Quick Guide to PPM Marketing Success

After three conversations with Tim Bronsil and Rob Klemm at Point-To-Point Marketing, we asked for the questions most frequently asked by their clients. What we received is a quick read on how to make your marketing more effective in a PPM world.

“How Does Household Targeting Change With PPM?”

Compared to the Diary, the number of zip codes and resulting households that move the ratings needle is reduced with PPM. Because PPM is ongoing and people carry devices over long periods of time, the geographical area of influence is more consistent. In the diary world a household only had involvement for one week of the survey process. With PPM, they impact ratings for up to two years. Direct Marketing campaigns reach the targeted households often so that the compatible audience recognizes the benefits of listening.


“Who do you target with your marketing messages?”

Survey-Friendly listeners are “information seekers.” Focus on Survey-Friendly households and give them something with which they can spend time, satisfying their interest for information. Reinforce the reasons why your primary users listen to you, and grow recognition for those values for more listening occasions. Increase Average Daily Cume and you will improve the possibility for bigger Average Quarter Hours.

“Why choose direct marketing over boards?”

Direct Mail is something the information seeker can spend as much time viewing as they like. The prospect has time to absorb the message, and values and brands are made stronger. Outdoor advertising makes it difficult to communicate product details, competitive advantages, and specific consumer benefits. When there were diaries, billboards helped increase recall. With PPM, recall is not the critical path to success…it’s about increasing actual usage. Direct Mail gives people time to see reasons to use you more, billboards do not.


“Why use direct marketing over TV?”

PPM is an ongoing survey that requires feasible ongoing marketing. TV is too costly to realize such a goal. TV is a 30-second message that must cut through 38 units of “noise” per hour from advertisers with 30 times a station’s budget. Think of it this way…using television to reach households that influence the small number of meters in your market is like buying national TV to influence people in Jackson, Mississippi.

“What are your specific products/services that help a station?”

Every campaign is custom and tailored to the specific needs of our clients. The programs we use are often a mix of the following three campaigns:

Qualified Prospects®: By making calls to the targeted area, we find those homes most likely to participate in a survey about radio. We then compartmentalize these essential survey-friendly households to identify those compatible with each station in your cluster. Messages are ongoing for the Continuous PPM survey periods. We include PPM-friendly appointed listening techniques and set barriers against the competition. There is an ongoing benefit to “dating” the other station’s primary and secondary users. Therefore growing usage and greater recognition for your attractions.

TV Replacement®: Because PPM provides a focused target, we feasibly mail important households frequently. We reach cell-phone-only households in addition to others. There is less waste than with other methods of marketing because we go directly to where the devices are located.

Blitz®: We isolate only an audience at workplaces likely to be interested in listening to the station’s format. Therefore, there is less waste than with other telemarketing methods. The quick call may be pre-recorded with live assist, allowing big personalities, artists, and other stars to leave the message. We set appointments to listen at workplaces where PPM devices may record usage.

Tim Bronsil Tim@ptpmarketing.com — 513-231-0344
Mark Heiden Mark@ptpmarketing.com — 970-472-0131
Rob Klemm Rob@ptpmarketing.com — 815-369-2121
Rick Torcasso Rick@ptpmarketing.com — 972-661-1361 www.PTPMarketing.com

Series Links > Part I | Part 2 | Part 3 | more

The right way to use marketing resources

In the final part of our conversation with Point-To-Point Marketing’s Tim Bronsil and Rob Klemm, Inside Radio’s Blue Page asks about the ultimate keys to success when executing a marketing campaign. On the flip side, we also ask about the mistakes some stations make.

“Let’s start with the mistakes some stations make with their marketing. Do you have an example?”

Rob Klemm: The biggest mistake we have seen, especially in this economic environment, is failure to focus. Stations need to recognize that PPM makes precision targeting more effective and important than in the past. Marketing radio with a mass-marketing approach wastes substantial resources. Think of it this way…using television to reach households that influence PPM in your market is like buying national TV to influence people in Jackson, Mississippi.

Recognize that not all listeners are equal, and that Survey-Friendly households are king, and focus your message. By doing that you can move station-compatible listeners from neutral to positive, and up the ladder to high usage.


Tim Bronsil: To follow up on Rob’s point, since dollars must deliver a bigger ROI than in the past, another mistake we see is spending in “chunks.” The central issue with marketing for PPM changes to one where you focus on growing reasons to USE the station more often. Simply recalling the station is no longer the central issue, as it was with the diary. Now real usage becomes king. Ongoing marketing provides substance needed to benefit from changes in the landscape and continually reinforce values. Instead of spending in chunks, find the right homes and businesses compatible with your station. Use a message with which Survey-Friendly “information seekers” can spend time. Reach people frequently with substantive “time-spent-viewing” oriented marketing.

RK: Working recently with a Top 10 market station, we analyzed the zips that mattered in diary versus PPM. We saw there are 20-25% fewer zips that matter in PPM as opposed to diary. This gave them a very manageable geography to own.



“In conclusion, let’s talk about Point-To-Point’s Keys To Success. Will you summarize?”

TB: We have three basic axioms. First, recognize that listeners are not all equal. Some will participate in the survey-meter process, some won’t. Second, always use marketing with which information seekers can spend time. Third, grow the average daily cume. By following these, we’re focusing on those Survey-Friendly households and giving them something with which they can spend time, satisfying their interest for information. We reinforce the reasons your primary users listen to you, and grow recognition for those values on behalf of others for more listening occasions. By increasing average daily cume, you improve your possibility for bigger average quarter hours.

Tim Bronsil Tim@ptpmarketing.com — 513-231-0344
Mark Heiden Mark@ptpmarketing.com — 970-472-0131
Rob Klemm Rob@ptpmarketing.com — 815-369-2121
Rick Torcasso Rick@ptpmarketing.com — 972-661-1361

www.PTPMarketing.com

Series Link > more

Intuitive, Easy to Use Media Sales Solution Software.

Have you heard about Efficio? It’s a web-based account management and CRM system specifically designed for media sales. They take components of the ad sales organization and centralize it into a web based environment. It’s easy to use - so you’ll use it more often.

“The more office work a salesperson does, the fewer sales calls they can make.”

It’s a matter of time. More presentations during the day will result in more sales, and more money for your station. Efficio is efficiency! It’s web-based, not PC based, so everything a sales rep needs is with them at all times. No need to come back to the station for updates. No need to wait for the vendor to update software and no need for your IT department to install anything. But convenience is only the beginning.

Efficio co-president David Einstein talks with enthusiasm about the benefits. “Efficio offers so many conveniences; it’s hard to know where to start. It’s a very easy-to-use interface that puts every aspect of a salesperson’s business at their fingertips. And the same information is available at any time to sales managers, and rolled up to the corporate office.”

“We create robust sales funnel reports, tracking what is in the funnel, what is pending, and percentage of confidence and sales. Efficio will track closing ratios, packages and events, number of new businesses contacted, how many were closed, and how many were lost. And, all the reports are in Microsoft Excel, so you can edit and forecast with ease. No static PDF reports!”

“A unique dashboard summary greets salespeople on their computer. Everything they need is on that one page so they can track appointments, billing, aging, prospects, top ten advertisers, billing verses last year and much more. Efficio synchs with your traffic system and with Outlook. You don’t have to be in the office to get this information. It’s available 24 hours a day, no matter where you login. You get everything in one place.”

There are even more benefits. David points out, “billing, activity and history follows the client, not the rep. So if a sales manager moves an account, that’s not a problem. The billing and every other piece of client information follows the advertiser to the next AE. No other software does it that way. ”

Since we can provide aging updated daily, a seller doesn’t have to wait for next week’s aging report. “We’re shaving weeks off the collection process. So, money can be collected faster. Our clients have proven that. ”

“Efficio adds new tools and enhancements often. Even my suggestions have been added. They really listen to their clients!”

Other benefits include a state-of-the-art e-marketing tool that allows the seller to deliver CAN-SPAM compliant personalized, unduplicated email. Send the same message to 100 people and each is personalized. And you can include video! Send a newsletter, a ratings overview, show preview, promos; anything up to 1.5mb.

And Efficio keeps adding more tools including their Yield Management solution, which can be used with Efficio or as a stand alone system. Managers can setup demand curves for their inventory and create dynamic rate cards that sellers have immediate access to. It comes with plenty of analytics and it updates daily from the traffic system so it’s always up to date.

All you need is Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer to use Efficio. And with 128 bit encryption, it’s got the same security offered by your bank.

“The account management tools are awesome and save me a ton of time!”

We get comments like that every day from happy clients. We’ve been in business since 1999 and work with over 600 media stations in 33 states and three countries.

Try Efficio and you’ll never go back to a PC-based customer management program. Call for a demo and ask about their seasonal discounts.

Contact
David Einstein, co-president
877-EFFICIO (877-333-4246)
deinstein@efficiosolutions.com
efficiosolutions.com

Maximizing the Return on Investment

In the second part of our conversation with Point-To-Point Marketing’s Tim Bronsil and Rob Klemm, Inside Radio’s BLUE PAGE delves into specific results from recent direct-marketing programs. What works? Why? We also ask PTP to compare the returns to other forms of marketing.

“Let’s get into specifics. What is a success story that you can share?”

Tim Bronsil: Obviously marketing is one part of the success. It’s not the only part. That being said, a client of ours (a heritage AC in a large PPM market) found themselves with a direct competitor out of the blue. Over the course of the first three weeks of the competitor’s existence, our client lost 35% of their AQH with Adults 25-54. In week four, the marketing began.

The program was a combination of calls to AC-friendly businesses prioritized by Standard Industrial Codes influencing meter keepers at the time of decision, and postcards to the small sliver of the marketplace that is research-friendly. The relatively small investment helped propel the station back to their previous AQH level. The station has not faltered since. Point-To-Point has worked in every PPM market with success stories in almost every format. We’ve been fortunate to track what works and build upon that for our clients.

“Do you see more stations using at-work marketing?”

Rob Klemm: In the PPM world, we’ve seen AQH levels that are nearly twice as high for people who work full-time versus people who do not work. So, at-work marketing (and the ability to attract immediate listening or sampling) has become an increasing focus for many of our clients. Plus, the ability to target key businesses within a realistic budget makes perfect sense in today’s economic environment.

“When compared to other marketing, what’s the advantage you see for direct marketing?”

TB: It’s rare that a station has a meaningful TV budget these days, so that’s a moot point. Plus, that would be the last medium when such a very small portion of the population actually determines the ratings. We see many stations converting their dollars from billboards to direct marketing. With direct, we find the right homes and the messages are PPM friendly because they are ongoing.

With direct marketing, strategic & tactical adjustments can be made quickly. Messages may include PPM-friendly appointed listening techniques. Stations have the ability to set ongoing substantive barriers against competition and future rivals with the ongoing benefit to “date” the other station’s primary & secondary users. Billboards only reinforce the brand. In a diary world, reinforcement and awareness were all you needed for greater recall. In the PPM world, you must generate reasons to increase usage. Recall simply does not matter with PPM – it’s about usage.

RK: To that point, boards have relatively low Recall.Exposure can be very brief, minimizing message retention. Direct Mail generates high recall with those people interested in the message because they can spend time viewing the mailer. This grows the barriers Tim mentioned and ultimately increases recognition about station attractions so the station is able to take advantage of changes in the listening landscape as they happen. We know survey-friendly people are “information seekers,” and Direct Mail provides these people with the desired substance. Direct Mail allows more complete messages that include tried and true tactics compatible with PPM measurement. Tactics such as appointment listening techniques, relative advantage demonstration, and redirection to interactive media and clubs are easily executed with direct mail campaigns.






Tim Bronsil
Tim@ptpmarketing.com — 513-231-0344
Mark Heiden
Mark@ptpmarketing.com — 970-472-0131
Rob Klemm
Rob@ptpmarketing.com — 815-369-2121
Rick Torcasso
Rick@ptpmarketing.com — 972-661-1361
www.PTPMarketing.com

Accountability on Steroids: The Pickle Solution

Pickle Programs’ newest software can give your station or cluster a huge competitive advantage — you can give the client or agency exactly what they want... a timely post buy analysis that proves you delivered exactly what you promised. And THAT will likely get you a larger share of more buys.


“Deliver accurate, reliable, timely ‘Proof of Performance’ information to agencies and advertisers.”

“Advertisers want their spot times. And, they want and need to be able to produce a post buy analysis for their clients. Pickle Programs allows the station to deliver the information as an Excel or PDF email attachment, marrying PPM data with actual spot times, within a couple weeks of a schedule end date,” says Pickle Programs Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Chancey Blackburn. “Our software gives you the tool to give your clients exactly what they want from your station — Accountability.”

“There are ad agencies that won’t give radio a substantial budget because of the industry’s position of not guaranteeing point delivery. Stations that want to compete for a substantial portion of these budgets need to compete at a different level. Before we developed this software, posting was viewed as a huge project that had to be done manually. Even stations that had good intentions of delivering the right info had an onerous task to deliver a post buy. So providing them an automated solution seems to make sense. There have always been stations that don’t want to provide proof of performance, but I see that changing.”

“If you want a shot at the big dollars, you have to compete with the other media, like TV, that can already easily and quickly deliver post buy data.”

“Our report is tight, easy to read, delivers all the vital data and the software is very affordable.”

Take a look at a sample report by clicking on the image below:



“Even if your advertisers aren’t yet asking for posting, there are advantages to using Pickle Program software.”

You can pro-actively go to the client or agency and say “Here’s something I’m supplying you with to validate what my stations are delivering…so I’m expecting a bigger share of the buy next time, and can now prove we are worth it!”

“Internally, your AEs can determine week to week, or even day to day, how an important schedule is performing, so you can make adjustments along the way, to guarantee delivery of points. No more waiting for the ‘invoice surprise’ at the end of a schedule. And, since spots may be bought using a wide daypart, it’s important to review rotation. Just because the 10 am until 3 pm daypart delivers a 1.5 rating doesn’t mean each spot does. Better to know how you are doing before the end of the schedule, so you can improve performance by adjusting spot times or rotation, and come in on target, with the points you promised to deliver.”

“Pickle Programs gives you the competitive edge in your market, with the big advertisers.”

“It’s a tool that will help you get more buys from more clients. What have you got to lose?”


Contact:
Chancey Blackburn
chancey@pickleprograms.com
210.861.4567
www.PicklePrograms.com

Improve Your Brand Stature And Barriers Against Rivals.

On September 1st, Rob Klemm joined Point-To-Point Marketing as VP. The expansion of PTP’s strategic team presents an opportunity to learn more about direct marketing’s role in this new economic environment and new ratings measurement. Tim Bronsil, PTP’s President, and Rob Klemm recently sat down with Inside Radio to discuss these items.

“Isn’t marketing one of the first things to go in a tough economic environment?”

Tim Bronsil: The attrition a station experiences when they stop marketing can be devastating to the brand. A 20% AQH loss is far more expensive than the minimal savings recognized by cutting the marketing. The best brands continue to engage their audience through direct marketing. One GM said to me: “How can we stop advertising when it’s EXACTLY what we tell OUR clients not to do?”

Rob Klemm: Many stations did cut back and have witnessed listener erosion. Most of the top performing stations/clusters have continued to invest in their brand.


“How are stations spending their marketing dollars more effectively?”

RK: They are communicating more frequently with a smaller group of listeners…those that are willing to be engaged. And, tailoring the message to real interests of their listeners. The best programs support reasons to increase usage to the stations. Don’t waste resources on people that have no chance to move the ratings needle.

TB: Only meter keepers or diary keepers move the ratings needle. By utilizing the tools available through the ratings services, PTP can identify the households which will deliver the greatest return on investment. If a fraction of the market participates in the ratings process, why use a mass media like TV or boards? Focus the target to maximize the results.

“What are the best case studies of when direct marketing has been effective?”

TB: Here’s one: We built a database for a client hat contains tens of thousands of households. Each member is categorized by P1-P5 status, demo, daypart usage, time with radio, etc. Over the period of ten weeks, 25-54 P1s to the primary competitor who use radio more than an hour a day received four personal letters from our client’s morning show. With a cash contest outlined in each letter, we were able to grab quite a few QHRs of listening throughout the rating period with a minimal investment.

RK: Stations that build and communicate with their database perform very well and are able to do so over the long haul. Survey-friendly listeners are “information seekers.” Focus on survey-friendly households and give them something with which they can spend time, satisfying their interest for information. Reinforce the reasons your primary users listen to you.

“What’s different now than when you first started direct marketing for radio stations?”

TB: Gone are the days of “spiking” the ratings. Now, we’re working on plans to maximize the impact of the marketing dollars by improving the affinity for a station on behalf of the compatible audience and therefore growing real usage. Especially with PPM, the process is ongoing, so we usually develop programs for all stations within the cluster (not just one), and impact every month of the year.

RK: Stations are now looking for their marketing to do more than just reach listeners. They are focused on getting a return on their investment…and for the investment to last longer than a “book.” Ongoing marketing provides you the brand substance needed to benefit from changes in the landscape and continually reinforce values.

Contact:
Tim Bronsil, President:
Tim@ptpmarketing.com, 513-231-0344
or Rob Klemm, Vice President:
Rob@ptpmarketing.com, 815-369-2121
www.PTPMarketing.com

Curtis Sliwa - From the Streets to the Suites!

Curtis Sliwa is a host who grew up loving radio, and is out to prove he knows how radio works, by being the most unique syndicated talent in your market. You may know him as the founder of the Guardian Angels, and from the John Gotti story, but Curtis wants to convince you he’s a radio guy.

“I’ve been a talk radio fan since the days of Long John Nebel and Candy Jones.”

Until his death in 1978, Nebel (with wife and co-host Candy Jones) was a fixture on New York radio, the last several years on WMCA-AM. And as a teenager, when friends were listening to music on FM, Curtis was studying AM talk hosts. “I used to tell my friends that AM stood for “Active Minded Radio” while FM stood for “Freakin’ Morons!” But AM talk shows back then were for old people’” said Curtis.

“I got the radio bug after being interviewed by Arlene Frances on WOR AM because I won ‘newspaper boy of the year’ and got the award from President Richard Nixon. But my first time as a guest on radio was with the great Bob Grant on WABC. I had started the Guardian Angels and my wife Lisa was working with me; We were controversial and Bob would have us on the air. WE filled in while he was on a cruise one week. Response was pretty good, and we were invited back a few times. We also hosted morning drive a few times, and then got the slot full-time after the morning guy imploded. Doing mornings on WABC was a dream come true. People all over the nation wanted that job, and it kind of fell in my lap. It turned out to be a great career.”


“We used to do a morning drive segment called Mob Talk...”

On June 19, 1992 Sliwa was shot and nearly kidnapped by two gunmen after entering a taxi in Manhattan. Sliwa jumped from the front window of the moving cab and escaped.

Prosecutors eventually charged John A. Gotti, the son of Gambino crime family leader John Gotti, with the attempted murder. “Apparently John Senior was not a fan of the Mob Talk segment and wanted me dead.”

Curtis had a second stint on WABC as co-host of Curtis and Kuby. “When Citadel bought the station, we kind of thought some changes were coming.”

“But the changes worked out well.”

A night-time show on WABC led to interest from major markets, and a new syndication deal. “Curtis Sliwa Live” airs on WABC in New York, WMAL in Washington, DC, WBAP Dallas, WTKK in Boston and other stations. So far ratings and response has been terrific.

“The show is intentionally different”

“I try to deliver not only a small daily dose of politics, but go into culture, sub culture, social networking, daily news, movies, music, gangs, crime; whatever is hot. It’s a niche – we give you the politics and main issues, but we go to subjects not heard right now in talk radio.”

“I know how to take care of the listeners and the clients.”

“If you’re going to consider our show for your station, be sure of this; I can bring in listeners AND client. I can sell product, secure relationships and make partnerships with clients. And I deliver video and audio content, and the demo. Nobody can sell like me.”

How is the show doing? With The Curtis Sliwa Show, WTKK Boston saw its M25-54 share jump from a 3.5 (July) to a 7.0 (August), #2 in the market. P25-54 increased from a 2.3 (July) to a 4.1 (August).


Curtis Sliwa Live airs live Monday through Friday from 10 pm until 1 am/ET.



ContactTamara Karcev,
Citadel Media - 212-735-1153
tamara.karcev@citcomm.com
http://www.curtissliwa.com