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Smartphoners Are Also Better PPM Prospects
October 7, 2013
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. The most consistent theme, as we highlight findings from our most recent national study of radio listeners, has been the smartphone-culture revolution. It is happening very fast. Affecting all aspects of our listeners' lives. Including becoming a significant component of "radio" listening for many. Radio stations and groups are committing to the digital/smartphone-driven future, in varying degrees. But these efforts and investments have almost always focused on our product. Or product delivery. Or on-air promo avails. But when it comes to advertising and promotion, Radio is still in the 20th Century. Our audience is rapidly converting to living on their digitial devices. And we want that to include radio listening. Meanwhile radio stations and groups are still spending the overwhelming bulk of advertising and promotion dollars in old, traditional media. Thus, we have been discussing in this space all sorts of data showcasing the importance of targeting folks who are both radio listeners and smartphone users.
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The most consistent theme, as we highlight findings from our most recent national study of radio listeners, has been the smartphone-culture revolution.  It is happening very fast.  Affecting all aspects of our listeners’ lives.  Including becoming a significant component of “radio” listening for many. Â
Radio stations and groups are committing to the digital/smartphone-driven future, in varying degrees.  But these efforts and investments have almost always focused on our product.  Or product delivery.  Or on-air promo avails. Â
But when it comes to advertising and promotion, Radio is still in the 20th Century.  Our audience is rapidly converting to living on their digitial devices.  And we want that to include radio listening.  Meanwhile radio stations and groups are still spending the overwhelming bulk of advertising and promotion dollars in old, traditional media.
Thus, we have been discussing in this space all sorts of data showcasing the importance of targeting folks who are both radio listeners and smartphone users.  We’ve showed you how they feel about and use their radio stations today.  And their inclinations toward streaming.  Their sampling of other audio providers.  Their time spent online.  The value of social media in their lives.  And, critically, the fact that they are also very likely to be TV spot-skippers.
All of this adds up to a very compelling argument:Â Stations that make heavy use of online/app/social media marketing tools NOW, during this window of habit-shifting, will retain and grow listening audience most effectively down the road.
But there’s this one thing: Radio isn’t simply in the business of maximizing listeners. audience.  It is in the business of maximizing listeners who are wearing PPM’s.
Okay, let’s look at how respondents answered a hypothetical question about receptiveness to The Meter.  (Remember, these numbers will look much higher than actual PPM cooperation rates, for two reasons: One, all respondents, by definition, have already agreed to do radio research for compensation, which eliminates tons of non-prospects.  And two, respondents will always say yes to this initial hypothetical question at much higher rates than they will actually agree to carry the damn things.)
So: all other arguments aside, does targeting smartphoners make sense from the ratings perspective?
ÂHell, yes.  On the left, radio listeners without smartphones.  Prospects outnumber non-prospects, but not overwhelmingly.  On the right, those with smartphones.  Prospects outnumber non-prospects by about two to one.
What this means to you
All the signs, all the data, point in one direction: The audience is shifting to cellphone ownership.  Cellphone owners spend a lot of time online and on social media.  They tend to skip through TV commercials.  And they are more likely than other listeners to say yes to PPM.
If you have not yet committed a major chunk of your advertising and promotion budget to smartphone-friendly, major internet/web-app/social-media campaigns…what are you waiting for?
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