DR Radio—A Low-Cost Medium With Wide Reach: Special Report

In the age of social media, old school advertising mediums such as direct response radio often become an afterthought. But DR radio’s wide reach and low cost—less than DRTV and often direct mail—make it a media that marketers should seriously consider to test creative and reach large demographic groups.

Economic Factors

Testing a two-minute direct response television spot can cost anywhere from $25,000 up to $100,000, notes Shari Altman, president of direct marketing consultancy Altman Dedicated Direct.

“With direct mail, by the time you pay a copywriter and graphic designer, you’ve probably spent a minimum of $7,500,” says Altman. “With radio creative you’re talking $1,000 or maybe 2,500 if you do several versions. And in a lot of cases you’re working with a DR radio agency that’s going to be buying your media so the cost for the creative could be potentially negotiated away if you’re spending enough money.”

In comparison, the typical DRTV spot could cost 10 times as much, says Buck Robinson, CEO of DR radio agency Robinson Radio.

“What most television advertisers spend on the catering for a shoot you can spend on production side to get five or six good quality radio spots” he says. “Five or six different versions are cost prohibitive in television but not so on radio.”

“In years past, radio had really fallen into disfavor for a lot of people,” says Robinson. “It’s ironic but over the last couple of years people are not only rediscovering radio but have a newly-found appreciation for it.”

But today, Robinson claims he’s having trouble accommodating markets that want to use DR radio. “My problem is that so many people want to get on the radio but I can’t get enough inventory,” he says.

In Tune With Other Media

DR radio is also often used in conjunction with other media as part of integrated campaigns.

One example of this is InCharge Debt Solutions, a nonprofit credit counseling service. It has used both Spanish- and English-language DR radio as well as DRTV and the Web to promote its services such as credit counseling, education and financial literacy, says Evette Rivera, director, consumer awareness.

Over the past two years, while online promotions are number one, the Orlando, FL-based organization has seen higher response from DR radio than from DRTV.

Going forward, InCharge plans to increase its presence on Spanish-language stations but is holding back on the English-language stations while it further evaluates its strategy, Rivera says. Overall, she thinks DR radio is well-suited to entities like InCharge.

“I think DR radio allows organizations with lower budgets the opportunity to reach out to radio consumers,” she says. “If we were to buy traditional radio, we would never be able to afford it.”

The cost of DR radio has also given for-profit marketers degree of flexibility in their media selection decisions.

For this reason, Altman says she often recommended that clients test radio before television, to try and figure out the key, best message to drive response. “Then they can apply that to DRTV, rather than going into [more costly] television first and learning there.”

It Takes Time

The 60-second spot continues to be the most widely used and effective radio format. “This was true 20 years ago and still holds true today,” says Robert Bochicchio, executive vice president and chief broadcast officer at ID Media.

“With direct response radio, you need time to tell your story and clearly articulate your call to action with repetition,” says Robinson. “You need at least 15 to 20 seconds for that.”

Increasingly, companies have been including web addresses and short message codes (SMS) in radio spots, to encourage listeners to text on the mobile devices for more information, reports Bochicchio.

One company using a web address as a call-to-action in DR radio is Beachbody, a Santa Monica, CA marketer of exercise digital videodiscs, which has used DR radio for the past 18 months or so. Advertising such a visual product on radio does run somewhat against the conventional wisdom of DR radio.

“The best products for DR radio are those which don’t require a lot of demonstration but need a lot of explanation,” says Robinson.

The Santa Monica, CA company’s marketing challenge was how to use the non-visual medium of radio to promote its p90X home workout DVD.

“That was the biggest unknown going into our first radio test: how do we get a product that relies heavily on visuals and user experiences (such as before-and-after photos) to translate in a spoken message?,” asks Jason Barnes, senior director, media for Beachbody. “After analyzing the first few weeks of data, it was apparent that we would be able to use one to effectively drive the other. Rather than relying solely on the radio message to close the sale, we evolved it to drive listeners to the Web where they could see the transformations, learn more and ultimately place the order.”

While Beachbody still relies mostly on DRTV infomercials to promote p90X, Web-based responses from the DR radio effort have outpaced telemarketing responses. And just like InCharge, Beachbody sees DR Radio as a useful supplement to its other efforts.

“We can only reach so much of the public via DRTV,” says Barnes. “Other channels such as radio and the Web are increasingly vital to the success of any DR campaign. Whether the intent is to reinforce a message that may have been presented elsewhere or its primary purpose is to engage a brand new audience, radio can serve both purposes.”