The filing deadline for 2021 tax returns is next Monday, April 18, for most taxpayers. To raise awareness and engagement in a crowded category, tax services aired tens of thousands of spots a week during first quarter on broadcast radio. How are these campaigns doing in getting tax filers on their websites and into their offices?
One tax service partnered with Katz Radio Group to blanket the country with 30-second ads targeting general market and Spanish language audiences. The campaign aired on 600 radio stations owned by various groups via the Katz Alliance Audio Network and Spanish Language Unwired Network. The rep firm’s Analytic Owl-powered analytics division provided campaign feedback to the un-named client, matching over 50,000 radio log times with the tax prep service site's web traffic data to get a big picture view of radio's impact on web engagement.
The study found the radio campaign drove an incremental 5% lift in web traffic to the tax prep service site over the eight-week campaign. “Radio was a major driver of awareness and engagement for the brand, as evidenced by the considerable increase in web visitation occurring when the radio campaign kicked in,” Katz says in a summary of the campaign outcomes on its Sound Answers blog. Looking at web traffic on radio flight days vs. the week prior to the campaign starting, the tax prep service saw 194% more web traffic on days with spots airing. The campaign's on-air/off-air increase was four-times greater than the Accountant/Tax Services category average of 38%.
But the nationwide campaign did more than drive web traffic. It also increased interest in tax prep service office locations. Traditional web traffic studies don’t measure door swings, but the study was able to show how radio impacted consumers' interest in finding office locations. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the client's "Get Directions" goal conversions occurred after radio spots aired.
“The brand's radio campaign successfully broke through and resonated among consumers, leading to greater overall web visitation and interest in office locations,” Katz concluded.