Study: Radio, TV Delivers More DTC Traffic Than Google, Facebook Ads

Westwood One and LeadsRx, a leading multi-touch attribution firm, are releasing a major media attribution and awareness report covering the direct-to-consumer (DTC) retail category.

For the first time ever, this report using analyses by LeadsRx and data commissioned from MARU/Matchbox, reveals insights on the marketing effectiveness of DTC advertising campaigns including –what media mix matters, when it will move the mark, who is paying attention, and more.

A key takeaway from the report is that combined, TV and AM/FM radio ads generate twice the site traffic lift of Google/Facebook ads. While DTC brands often launch in digital and use first-party data to drive performance-based marketing, their spending in TV and AM/FM radio generates impact. LeadsRx found that TV and AM/FM radio drove a combined 40% site traffic lift, compared to 17% for Google/Facebook. Broadcast media is a critical channel to leverage for a DTC brand to drive ROI. In terms of audio, both podcasting and AM/FM radio deliver ROI, and have the ability to help DTC brands with awareness growth.

“Two-thirds of podcast advertisers today are DTC brands and they report stunning sales effect and spectacular ROI with podcasts,” said Suzanne Grimes, EVP, Marketing for CUMULUS MEDIA and President, Westwood One. “With this report, we now have hard evidence that AM/FM radio generates significant impact for DTC brands too.”

"DTC brands often think first of Google and Facebook when allocating ad spend," said AJ Brown, CEO of LeadsRx. "However, this study conclusively shows that broadcast media like television and AM/FM radio play an equal role in delivering shoppers or web lift. More importantly, in our experience attributing full-funnel conversions with DTC brands, broadcast is often a more cost-effective channel for delivering actual buyers."

“DTC brands often over-emphasize the ROI power of bottom-funnel tactics like social and display, remarketing, and brand SEM. Scaling efficient channels with the mass reach of television and AM/FM radio feeds the funnel from the top and amplifies awareness and brand impact,” said John Leeman, President & CMO of Brand Value Growth LLC, an owner of a diversified portfolio of direct-to-consumer brands.

Additional learnings from the LeadsRx attribution study include:

• Across the week, Google/Facebook campaigns generated consistent day-to-day site traffic. Television ads generated higher site traffic Saturday through Monday while AM/FM radio ads generated higher DTC site traffic Tuesday through Thursdays. 
• DTC site traffic “prime time” is 9AM to 9PM. DTC categories see different site traffic surges during the day. For example, home goods sites see the largest site activity 10AM to 7PM while entertainment sites have the greatest visitation 3PM to midnight.

The MARU/Matchbox awareness study found:

• DTC brands have a long way to go in building mass consumer awareness. The top 20 DTC brands have an average awareness of 70%. The next 30 brands only average a 24% awareness. The remaining 200 brands have an average awareness of less than 10%.
• Awareness of DTC brands is highest among 18-34 Millennials and drops off sharply in older demographics. Male awareness is higher than female awareness.
• Apparel and home products represent the most shopped DTC categories. Consumers say they expect to see their largest shopping growth for auto products, event ticketing websites, and marketplace and online auction sites.
• Women 35-64 is the demographic with the greatest DTC revenue opportunity. Among those that say they are very likely to shop online retailers, 31% are 35-64 women versus 24% 35-64 men.

You can learn more in the Westwood One blog.

Read more in this MediaPost story.