A radio story

Wayne Ens is an author, trainer and media specialist.

He writes and distributes Ens on Sales Tips via email.  

His latest tip is well worth the read.

Here is his radio story.

Brian Russell, the COO of Media Distribution Solutions, shared some research about the power of video at the recent Local Online Advertising Conference in New York.

            Their research revealed that having video on a website makes it 53 times more likely to be found on Google, and that emails with videos get 50% more clicks compared to emails without video.

            I have no doubt about the effectiveness of videos online, and a recent trade article about the conference said "The takeaway is that video is clearly the new frontier in capturing attention in your marketing".

            Statistics like this can have local advertisers lining up to spend more money on videos, which often become dated very quickly, at the expense of radio advertising.

            By the way, the company that facilitated this research, Media Distribution Solutions, just happens to produce videos.

            Our TOMA surveys of more than 10,000 consumers reveals that consumers are 444 times more likely to view the website of a business they have heard of versus viewing the site of a business they have not heard of.

           And while video might make a website 53 times more likely to be found on Google, our research and advertiser seminars validate Seth Godin's claim that "It's better to be sought than found" online.

            Being sought by name is the only sure way a business can be found online, and having established a pre-need preference for a business with  a strong branding campaign will always trump any SEO or other online tactics.

            Radio is the proactive media, and online is the reactive media. Advertisers need both.

Establishing a pre-need preference for a business with proactive media will always trump putting all of your eggs in the reactive media basket.

            Step one is to establish a pre-need awareness and preference for a business with proactive radio. Step two is to use video and other online tactics when consumers search reactive media in reaction to their need.

            Let's tell the proactive radio story and not let advertisers put the cart before the horse. 

Internet Is A Blessing And A Curse

I love the internet.

It is a fountain of information and killed the Encyclopedia.

But while the internet puts the information at your finger tips, it has also become a curse.

Sturgeon's Law says ninety percent of everything is crap, and I think Theodore Sturgeon was being kind to the internet.

Traditional Media VS Smartphone Use

Wayne Ens from Ensmedia.com recently wrote a post on SmartPhone use and a report published by eMarketer.  

eMarketer help online media people sell more digital media, published this research in one of their releases.  

Sourcing the document quoted at the bottom of the graph, Wayne discovered the following: 

"Traditional media were the biggest motivation for beginning a search on a SmartPhone, followed by word-of-mouth."

With respect to Mark Twain, "The death of traditional media has been greatly exaggerated".

You can find the full eMarketer report here. 

Going Google

Had a client tell me no traditional media for 2013.

Going Google and want to grow organically.

They are in a competitive industry and probably in the top three when you think of their product. But dropping all traditional media for Google is risky.

 I have a feeling they will be back in 90 days.  Keep you posted.

Really Bing?

I still choose Pepsi. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

You pay enough money and any SEO guru can get you ranked at the top of Bing, Google or Yahoo.

It's a big waste of money when I get there an your website sucks and it doesn't move me along the selling process.

Spend the money on building a great website that will convert visitors to buyers. Don't put the cart before the horse.

Tony Mariani

What are you googling?

Searching from a smartphones, iphones, androids and all hand held devices is snowballing. You are going to need a web page for the desktop and one for hand held devices.

Its one thing using a desktop or laptop where there is likely more time and patience to find what you are looking for.

But with wireless devices, searchers want the information now.

Rethink your website for 2011.

Tony Mariani

Websites you may like

Some sites I found very informative this weekend. Thanks to John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing for inspiring the post.

How good is your website? http://unbounce.com/landing-pages/landing-page-rehab/

Who is saying what in social media? http://www.whostalkin.com/

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos delivers happiness to Google.

Can you speak human? Interesting challenge from Daniel Pink.

Tony Mariani

Have you seen your yellow pages lately

It was likely banging your head against the wall. No amount of information, data and figures we would bring out to clients helped us to wrestle some of the yellow pages budget.

Businesses and primarily small businesses (you don't see national companies with big ads in the yellow pages. Its usually just a listing) built the yellow pages empire. But like most things, the time comes when you have outlived your usefullness.

You no longer have to add color to make your ad stand out or increase your ad because your competitor's ad is bigger.

Yellow pages, the passive media, a go to at last resort, the emergency medium has met its match.

Hello Google and Google 411.

Now that $1000 a month you were paying for a yellow pages ad looks a whole lot better on your P & L.

Here is the challenge if you choose to accept it. Lets meet here next year, March 3,2011 and lets compare how many times you used the yellow pages compared to Google.

Tony Mariani