Why It Matters: Getting noticed is easy. A genuine connection creates a competitive advantage.
BMW recently found itself in the middle of an unexpected backlash. As part of its partnership with the new Spider-Man movie, promotional content started appearing on the screens inside compatible BMWs. What was intended to be a fun surprise landed very differently with some owners, who viewed it as an intrusion into a space they had already paid to own.
It’s an important reminder for all of us competing in the attention economy:
Interruption is easy. Turning attention into loyalty is difficult. Technology has given marketers extraordinary new ways to get in front of consumers. We can reach people almost anywhere. But just because we can put a message in front of somebody doesn’t mean we’ve earned their attention, much less created a meaningful connection.
That distinction is one of the reasons I’m such a believer in our Tell-A-Friend/Audience Amplification strategy that has added over 1,875,000 new listeners to our station databases. Heavy radio listeners are invaluable. With limited marketing budgets and intense competition for listening occasions, Tell-A-Friend extends your reach and recruits new listeners by empowering your Super Fans to make the introduction. Your best listeners have personal relationships built on trust and they know who will and who won’t enjoy your station. When they invite a friend, co-worker or family member to listen and win, your station becomes part of that relationship.
That changes everything.
And there’s another powerful benefit that is easy to overlook: every time a P1 serves as an ambassador for your brand, they deepen their own connection with your station. They’re no longer simply a listener. They’ve put their reputation behind your brand. They’ve shared something they value with someone they care about. This word of mouth strategy reduces the amount of time it takes to earn someone’s attention and get them to listen. It lands differently than a station promo or paid campaign touchpoint. It’s someone they know saying, “I like this station. I think you will too.
This approach becomes even more powerful when someone has just moved to town and is forming new habits, looking for local connections and deciding which stations will become part of their commute and workday. And because it comes from somebody they know, the new listener’s relationship with your station begins differently. There is context. There is trust. There is a deeper reason to engage. At the same time, the Super Fan who made the introduction has strengthened their own relationship with your brand.
That’s how databases grow faster, loyalty develops sooner and habitual listening takes hold, driving daily cume. That’s the power of Tell-A-Friend/Audience Amplification. It extends the reach and frequency of your DMR marketing campaign and delivers new cume and station database growth without additional acquisition costs. To learn more about your next marketing campaign that creates meaningful connections with heavy listeners and turns attention into loyalty, send me a quick note.
On behalf of Catherine Jung, Tony Bannon, Jen Clayborn, Mike Landis and everyone at DMR/Interactive, thank you for driving radio forward.
Onward,
Andrew Curran
President and CEO
DMR/Interactive
You must be logged in to post a comment.