by James Webb
If there is one thing you can do today to survive the future of radio, stop thinking of your cume as listeners and think of them as users. With the arrival of PPM this will be even more apparent, because PPM is all about cume.
Why is radio so late to the New Media party? It’s astonishing to me that radio is so far behind. As a guy with 13+ years of experience in the web industry, I’ve seen so many industries adapt and even transform themselves. There are a lot of reasons, but some of the most obvious are:
1. Radio web site advertising is still largely “value add” instead of being a significant part of non spot development.
2. Fear that the web will take listeners away from the core asset, or hurt ratings.
Listeners are engaged only when the radio is on. Radio users connect with you in other ways, strengthening your brand and encouraging loyalty with each touch. They access your content whenever they want, however they want.
Many of our listeners - ahem! - users, return to our sites every day. Pictures, video, and more get posted on the web to supplement the on-air message. When the show is over, users go online and discuss it or pass it on. News junkies get timely text alerts, and hundreds of captive radio users stream our music station in their offices. The interesting thing about this is that new media, used effectively, propels users to listen to the radio more, not less.
Research has show again and again that web users are not particularly loyal. However, that changes when users are also engaged in broadcast media, particularly when there is additional, compelling content available there.
The Importance of Cume Applies to the Web, Too
Cume, when applied to the web, is called uniques or unique visitors. You may have heard about another web metric, the page view, which is the number of times a web page is delivered in a given amount of time, usually in a month. However, as web sites become more like applications, page views aren’t as important any more; in fact, in 2-3 years this metric will be practically irrelevant. Instead, it will be all about the size of your web audience (uniques), how much you know about them (database), and how well you serve them (return visits). Sound familiar?
Ad impressions are important, too, but as Google discovered some time ago - it’s not just about quantity, it’s about the context and quality of the referral.
It’s no secret that advertising is getting more personal. Targeted marketing works as well for consumers as it does for advertisers. If you engage your users outside of their cars and offices, you’ll get to know them better. The better you know them, the more you can help your advertisers sell to them, and the stronger your relationship with both will be.
--James Webb is New Media Director for Bonneville's Phoenix cluster. The opinions expressed are his own. He can be reached at 602-200-2659 or jrwebb@bonneville.com.
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--All rights reserved. No part of this article may be copied or changed without written consent of Inside Radio/M Street Corp. For permissions, email: genemckay@insideradio.com
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