Watching Radio at Work
It was only a couple of weeks ago that I got to see radio work for an advertiser in person for the first time. I mean I've heard my clients tell me that traffic has increased, or that they've gotten phone calls and things like that, but that's all second hand. It makes me feel good to hear those things as I follow up on different campaigns, but I had never seen the results of radio advertising in person.
In my head, I know it works. But it's an entirely different sensation to see it happen.
A client booked the radio station to come out and be on-location for a few hours on this particular Saturday. (The radio terminology for an on-location set up like that is remote.) They were celebrating their 10th anniversary and had led up to the event with other marketing too - including newspaper, word of mouth and outdoor signage. It's always good to go with a nice mix for a large event.
It was only the second remote that I've been out to live. The first was in January when the station worked with Erin Haley as she released her album "Second First Impressions". That was interesting - we did sell a few CD's and Erin signed a lot of autographs, but it wasn't as immediate to me as what happened at the anniversary remote.
The client let the on-air personality know that one of the things they wanted to promote with the live cut-ins was their coloring contest. They are having children make posters related to thier business and the winners will be judged and the winner announced at an upcoming local trade show. So at the next cut-in she talked about the coloring contest.
Within about 15 seconds, the phone started ringing. Being near the desk where the phone was, I overheard the store's side of the conversation. They were giving out details about this coloring contest that was just announced. After seeing her finish up on the phone, I went over to see if I had heard right. It turns out that the caller had only caught the tail end of the sales message, and was calling to get the information that they missed.
How cool is that?
Okay, maybe it's just me - but I thought it was such a thrill to see radio in action...bringing results to the client.
The whole afternoon was a series of incidents like that as people came in from all over the listening area to check out the excitement. With the traffic came sales, and everyone was happy at the end of the day.
Well everyone except my three boys who were told in no uncertain terms that we were not going to be purchasing a dirtbike or an ATV -- but that's another story!
In my head, I know it works. But it's an entirely different sensation to see it happen.
A client booked the radio station to come out and be on-location for a few hours on this particular Saturday. (The radio terminology for an on-location set up like that is remote.) They were celebrating their 10th anniversary and had led up to the event with other marketing too - including newspaper, word of mouth and outdoor signage. It's always good to go with a nice mix for a large event.
It was only the second remote that I've been out to live. The first was in January when the station worked with Erin Haley as she released her album "Second First Impressions". That was interesting - we did sell a few CD's and Erin signed a lot of autographs, but it wasn't as immediate to me as what happened at the anniversary remote.
The client let the on-air personality know that one of the things they wanted to promote with the live cut-ins was their coloring contest. They are having children make posters related to thier business and the winners will be judged and the winner announced at an upcoming local trade show. So at the next cut-in she talked about the coloring contest.
Within about 15 seconds, the phone started ringing. Being near the desk where the phone was, I overheard the store's side of the conversation. They were giving out details about this coloring contest that was just announced. After seeing her finish up on the phone, I went over to see if I had heard right. It turns out that the caller had only caught the tail end of the sales message, and was calling to get the information that they missed.
How cool is that?
Okay, maybe it's just me - but I thought it was such a thrill to see radio in action...bringing results to the client.
The whole afternoon was a series of incidents like that as people came in from all over the listening area to check out the excitement. With the traffic came sales, and everyone was happy at the end of the day.
Well everyone except my three boys who were told in no uncertain terms that we were not going to be purchasing a dirtbike or an ATV -- but that's another story!
Labels: effectiveness of radio, radio advertising
posted by Patrysha at 8:15 PM
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