by Scott Howard | Apr 23, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
For #ThrowBackThursday, I dug up this article from the 2008 ScLoHo archives.
(What are the ScLoHo archives? It’s been more than 10 years that I have been writing and publishing articles online. Over 10,000 were published in the first 8 years on various ScLoHo blogs that I used to update. Then in 2011, when this website went live, this became the central hub of all my online activity.)
The internet is a wonderful thing. And it is still in its infancy. 
Think about the advent of radio or television broadcasting.
A nice invention, but how do you make money with it was a question someone must have asked a long, long time ago.
Eventually advertising was used to support this “free medium”. I say free, because after buying a radio or television, you were not obligated to spend anymore money except for the electricity to power the radio or t.v.
Later people started paying a subscription fee to get extra channels via a cable t.v. service. Those in the Television Broadcasting business locally tell me that penetration for cable, FIOS, or satellite services is 80% in our Metro.
Wow, 4 out of 5 people pay extra money each month to watch television.
Next thing, people will pay extra for bottles of water that is no different than the water they can get out of their tap.
See how we become conditioned to accept things through marketing?
Another piece of technology that changed our viewing habits was the wireless remote control. With dozens, no, make that hundreds of channels piped into our homes, can you imagine having to stand in front of your television to change the channel until you find what you want?!
The remote also made it easy for us to flip the channel when a commercial came on. But studies show, that the number of people that flip during a commercial break is directly related to the quality of the commercial as judged by the viewer.
So what about this internet thing? Can anyone make money with it? Yes, but it will take more than setting up a website and waiting for the money to come rolling in. Quite frankly, methods of advertising online that worked 5 years ago, are not as effective, generally speaking as they used to be.
Consumers have learned to tune out advertising, so it will take a marriage of advertising methods and creativity, coupled with the understanding of basic human emotions and behavior, to make an internet ad campaign successful. And odds are that within a few years, you will need to use different methods to reach your online audience, which is okay.
Now in 2015, the options for advertising online have become more and more sophisticated. What I can offer through the digital division of WOWO Radio’s parent company is light years ahead of what was available when I published this article 7 years ago. Want to know more? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Apr 22, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
At this very moment, the moment, this article is being published online, I am meeting with Mike. The same Mike I’ve mentioned the past couple of days. 
Feel free to review the process that brought us together and how Mike and his business are now advertising partners with me and WOWO Radio.
Here’s what we are doing as you read this…
1st off, I brought Ben with me today. Ben is the General Sales Manager and I’ll tell you more about him soon.
The three of us are discussing the actual wording of the ads that we are starting in a couple of weeks. We are also talking about Custom Audience Targeting with online display ads in a re-targeting campaign.
We are not talking about how much it costs to advertise. That discussion we had a couple meetings ago and again last week.
Last week when, Mike and I agreed to become advertising partners, I presented him with 4 different options for using WOWO radio. I usually limit it to two or three but I had a 4th that I wanted to discuss. Three different price options were presented. My big question to Mike was, “What is your comfort level for advertising spending?”
Mike answered, “The amount I spend isn’t important as the return I get.”
Excellent answer.
We spoke about the different amounts he spends in other areas and the results he sees and compared that with what we can expect initially. We agreed to start with one of the lower priced options and grow from there. That was my recommendation. Mike would have bought one of the higher priced options last week, but I want a couple months to launch and tweak and fine tune his message before he invests the larger dollars.
And that is the step we are talking about today. We are creating the initial ads that will begin May 4th.
While I ask my advertising partners what their advertising spending comfort level is, the reason is I want to be sure they are going to not expect the phone to ring off the hook on day 1, if they are not spending enough to make that happen.
With Mike and his business, it is a slow and steady process for him to qualify a customer and when he gets a good one, the rewards are there. It’s not like selling hamburgers where you need to sell them every day.
Which reminds me of another story for another day about McDonald’s. Until then, reach out to me with questions or comments.
by Scott Howard | Apr 16, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
From the ScLoHo archives, an article about radio ads with some timeless advice for #ThrowBackThursday, (You can also apply this to your web ads and tv ads.)
You as a business owner, or advertising professional will grow tired of an ad a lot sooner that the public that you want to reach.
So if you want are starting to want to freshen up or change your ad, take your time. Hold your breath, let it ride for another week or two unless:
- The ad is out of date. (Please stop your Valentines Day Sale.)
- Uh, that’s about it.
You are more sensitive to the ad because you are paying attention to it. For the average person it will take some extra time and exposure for them to realize you have an ad, then for them to start paying attention and then for them to respond if they have a need.
So relax, and leave it to the professionals that study this. Or contact me and I’ll help you plan for success. Scott@WOWO.com.
by Scott Howard | Apr 15, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
If I were to say the same thing over and over again for a full minute to try and convince you to do something, would it work?
Or if I were to tell you briefly, in about 10 seconds the same thing, but instead of doing it over and over again for a minute straight, I did it once a day for a week, would that work?
This is one of the questions that I consider when making a recommendation for a radio advertising campaign on WOWO Radio. It’s all about Crafting the Right Message for Your Radio Ad. Let’s dig in:
Traditional radio ads are a minute long. Some are shorter, like 30 seconds, a few are 15 or 10 seconds long.
Our attention spans are continuing to shrink as technology speeds up the rate we can get information. Science says our attention span is now shorter than a goldfish. 15 years ago, we would pay attention for 12 seconds. By 2013, that number dropped to 8 seconds. Your goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds.
What does this mean in practical terms for your radio ads?
In a 1 minute commercial, you had to keep the listener engaged 5 times for a 1 minute ad. Now that number has increased 50% to 7.5 times per minute, or you will lose them, mentally to something else, even if they are listening, they are not paying attention.
While there are still benefits to having your ad playing, even if the listener is not actively listening, (the subconscious branding affect), do you really want to bore your potential customers with your advertising?
Not the way you want to advertise!
This is one of the reasons, I saw an opportunity to help my clients and advertising partners to come up with an effective alternate to 60 second and even 30 second ads on WOWO Radio.
Instead of rambling on and on and on, what if we got straight to the point in about 10 seconds? And instead of your ad sounding like a commercial with a music bed playing in the background, it was done live by the radio personality as part of their sharing the news, weather, or traffic reports, I discovered the value of these imbedded messages for my advertising partners.
I first transitioned into the advertising world from being an on-air radio personality by having a full time position of writing, creating, and producing radio ads and campaigns. To be perfectly honest, creating effective one minute ads is hard. Very hard to do and keep them from being boring or filled with cliches. Remember what I said about our short attention spans? Our brains need to be stimulated or we tune out.
There are some additional benefits to short messages on WOWO Radio. For the price of a one minute ad, I can provide you with between 2 and 5 shorter messages.
Remember my original question?
If I were to say the same thing over and over again for a full minute to try and convince you to do something, would it work?
Or if I were to tell you briefly, in about 10 seconds the same thing, but instead of doing it over and over again for a minute straight, I did it once a day for a week, would that work?
Option 2 usually works better. It’s our human nature. It is more relationship based. And if your marketing message can be conveyed in a shorter message, it is also a smart option.
So what is best for you and your business? Longer or Shorter messages? Or a combination? It is impossible to tell you without us talking first.
Here’s your invitation to contact me and start the conversation.
by Scott Howard | Apr 14, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
Back to my continuing series on advertising on WOWO Radio. Today, the content of your ad and what follows is excellent advice from a recent newsletter from RAB.com:
Commercial specifics get results
Radio creative consultant Jeffrey Hedquist
Which sounds more believable? “Hundreds to choose from!” or “We have 324 of these widgets in our showroom right now.”
Want to give your commercials more power? Be specific. Examine each of the claims that you make in a commercial. Replace the generalities with specifics and you’ll have a more believable story.
Instead of saying “we have great service,” describe how when you come into the store the sales consultant will ask you four important questions about how you’re going to use this product and then demonstrate a variety of choices for you, explaining the pros and cons of each one.
Or you can say, “One week after your purchase, one of our representatives will call you to answer any questions you might have, show you additional ways of using the product and even offer hands-on help should you need it. Why do we do this? We want you to have a successful experience with our product. So when it’s time for you to buy another one you’ll come back to us.” In other words, tell your audience why you’re offering a benefit, don’t just throw out a cliché.
Yes, it takes more time to paint a word picture of this experience, but you’ve now given the potential buyer a reason to buy that doesn’t sound like a pat phrase.
People are so used to hearing generalities like “lowest prices,” or “friendly sales staff” that those words have no meaning anymore. Comb through your copy. Take every single phrase and make it come alive by using specifics. And where do you get those specifics? Simply tell the truth in detail.
Do you have factory-trained mechanics? Tell us, “Last July three of our mechanics attended a two-week training course where they learned how to repair the six most common ignition system problems. They took apart and reassembled the ignitions of seven domestic and eight foreign car manufacturers. Does your mechanic get that kind of training?”
Your commercial will be more convincing if you tell the truth – in detail. Amazing.
This type of specifics should be in all of your ads. The problem you will run into is the time and cost of creating ads for television and print that need to change. For example, when you only have 197 widgets left, wouldn’t it be great to have your add give an accurate number? We can do that on WOWO without the extra cost. I have a couple of methods to do this. Contact me and we’ll talk.
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