Radio is awesome. It’s fun to listen to, goes with you literally everywhere (shower listeners…hellooo!), and is an extremely effective advertising medium. In a nutshell, radio works. The only other advertising medium that has that level of flexibility and market penetration is digital. When you’re crafting your campaign and looking to take your radio campaign to the next level…consider adding a digital promotion!
What’s a Digital Promotion?
I’m so glad you asked. Here’s a great example:
This is a promotion for 98.3FM The Dove called the Summer Grill Pack Giveaway! You’ll find a link to it on the station website, you’ll hear radio ads on the station talking about it and encouraging listeners to register to win. We talk about it on the Dove’s Facebook page as well.
Here’s an example of what a listener might see when they go to the landing page for the promotion:
We do these because listeners LOVE digital promotions. They add an element of fun and interaction to your radio campaigns and they work! At the end of the day, research supports what we already know…that radio inspires listeners to take action, both online and off. Listeners who hear your ads are more inclined to engage with you and respond:
The Bottomline Benefits for Your Business:
Top of Mind Awareness
You’ll build an incredible Top of Mind Awareness. You’ll stand out above the crowd and make people pay attention to your business in a fun and exciting way. Digital promotions elevate your radio schedule by adding excitement, interest and a fully multi-media campaign…but more about that in a minute.
Elicits Engagement
People participate and..well, engage with your business. Plus…who doesn’t like to try and win something?! All those good vibes are directed at your business and new people who have never interacted with your business before are drawn by the allure of a quiz or a sweepstakes prize, and can’t resist the chance to play along.
Trackable Results
Radio gets results, there’s no doubt about that. Evidence is seen in increased store traffic and sales. Get even more results by adding a digital promotion where response is easily measured.
Targeted Follow-up
You can add the list of participants to your database. Email them after the promotion ends and tell them how much you appreciate them participating. Offer them an exclusive offer just for registering that invites them back to your business. Invite them to sign up for your newsletter and keep them abreast of future promotions.
Types of Digital Promotions
There are two types of promotions that partner well with radio:
1. Sweepstakes
Simple enter-to-win contest. Entrants submit their contact information & answer survey questions to be entered to win a prize. Note that to be effective, the prize you provide should be enough to draw a listener’s interest and motivate them to register. Stay away from 10% off on a purchase offer. Those are lame and feel disingenuous. Best results come from offering something you KNOW a listener wants and has some value to it like a $500 VISA gift card, a beach trip, meet & greet passes, an Apple watch, etc. Work with your account manager to come up with the right prize that connects to your business, that people want and that is valuable enough to compel people to participate. If this isn’t possible, don’t worry…there is another option. You might opt to do a quiz instead.
2. Quiz
Entrants answer trivia or personality quiz questions. Before receiving the result of the quiz, they must enter their contact information & survey questions to win a prize. These are fun…you see them all the time on Facebook and other social channels. Quizzes can be anything from “What Color of Paint Matches Your Personality” for a home decorator to a “Barbecue Grill Master” quiz to test your knowledge at the grill for a grocery store or meat market. Another example: “Are You Getting Enough Sleep” quiz for a Sleep Center. The possibilities are endless. Quizzes are great options if your prize isn’t super compelling – the quiz themselves will draw people’s interest instead. Again, work with your account manager…who has a ton of great ideas and resources to pull from…to find a quiz that pairs well with your industry. With a quiz, the prize then doesn’t even have to relate to your business! It can be somewhat random because the focus is on the quiz..and that’s what will motivate people to enter.
Multi-Channel Marketing Campaigns
What makes Digital Promotions with the DOVE so awesome is ALL the extra stuff you get along with it. Dove’s Digital Promotions are truly multi-channel marketing opportunities!
- Every digital promotion gathers information from participants (who opt-in) for you to follow-up. Info collected includes: Survey questions, Name, Email, Phone, and Zip code and the possibility of some additional qualifying questions.
- Every digital promotion includes an opt-in for the client, The Dove and Inside Columbia Magazine, which adds in the additional power of print with a local/regional magazine.
- Every digital promotion will be accessible through www.983thedove.com giving you the benefit of recognition on the stations website.
- Every digital promotion will be promoted on the radio at 98.3FM and on the Dove’s Facebook page.
- PLUS we want them to succeed as much or more than you do. That means every digital promotion is monitored daily, and we make internal adjustments to help make sure the campaign succeeds.
- We always include on-air promotional announcements that, when combined with your trusty radio ad schedule, tell listeners the story about your promotion and build excitement for them to participate.
Interested in a digital promotion? There are options that the Dove has created that your business would benefit from joining… or your account manager can develop a fully customized promotion just for you! The sky’s the limit. Give us a call.
Digital promotions…yet another reason to LOVE the Dove!