TV advertisers have their own reasons for welcoming the winter months. It’s the time of year that people come indoors from the cold and watch more TV. November thru February is a time of year when advertisers know they can reach a large number of viewers at one time. NFL football’s audience, for example, can be as high as 20 million U.S. HH’s on any given week during the season and most advertisers will pay higher rates to reach those viewers with their message/product/service.
The demand for TV time means higher media rates; stations naturally increase rates due to this higher demand. How does a marketer know when the station’s rates are too high? A DR marketer has a very unique advantage over other marketers in determining when they’re paying too much for air time. A DR marketer knows almost immediately (next day) if the media rates are too high. Higher viewing levels do not always translate to better results for DR marketers, which is why they (or their agency) are challenged with the task of closely monitoring the results relative to the media cost, or ROI (return-on-investment). If the ROI’s fall below an acceptable level a DR marketer can quickly shift media dollars to another station or time period.
DR marketers generally know that higher viewing levels (ratings) do not automatically provide better response to their program. Their challenge is to balance the higher rates against their ROI’s and make changes to their media schedule, as necessary.
Viewing levels (ratings) are important to general advertisers because they have no other tool with which to gauge their message’s effectiveness. The DR marketers’ advantage is they do not need ratings to determine their message’s effectiveness: they know immediately when their phones ring.
Every month we see a new article in one of the trades about the decline of DRTV and increased fragmentation, increasing DVR statistics and how VOD is destroying the infomercial. As a DRTV agency, we spend a lot of time in the trenches with our clients and their customers/donors, and I’m going to go out on a limb and disagree with Chicken Little. Here’s why…
The boomers are still booming!
A Nielsen study reported that over the 2010-2011 TV season , the heaviest users of traditional TV are adults 65+ (47 hours 33 minutes per week), closely followed by adults 50-64 (43 hours per week).
It is smart to focus on customers in their fifties to mid-sixties, the majority of them not yet reduced to living solely off a pension; this audience is the perfect target for many DRTV product categories including vitamin supplements, housewares, non-profits and entertainment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, quoted in the New York Times, shows people aged 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings of any age segment in the United States. The unemployment rate last year for those 20 to 24 years old was 14.2 percent; for those 25 to 34, it was 9.4 percent; for those 55 to 64 was only 6.2 percent.
They’re not afraid to spend – the lower unemployment rate, combined with lower expenses and more life experience means this group understands the ebb and flow of economics. “Look, the fact is an affluent 58-year-old is certainly more valuable than a 22-year-old who is just getting by,” says David Poltrack, chief research officer at CBS Corp. stated to the Wall Street Journal. *
Boomers tend to be the most loyal and fierce word-of-mouth champions; IF you can prove to them you will deliver. One example of a great boomer word-of-mouth marketing strategy was illustrated by Mark Bradbury on his Media Post blog:
“Focus Features, in marketing their limited-budget Cold War spy film, ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,’ utilized a game plan that relied on reverse spill from Boomer word-of-mouth. They needed a unique strategy to compete in the release-heavy, year-end movie market. Believing the movie would hit biggest among Boomers, it selected a small group of screens where its target audience who read John le Carré’s best-sellers would catch on, and then relied on Boomer word of mouth to do the heavy lifting… By walking before it ran, Focus was able to gauge its audience and determine where to add more screens.
“Word of mouth from the Boomer crowd seeped to a younger audience, who flocked to the film at night. Focus took its cue and ramped up the theaters in early January, avoiding the annual December blockbuster blitz and had a clear playing field for itself. The film began grossing more money per theater than George Clooney-starring ‘The Descendants’ and even the Tom Cruise blockbuster ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.’” **
Stephen Reily, Vibrant Nation’s CEO, notes in his MediaPost blog that Boomers now find themselves in a new lifestage, one between the late 40’s and the late 60’s, that simply didn’t exist before. “The path of learning and discovering continues well past the stage when it ended for their parents. Boomer women have been telling us for many years that they inhabit a life-stage all its own… the longevity revolution didn’t add 20 years to the end of life; it added 20 years to the middle of life.”
And the Boomers are poised to make the most of these additional years. Popular shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol” get it: they have a large segment of 50-plus viewers and we are seeing this reflected in the programs themselves, hence the additions last year of Martina Navratilova and Steve Tyler.
Yes, I believe DRTV will be around for a good while to come – with older demos growing who have discretionary income – spending on DRTV products and services will increase proportionately and grow more than ever before.
*http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703559604576174983272665032.html
**http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/166824/game-planning-for-success.html#ixzz1pyDQFSDg
(Published in Response Magazine, June 2012)
We work with a wide-variety of clients representing diverse organizations, from product sales, to humanitarian causes and ministries. One thing they all have in common is the need to constantly test in order to improve results and grow.
The Direct Response TV industry knows the importance of “Testing” very well…from a media perspective you must be willing to “test, test, test” before you can “buy, buy, buy”! Most importantly you must “test” in order to be most cost effective and be able to deliver the strongest ROI’s possible.
What does ‘Testing” look like?
It depends on the type of media and programs being tested, but for example, you can test different levels of offers, different types of “asks” depending upon the organization and mission, testing different “CTA’s” (Call to action’s), different media outlets, different call scripts and so on.
One of the ways this is done is testing in a controlled environment or a “model”. This typically means testing in a measured capsule or period of time. On TV networks or stations can mean testing programs on those media outlets that have proven effective for similar types of programs, products, ministries or humanitarian organizations. Various controls can be used, including competitive analysis, and viewer demographic profiles.
The standard protocol for a test is a two week window for media, typically best on a limited number of media outlets, a separate 800# of each media outlet is a must with all calls and orders coming into one 800# and call center. Sometimes, you can test different Call Centers to see who will deliver the best results for that particular type of offer.
Results are collected and then concluded based on the target ROI goals and objects of each offer or organization. Target ROI’s are subject to different criteria and based on the uniqueness of each program, offer and ministry. Newton Media has developed a break-even analysis model to help guide our clients.
Another area to test is the Web or Landing Page for each offer presented on Television or Radio. Some campaigns are focused on driving viewers and listeners to the web to order products, or make donations. Some use it as a secondary outlet to Television and give more detailed information about the product, offer or mission. We are beginning to see a greater number percentage of income through the web than ever before, in some cases, as much as 40% of response can come from web activity.
As we move into a new year, we look to continued ways to improve results for our clients, and so the testing continues…
Steve Newton is the founder and CEO of Newton Media, a full service media planning and buying company headquartered in Virginia with offices in Dallas. Founded in 1995, Newton Media’s team of seasoned experts has become a leader in both Ministry and Direct Response TV and radio.
Ratings … “we can’t live with them, and we can’t live without them” (tic). Most advertisers and their agencies live and die by ratings as a way to determine who is watching/listening to their ads. The advertisers’ reach and frequency goals (and budgets) are based on reaching a certain number of people “x” number of times. For those general-market advertisers, ratings are the only tool they have to determine if their media campaign is “successful”.
Direct response advertisers do not rely on ratings to determine if their media campaign is “successful”. DR advertisers have something much more reliable … viewers/listeners responding by calling an 800# or URL to order their product or service. DR marketers know immediately if they’re reaching their audience, and they can immediately adjust budgets as necessary.
More important than the number of viewers/listeners to a program, is whether those viewers/listeners “respond” to the message and will order the product or service. For example, if the ratings services determine that a program reaches 300,000 viewers and there is minimal response to the message, a DR marketer can quickly shift their dollars to another time period.
What matters most is the number of viewers or listeners who respond to your message … not the total number of people who are exposed to your message. Programmers need to focus their message and schedule on media outlets/time periods to best reach the highest number of people who are likely to respond, which is not always the same as reaching the largest number of people.
By Janet Burke, Director of Media at Newton Media. Janet came to Newton Media with over 17 years experience on national accounts for D’Arcy-Masius Benton & Bowles and Earle Palmer Brown. She provides leadership to the media team and manages client relationships well with her passion for professionalism and attention to detail.
Lots of fundraisers become wary of contacting donors too often They see falling response as proof of so-called donor fatigue. So they scale back, assuming that less communication is somehow better. They’ve bought into the myth that fundraising is an intrusion into donors’ lives.
That’s just plain wrong. Fact is, people who feel passionately about a cause want to hear from nonprofits.
The real issue isn’t the number of contacts but whether the nonprofit has created a meaningful dialogue with donors — the kind of dialogue that offers donors choice and control in how they interact with the charity.
With one group of clients, we’ve been offering donors choice and control for 10 years, asking them how much and how often they want to give and then honoring their preferences.
Testing with more than 100,000 donors engaged in this new way of giving shows the wisdom of this approach. Annual giving rose from $141 per donor to $169 — an increase of 20%. What’s more, donor retention held steady at 92% — which is amazing, considering that retention for multi-year donors is 75%. But even more significant, the number of donors in the program has steadily increased as more donors came to prefer this new way of giving.
But dialoguing with donors doesn’t always mean asking for a gift. For the past four years, TrueSense has run a department of 30 team members dedicated to calling donors and sending handwritten notes to thank them for their generosity. The payback has been incredible. Donors have told us, “No one has ever called before to say thank you!”
Even better, long-term research has shown that personally contacting these middle- and high-level donors increased annual donor value by an amazing 12% — and the only change to the donor marketing plan was adding personal calls and handwritten notes!
Results come from listening to donors and engaging them in what matters to them. The research proves it. Yes, fundraising is driven by metrics and analytics. But in the end it’s really about listening to donors, treating them with respect, and honoring their generosity. When you do that, the numbers take care of themselves.
With more than 30 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Jeff Nickel, Vice President, National Accounts, TrueSense Marketing, is a passionate advocate for fundraising and the causes it makes possible. He combines a rigorous and studied approach to fundraising with the heart-to-heart emotional connection that informs the very best donor marketing and communication. TrueSense Marketing is an award-winning, full-service direct-response agency with idea centers in Pittsburgh, Pasadena, and Seattle. TrueSense provides exclusive donor-preference strategies, personal donor communications, convincing creative, multichannel integration, analysis and growth planning, database management, and cost-saving end-to-end production — all in support of its innovative donor-focused philosophy of direct response fundraising.
Targeting the Boomer Generation
I recently attended a national non-profit fundraising conference and one of the hot topics was about how to reach Boomers with new media. Now, I realize marketers have an innate need to stay on the cutting edge of technology and trends, but this is one area in particular that I think we need to take a more common-sense approach towards. Let’s look at the facts according to various industry sources:
1) The Boomer Generation, defined as the 77.3 million Americans born in the 10-year period following World War II, is the first generation in America to grow up with television. It makes sense that television is the marketing channel they are most comfortable with.
2) More Boomers went to college than previous generations, making them the demographic with the most buying power.
3) 27% of the US population are Boomers.
4) Currently, 30% of boomers report using social networking sites, a statistic that will continue to increase. This means new media strategies need to factor increasingly into your marketing plans. Today, though, the focus is still traditional media.
5) This generation is highly motivated by peer influence. They are more likely to buy/give when a product or company is referred by a friend.
6) Generally, boomers are not multi-taskers. They are less likely to be watching your message while going online to buy or donate at the same time, as younger generations do. Their most likely method of response is still to call at the end of the message or to write a check.
7) The 2008 – 2009 recession hit the boomer generation hard. Millions were lost in retirement accounts and real estate portfolios. That resulted in a sharp shift in boomer behavior, from a consumption-based reality focused on material things, to a home and security-centric state-of-mind. Messages that stress security, financial stability and long-term planning will connect well with this audience.
The Boomer Generation has shown throughout their history to be a strong demographic; they have the power to propel the nation. Baby Boomers control over 80% of personal financial assets and more than 50% of discretionary spending power. They are responsible for more than half of all consumer spending, buy 77% of all prescription drugs, 61% of OTC medication and 80% of all leisure travel. As they head toward the “Senior” category, they are poised to be the strongest donor group in US history.
What does all this mean to a DRTV marketer? The successful campaign will be one that understands the needs and motivations of this key demographic and uses both a creative message and a strategic buying plan to reach them.
Steve Newton is the founder and CEO of Newton Media, a full service media planning and buying company headquartered in Virginia with offices in Dallas. Founded in 1995, Newton Media’s team of seasoned experts has become a leader in both Ministry and Direct Response TV and radio.
Thoughts from the Electronic Retailing Association Convention.
I recently returned from the Electronic Retailing Association convention in Las Vegas. ERA is the annual infomercial meeting where vendors involved in the industry get together to discuss trends and analyze and peddle new products and ideas. As usual there were the staple of products and wares being offered, everything from how to lose that difficult extra 10 pounds by not lifting a finger, having a mini-face-lift to look years younger, to relieving that nagging back pain.
I’ve attended this convention for the past 15 years or so and the story this year seemed to be cautiously optimistic. Overall from a media perspective and discussions that I had there is hope that DRTV program results will begin to improve especially during Q4. Business in the DRTV industry has been through a tough economy overall and there’s hope for improvement in results and yet in several cases results remain flat as compared to last year.
Many cable networks and TV stations are bullish on selling their rates this quarter, however its yet to be seen if rates will hold up as we get into the beginning of October, typically Q4 is one of the best periods of the entire year for DRTV products. If results begin to fall off…rates could quickly edge downward and there will be inventory available for media buyers and marketers to pick up at reduced rates. If results are good then the opposite will occur.
There are a few new shows and products in the works, a lot of testing going on in various product categories, mostly those that have been proven effective in the past…such as beauty, exercise and fitness, kitchen and house wares, biz ops, etc. One thing is true - DRTV has become a more respected industry with major brands and some Fortune 500 companies getting involved, but there is still room for the small guy to start up and with minimal investment to reach a national audience with a DR product or service.
One other area of our industry seeing changes is the call centers use of 800#’s with live operators vs. IVR’s. This continues to be debated and more and more marketers are finding that the use of URL’s on the screen and during product offers are generating as much as 30-40% of response depending upon the target demos.
Overall a well attended ERA with booths and convention space being up and general attendance up too. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. In the meantime we’ll be keeping a close eye focused on measuring media response during the days and weeks ahead.
Steve Newton is the founder and CEO of Newton Media, a full service media planning and buying company headquartered in Virginia with offices in Dallas. Founded in 1995, Newton Media’s team of seasoned experts has become a leader in both Ministry and Direct Response TV and radio.
I’ve had numerous conversations with direct marketer and donor development expert Mary Hutchison about what happens right after a person sends your church, ministry, or non-profit organization their first donation. Like most things in life, first steps matter. Mary responded with what she calls “The First 90 Days” – it’s an interesting look at how important your follow up really is. If you have a humanitarian or non-profit organization, pass this around to your team and discuss. Here’s Mary’s thoughts:
If you need your audience to help underwrite your organization or project, the first 90 days from when a first-time donor gives a gift will determine if they will stay and support you, or move on to the next cause.
We have seen many donor files where 70% or more of the income is coming from these first timers. In one organization, the number was a staggering 97%!
The end result is the entire burden is on the program – the TV “talent” and the producers - to work harder and harder and bring in new donors. But they still never grow because people are leaving at a faster pace than they can be replaced. It is discouraging, demoralizing, and totally preventable.
Here is what you need to do:
It is a fact across donor files that unless a person gives a second gift within 90 days of the first one, there is less than a 10% chance they ever will. You need to call your IT guy and ask for a report that shows what percent of donors are actually making a second gift in those first 90 days. Do not accept a middle manager’s guess. See the black and white numbers and know what you are dealing with.
If you find you are converting about 20%, consider yourself about average for organizations who never really looked at this window. Now you can start to fix it.
Send a gift in yourself under a different name. Document every touch point for 90 days.
With this information, look for things that can prevent that second gift:
Were you thanked within two weeks? Was the letter warm and affirming? Did it make it easy for a donor to give again?
Was the second communication close in call to action to what you responded to in the first place (i.e. If you gave to missions, was it a missions appeal vs. if you gave to get a product?)
If you did order a product, did it come within two weeks. (The statement “allow 6 – 8 weeks for shipping and handling does not fly in this Amazon/Ebay world).
The ministries that are seeing better than a 30% conversion rate in that first 90 days have invested in a well tooled strategy that goes out like clock work, building the relationship, meeting the donor’s needs and desires. The result:
Moving from a 20% to a 30% conversion rate will do this to your bottom line; for every 1000 new donors that you are bringing on at $100:
–There is an increase in Year One in Gross Income of $19,500
–There is an increase in Year Two in Gross Income of $13,000
And that is just the beginning of the pay-off.
Let me challenge you today to look and see what percent of new donors you are converting in the first 90 days.
The guys on TV and producing it work way too hard to make the phone ring and the website ding. So don’t lose them on the back-end…
Be ready with the right 90 Day Plan.
As a producer and media strategist, Phil Cooke leads a team that advises many of the largest and most effective non-profit and faith-based social media organizations in the world. Phil enjoys educating others with the power of niche media and speaking nationally and internationally at workshops, seminars, and conferences.
Welcome to Newton’s Media Fix (The Fix), the premier best practices newsletter in our industry. I want to share with you not only valuable insights I have learned from my 30 years in the Media Industry but also our teams broad knowledge throughout all aspects of planning, execution and follow up for effective Media Campaigns and Programming.
