple of footnotes before wrapping this up today.
We have both live and recorded 60 second endorsement ads. The recorded versions are usually used when Pat or Charly take time off and they can also be used at other times, contact me for details.
60 second endorsement ads are more expensive than a standard 60 second ad on WOWO. The premium price is well worth it, I’ve been amazed at the success stories from our advertising partners who tell us about the returns on their investments in this type of advertising.
Contact me if you would like more information and next time I’ll share another recipe for successful advertising with WOWO I created a few years ago.
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