Radio Direct Response: Direct Response Radio Advertising Agency | Blog Zone

Lather…rinse…repeat.  Really?  Repeat?  Directions on a shampoo bottle are ridiculous to begin with, but the “repeat” part has always been like nails on a chalkboard to me.  While some things in life are just too painful to repeat — like sixth grade or your driver’s test, repetition does have its benefits, especially if you are marketing on radio.

Put your consumer hat on for a second.  You are listening to the radio while showering, driving, sunning on the beach or jogging.  You’re probably not going to towel down or pull over to grab a pen and write down that difficult-to-remember 800 number (there’s a finite number of good ones out there, but that’s for another blog) or URL for that product or service you just heard advertised.  You’ll file it away in your head with the million other things you mean to do.  Repetition is key.

People are usually doing something else when they are listening to the radio.  They’ll call or log on when it is convenient for them to do so or when that desire becomes a necessity.  That is why your message has to rise to the Top Five of that “million things to do list.” How do you accomplish this?  Let me repeat myself — repetition.

When direct marketers give up on radio a week or two into the campaign, they are guilty of not understanding repetition, or in radio terms, “frequency.”  Listeners generally need to hear a radio spot a minimum of three times before they take action.  If the phone doesn’t ring on day one or the web site isn’t flooded, panic sets in.  This happens not only with start-ups, but also with household names that dip their toe in the water but don’t dive in even though their competition is on radio all year long.  Why did it work for their competitors?  Let me repeat myself — they were on the air all year long.

I recently leased a new car and while renewing my insurance, my carrier’s rates rose $60 dollars a month.  Leasing a car requires that you carry the maximum coverage, so I either had to renew or find a new carrier.  Three years ago when I last leased a car it never entered my mind to shop for a better rate.  Now I needed to.  I could think of no other name to call but Progressive Direct.  Why?  They are dominating the airwaves — three years ago they weren’t.  And they offer the unique service of showing you comparable rates from competitors.  A one-stop-shop.

Like millions of others who heard their spots on the radio I didn’t act the first time I heard it, or the 10^th time, or maybe even the 75^th.  But I did call when I needed it.  If I hadn’t heard it 75 times would they be my new carrier?  Probably not.

So again let me repeat myself — repetition is key to a direct marketers success.

Monica Caraffa, Senior Account Manager

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Monica Caraffa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.