Best of the ISP-Lists

Radio can be an effective medium for marketing Internet access and hosting services. As with most things in life, it helps to know the ropes.

[December 1, 1999]

CS kicked off a thread on ISP-CEO in September of 1999 with this:

"We are looking at initiating a radio advertising campaign. Since I've never done this before, I thought I 'd check with the members of this list for advice.

"The questions I have are --

1. "When I talk to the radio station account reps, they want monthly minimums and a long-term commitment. Is this the norm? Do you get discounts for volume buying?
2. "Do you usually complement your radio campaign with other campaigns? Direct mail or print promotion?
3. "Any suggestions on how to deal with the radio industry in order to position our firm better?"

[MS took the first one head-on] "Your best bet in dealing with a radio rep is to have an outsider (ad agency or consultant) who knows the lingo and ins and outs of the industry.

"Radio sales guys care about only one thing in life: getting your money. Whether you are hitting good demographics or not is completely secondary. Any money you spend on a third party is probably extremely well spent."

[CP took this point farther] "We've done lots of radio in the past. After doing all sorts of media we started working with an agency a year ago. It drastically reduced the internal time spent checking ad copy for mistakes, scheduling, etc. The agency charges a bit more for the ads and the management, but not really that much.

"Overall, we are spending less on advertising, but we have the feeling that growth per dollar spent on advertising has increased. Think of it this way: Your business is being an ISP, not an advertising person. You probably wouldn't' fix your car yourself if you got in a wreck; same theory.

"Interview a few agencies; get a feel for what they can do for you. They're all different. We called five, said we were considering using an agency for our advertising. They will be happy to wine and dine you."

[MH had several ;ieces of advice] "We've gotten great response from good talk radio shows -- the local news and controversy type -- as well as NPR.

"We get decent response from "muzak," office background, light jazz.

"Bubblegum, rock, pop, and rap get you "bottom feeders."

"A few ads over a very long period of time have worked much better for us than an ad blitz."

[KB offered another source of info] "We just picked up a great little book called Radio Advertising, the Authoritative Handbook by Pete Schulberg with a forward by Charles Osgood [NTC Publishing Group; 1996; $29.95]. Very good for local or national ad campaigns."

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