Like the return of the tax filing deadline, there’s a recurring sound in the air each April as the tax prep services take to radio to promote their businesses. That’s true again this year. Media Monitors says tax prep companies aired more than 88,000 commercials last week — and that is just on the stations that it tracks. There is good reason they keep coming back, according to Katz Media Group, which put radio to the test in a study with one of the big tax prep services.
The company — whose identity is not being disclosed — turned to radio to grow web traffic and online engagement in a business that is crowded not only with big players like H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and TurboTax, but also local services. The 14-week radio campaign ran in more than 70 markets, and on more than 100 stations across ownership groups. To measure how it performed, Katz Analytics, powered by LeadsRx, matched over 40,000 radio spot occurrences with the brand’s web traffic to gain a holistic view of radio’s impact on web engagement. The data confirmed that radio is an effective medium for tax services to reach consumers.
Katz says the radio campaign resulted in more than 870,000 web sessions, driving an incremental 11% lift in website traffic to the tax prep services’ site. It also showed that the longer length ads had better results.
During the test, the tax prep service used a mix of 90-second features that included expert tax tips and involved local radio personalities’ participation. It also aired 30-second and 15-second brand spots.
In a boost for radio, across the board all spots contributed to the lift, delivering an average 21 web sessions per radio spot airing. But Katz says the 90-second features resonated especially well among listeners and proved to be highly engaging, driving 34 web sessions per spot — the most of any ad length — and delivering a 64% lift in website traffic above the campaign average.
The 15-second spots also proved to serve as effective calls to action, driving the highest volume of web sessions, and Katz says they overperformed based on their share of radio ads. It says the 15-second ads contributed more than half of all radio-attributed visits (57%) while making up only 46% of all radio spots.
“The study provided the tax prep service with evidence that radio was effective at driving online engagement with their brand,” says Katz in a summary of its case study. “By utilizing a mix of long and short duration units, incorporating relevant content and local personalities, the brand broke through with their messaging and generated measurable results,” it explains.
