Metrics give Republic Media increased revenue, sales edge over radio

By Jenny O’Donnell

Republic Media/USA Today Network

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

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Competitive media is nothing new in the advertising landscape. Though what some fail to realise is that the next big win doesn’t have to come from a new business moving to town. It could be from the one down the street that’s currently spending with another medium.

We all have competitors, and we shouldn’t get hung up on how they are winning, what their marketing looks like, or how much foot traffic or audience they have. Instead, it’s important to look at our business and identify its strengths, highlight what advantages our brands offer over the competition, and determine how to tell that story.

That is exactly what we did at Republic Media. Using research and raw data, we compared our audience, engagement, and reach to other media, and found that we were incredibly competitive against local radio. We needed to tell this story.

Data was the basis for Republic Media's campaign, which clearly outlined the reasons advertising with azcentral.com is more effective than radio advertising.
Data was the basis for Republic Media's campaign, which clearly outlined the reasons advertising with azcentral.com is more effective than radio advertising.

Remember, research is your best friend. Design and content are important, but it all starts with the numbers. Finding those key nuggets of information, the details that can’t be made up, is the power behind any message.

Backed by research, we developed a campaign that positioned azcentral.com against radio. With deeper engagement, more reach, and a larger affluent audience, our site delivers better results for our advertisers than any other media.

This campaign, along with a previous one touting azcentral.com as Arizona’s No. 1 news site, allowed us to disseminate that message in effective ways.

The campaign targeted local advertisers currently spending in radio and also digitally with azcentral.com. We started by targeting finance and health segments as our research revealed these verticals offered our greatest opportunity.

The campaign was constructed in three phases, utilising email marketing and direct mail as our communication platforms, as well as the assistance of sales executives to close the sale.

We first focused on the top 5 reasons azcentral.com is better than radio, a tactic deemed viable by research. It allowed us to turn the tables on our competitors by illustrating where they might be seeing challenges, thus spinning their negative into our positive.

It’s important to show the advantages your medium has over the other. If a client has been a radio advertiser for 20+ years, your marketing campaign isn’t likely to get them to shift 100% of their dollars to you.

Research shows azcentral.com is more effective for ad placement than local radio; the media company just needed to share that information.
Research shows azcentral.com is more effective for ad placement than local radio; the media company just needed to share that information.

Instead, illustrate how it would complement their radio buy. Take a slower approach to the sale, while gaining trust and showing value in your product. Slow and steady can win the race, and sometimes makes it possible to take more market share in the long run than you initially anticipated.

From there, phase two of the campaign demonstrated that with better reach, more gross impressions and lower cost per thousand, you get more for your money and better results — other facts uncovered by research.

And finally, phase three of the campaign validated digital advertising with azcentral.com with testimonials from customers. Using and trusting in our products, they are our best advocates, so why not rely on them to help advertise?

The azcentral.com vs radio campaign offered a great opportunity to speak to our strengths and saw the following results: total new business revenue from the 32 accounts targeted started was US$50,000 and has continued to grow now that they’re a customer of ours. The e-mails garnished the largest response with an average of nearly 22% open rates.

Rooted in research, this campaign garnered great success and provided a great foundation for continuing to tell our story in the future.

About Jenny O’Donnell

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