A five-year series of attribution studies of 17 AM/FM radio ad campaigns across multiple categories shows that on average, those campaigns drove up advertiser website traffic by 14%.
The studies, commissioned by Cumulus Media/Westwood One's Audio Active Group and analyzed in Westwood One's blog, were conducted from 2019-2023 by LeadsRx, using ad occurrence data from Media Monitors and Nielsen audience impressions. Ad categories included tax preparation services, B2B supplies/services, apparel and jewelry retailers, financial institutions, job websites, subscription managers, identify theft protection, online therapy apps, vitamin supplement subscription services, and a haircare supplement.
When measured against LeadsRx's benchmarks to determine the performance of attributed lift, the tax preparation service ad campaigns performed the best, with lifts ranging from 30-48%. Other stellar performing campaigns were for a haircare supplement (+14.6%), retailers (+11.3%), and job websites (+8.6%).
“While tax preparation services saw the greatest attribution lift likely due to so many Americans needing to file taxes within a very short time period, the attributed lift categories also reveal AM/FM radio works for retail and impulse purchases,” Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard says. “These campaigns experienced a substantial increase in web traffic following the AM/FM radio ads, often seeing more than a fivefold lift. AM/FM radio exposure leads to more spontaneous, spur of the moment conversion events.”
When the 17 campaigns' share of attributed web sessions is compared against that of Nielsen impressions for each day of the week, the former outperforms the latter on three of those days: Monday, Sunday, and Saturday. The campaigns show the highest percentage of impressions on Mondays and Tuesdays, with Thursdays the next highest.
The power of weekends is worth noting, as Bouvard cites Nielsen data showing that 21% of all U.S. AM/FM radio listening occurs on weekends, just above weekday morning drive's 20%. “Advertisers should increase their use of AM/FM radio on the weekends, [as] LeadsRx studies reveal that weekend AM/FM radio punches above its weight,” he says. “AM/FM radio campaigns on weekends drive impact and results.”
Examining weekday dayparts the same way, evenings (7pm-12m) show a larger share of attributed web sessions, due to available devices and free time of consumers, with a slight overperforming for overnights (12m-6am). But just because there's a significant underperforming in AM drive, that doesn't necessarily warrant adjusting a marketing plan to reflect that. “Mornings historically underdeliver their share of impressions since consumers are busy getting ready for work and school,” Bouvard says. “This expected pattern should not be a reason to move campaign weight out of morning drive. Morning drive exposure results in web sessions during later dayparts when consumers have the time and available devices to respond.”
While many AM/FM radio formats are shown to drive search and site traffic, the most effective in terms of overdelivering Nielsen impressions is sports, with news/talk also ticking up higher. Nonetheless, Bouvard recommends advertisers “buy a broad array of programming formats, as shoppers are found across many AM/FM radio genres. Avoid just buying the stereotypical ‘obvious fit' formats, i.e. country for a military insurance campaign, or top 40 for a cosmetics brand. Spread media weight across a diverse set of programming formats to grow reach and results.”
The blog also points out other LeadsRx research proving AM/FM radio's power when it comes to boosting web traffic, such as a 17-month study of 1.8 million radio ads from more than 300 auto dealers in 100 markets, showing that the more ads run in the market, the greater the website traffic. At its most effective, auto dealers airing 40 or more ads saw a 55% lift in web traffic.
LeadsRx's analysis also confirms that ads mentioning the brand within the first five seconds are more likely to drive web traffic. “As a best practice, ads should clearly communicate their name early and often,” Bouvard says. “According to Nielsen, consumer engagement with an ad drops off after the first five seconds, [and] Veritonic recommends the brand be mentioned four to six times in an ad. The more brand mentions in an ad and the more times a website is mentioned, the greater the attribution performance.”
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