Report: Industry Needs External Marketing

It’s time for the radio industry to recommit monetary resources to external marketing of station brands. That’s one vital conclusion broadcasters are drawing from December’s landmark study of 37 million listening occasions conducted by Coleman Insights and Media Monitors.

Warren Kurtzman

“The most important takeaway from a station management standpoint is that, as an industry, we have to figure out ways to increase our financial commitment to external marketing,” Coleman president Warren Kurtzman tells InsideRadio. “All stations need an ongoing commitment to external marketing.”

The study found that nearly two-thirds of radio listening occasions (62.7%) are the result of a consumer turning on the radio, listening to a station and turning the radio off. That finding has programmers making a case to management to revive cash-strapped marketing budgets. “To build loyalty you need marketing,” Emmis Communications radio division president Rick Cummings says. “But it’s difficult to do to any great degree in an economic environment like we’ve had since the recession.”

With tight marketing budgets, establishing a leadership position is harder for new radio stations than it was when funding for TV, outdoor and direct mail flowed more freely.

In light of the findings, the use of loyalty campaigns and database marketing to build brand loyalty is more vital than ever, programmers say.