National Radio Advertising -Nielsen & Arbitron Keep Stations Honest

There's an old saying we have in the south: How do you know who your daddy is? Because your momma told you so.

When you're looking to start a traditional television or national radio advertising campaign, or maybe a direct response TV or direct response radio advertising campaign, how exactly do you know what you're buying? You don't. Not unless you already know about "impressions" and you have third-party data to back you up, like from Nielsen or Arbitron. We've gone over this before with the whole "bag of chips" analogy, but let's take a look from a different angle. Let's say you're a lawyer starting a new marketing campaign for your firm, and as part of this clever plan, you're going to buy some direct mail. You buy a list of 100,000 homes, and go out and have 100,000 pieces printed. Each item is going to set you back 18 cents for printing and mailing. Now, about 10% of all direct mail usually comes right back as undeliverable, so do the math, and your campaign reaches 90,000 homes. So for direct mail, you have the knowledge and tools in hand to give you an idea just how many people your campaign will reach.

So what does all this have to do with buying TV and national radio advertising? Nothing. We've spent years talking with thousands of small business owners and executives, and nine out of ten had no idea what we were talking about when we brought up "impressions." Most of them didn't even want to know. Their standard MO was blind-buying "spots" from TV, cable, or radio stations. The only figure they cared about was the cost per spot. Now, if you're among those ignorant masses (or you have been in the past), don't feel like an idiot " the stations have tried their hardest to keep you uninformed and your ads rubbing elbows with late-night infomercials. For them, selling "spots" is easy; teaching their clients to know better is hard. You know what they're really selling? Snake oil. Remember Little House on the Prairie? "Dr. Showbaum's bottle of Magical Elixir, cures all illnesses..."

Nielsen and Arbitron exist to keep business owners from ending up buying that "Magical Elixir." Arbitron measures radio impressions; Nielsen measures TV impressions; both are independent of any TV or radio station, so they're completely unbiased. The short version of the story is that these people can give you an exact and researched average of the number of people who will see or hear your spot each time it runs.

In order to get data from Nielsen and Arbitron, however, you have to enroll with their service. Subscriptions with them are expensive; not something a lot of companies can pay for. We have access to Nielsen and Arbitron data and can tell you how many people will see or hear your spot before you buy anything.

When purchasing TV and national radio advertising, momma probably won't be much help. Nielsen & Arbitron third-party verification is the next best thing.

If your business is located in New York City, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX; Boston, MA; Philadelphia, PA; Washington DC; Detroit, MI; Tampa, FL; Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL; or any of the other 305 radio markets, you can call our office with any questions you may have about TV or radio advertising. Even if you aren't giving us your money, we'll still be happy to help.