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If you are an avid follower of ALL ACCESS, you know that The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. pen a monthly ratings column. We are fortunate to look under the hood of the data for the top fifteen PPM markets. This affords us a somewhat wide perspective on ratings trends.
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BIA Advisory Services tracks and predicts advertising revenue on a nationwide and local market basis. They forecast ad expenditure by advertising category. In a recent interview for Forbes.com, Rick Ducey, Managing Director of BIA, outlined how ad expenditure will change in 2021.
This is a critical comparison, because for most reading this, 2020 was a miserable year. COVID caused massive shutdowns in retail, entertainment, travel, and restaurants. Is 2021 going to be a rebound year for advertising expenditure? Much of this depends on your definition of rebound.
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We sit in a somewhat unique position that allows us to peek under the hood of radio stations in PPM markets across the country. As we work with our clients to help increase both revenue and ratings we are seeing the formation of some notable trends.
There is no doubt that the nationwide lockdown in the middle of the March survey resulted in a negative effect on radio listening. This effect bottomed out in the April book and has since then shown gradual improvement. The emphasis is on the word gradual, as radio’s recovery has resembled the Nike swoosh rather than a “V.”
Specifically, here are some trends we are seeing …
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A perennial concern of Nielsen subscribers is whether the company is delivering quality research. We at Research Director, Inc. continually track not only Nielsen’s total sample, but also how well the make-up of the sample represents each unique radio market. Several different metrics exist to help our clients understand how well the sample represents the overall population.
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A recently released study from CUMULUS MEDIA/Westwood One and the RAB will prove to be an invaluable resource for radio salespeople. It will allow advertisers to determine the appropriate spot level needed to achieve their specific campaign goals. In most cases, it documents that the client should actually increase their spending on a radio station. This could be perceived as a ploy to pry more budget out of an advertiser. We strongly suggest that these findings be positioned as insight. This data will help you assist your clients to place more effective campaigns with better results. And in turn, that enhances your credibility.
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As any sports coach will tell you, the key to winning on a consistent basis is to master the fundamentals. Take baseball. Advanced analytics have introduced spin rate, launch angle, and WAR to the game. But, at its core, it is still about hitting the cutoff man, getting strike one, and moving the runner over.
This analogy holds true for radio, as well.
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After an election, both parties, including the winning party, perform an assessment of what went right and what went wrong. What can be done better in the next election cycle? This is commonly known as an election post-mortem.
Now that the 2020 election is mostly over, our industry should also ask these questions:
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A complaint I get from general managers on a very regular basis is, “I cannot find quality sales people.” Great ratings are nearly worthless unless you have the sales team to convert them into revenue. As the saying goes, “you can’t sell what you can’t cover.”
So what do you do when you cannot find experienced sales people who know how to convert data into dollars? Find good people and TRAIN THEM!!!!!!!
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After the 2016 election, many asked, “What is wrong with polling?” All the polls showed that nationally, Hillary Clinton had a commanding lead over Donald Trump. However, when the results of the Electoral College were tabulated, Donald Trump was elected the next president. Many thought this was a one-time aberration. However, in 2020, the polling predicted a landslide by Joe Biden. While Biden did receive over five million more votes than Trump, many states appeared to be razor thin. Most notably, Wisconsin was much closer than any poll showed.
What can we as broadcasters learn from this? Polling is not an exact science.
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Let’s be real – marketing dollars are as scarce as they’ve ever been. Radio needs to market as efficiently and effectively as possible in order to maximize results
One way to do this is to zero in on the zip codes that affect your ratings the most.
How?
