Key findings

·       Radio can have a profound effect upon online search behaviour.‍

 ·       Short term attribution measurement did not pick up on the strength of radio’s effects at driving responses.

 ·       Our research suggests that radio campaigns should focus on achieving a sufficient high level of weekly reach to optimise response.

 ·       Radio is also very effective at increasing upper funnel metrics

Introduction

New research undertaken by Colourtext on behalf of Radiocentre Ireland reveals that there is a very strong relationship between radio advertising and website visits.  The primary aim of the research is to establish a concrete, direct link between the transmission of radio ads and response, both classic short-term response (within a 0-15 min direct response peak) and longer-term delayed response (15min to 24hrs post-transmission).

For TV, website visitor traffic tends to peak sharply at around 50-60 seconds after a TV spot is broadcast. This clear response spike is usually over after c. 10 minutes and is generally understood as the classic short-term direct response window. This is what direct spot attribution measurement and campaign performance metrics tend to focus on.

Our hypothesis was that, due to the often passive and secondary nature of radio listening, radio effects would be more likely to manifest as ad responses over a longer period after exposure. For example, people don’t usually break away from a primary task like driving, cooking or working in order to respond immediately to a radio ad by going online, but instead, respond at a time that is convenient for them.

Using analytics data for a Sky TV and Broadband campaign that was active in Q1 2023, we were able to measure the link between radio activity and website visits. The Sky activity was a tactical, offer-led campaign - ‘Sky Sale - €38 a month’ that used a ‘Search Sky Sale’ call-to-action to drive traffic to a campaign-specific landing page.

Analysis of Short-Term Ad Response

When we focus on organic and paid search traffic (64% of total visits to the campaign landing page) a measurable increase in ad response does occur but appears to be delayed relative to the expectation of standard attribution measurement. We found that during the first 30 minutes after ad transmission, there is not a strong response. However, during the second half hour (30 mins to 60 mins after radio ad exposure) we do see an increase in web response, which is about 4% above baseline for organic and 7% for paid search referrals.

A caveat concerns web sessions originating via direct referrals (i.e., people typing a URL directly into a browser bar), which do actually respond strongly within the initial short-term response period (i.e., the first 5 to 15 minutes after ad exposure) and then tail off again quickly. However, direct referrals are a relatively minor element within the overall traffic mix for this campaign landing page.

 The conclusion is that web sessions stimulated by radio ads in this test study are generally delayed and do not cluster within a traditional direct response peak. This probably explains why standard attribution methodologies that focus on very short-term attribution windows struggle to capture all of radio’s ad response.

So therefore, we need to look at a methodology for measuring a delayed ad response.

Analysis of Delayed Ad Response

We began by aggregating both the schedule radio ratings and website visits into daily 24-hour periods. We could then compare the weight of daily schedule ratings with the volume of web traffic and see if a relationship existed between the two. We saw an immediate visual fit between visit numbers and the radio schedule laydown.  This was confirmed by an R^2 value of 0.30from the regression model, which means 30% of the variance in daily website visits can be predicted by the volume of daily radio ratings.

When we combined organic search referrals and paid search referrals, the relationship between weight of daily radio ratings and 24-hour search behaviour strengthened even further to an R^2value of 0.54.  In short, this means that 54% of the variance in daily website visits that arrived via search activity ca be predicted by the volume of daily radio ratings.

The relationship between radio ratings and online search referrals becomes even stronger when we use a 3-day moving average baseline. The results show that 72% of website visits that arrive via search can be predicted by the 3-day moving average of daily radio ratings. The results show that radio ad response tends to be delayed, and that the response to the ad campaign tested was highly significant when captured over a 24 to 72hr period. We think of this as the radio advertising ‘Attribution Halo’. This study discovered a strong relationship between radio advertising and online search behaviour - this is excellent news for advertisers.  

What is very interesting is that short term attribution measurement did not pick up on the strength of this relationship, the full effect of radio only became apparent as we zoomed out to a broader 24-hour attribution window. We believe this is a significant finding as radio's advertising effect appears to be hugely underestimated when measurement focuses solely upon short-term spot attribution. There is huge opportunity cost suffered by advertisers who might have mis-evaluated the performance of their radio activity by purely focusing on very short term attribution.

Also, as part of this study we also conducted a CampaignFX Advertising Effectiveness survey, which interviewed 800 adults aged 18-64. The results show that radio can deliver significant uplift in upper funnel metrics which prime customers for future action. Firstly, the survey data shows Sky has market leading levels of Brand and Advertising Awareness, which probably reflects the brand's heritage in the TV content market.  The survey also shows that during the campaign period Sky posted a significant uplift in Brand Consideration amongst people exposed to the radio campaign.

We see Sky’s strong lead in the Brand Presence Metrics being reflected by significant uplifts amongst radio listeners in the Brand Affinity metrics of Brand Consideration and Brand Likability. This suggests effective customer priming is taking place amongst the radio exposed audience. And finally, Sky is successfully using the medium to build its mental availability on the core category entry points by delivering uplift amongst people exposed to the radio campaign for (a) a strong content offer; (b) that’s good value for money; and (c) is simple to access and use.

Radio attribution measurement -what have we learnt?

·       1. Radio can have a profound effect upon online search behaviour.

• _{Thisi study discovered a strong relationship between radio advertising and online search behaviour - this is excellent news for advertisers.This relationship strengthened even further on a 3-day moving average basis, with 72% of the variance in daily website being predicted by the volume of daily radio ratings.}
 

• _{Our data shows that 54% of the variance in daily website visits that arrived via search activity can be predicted by the volume of daily radio ratings.}

  2:  Short term attribution measurement did not pick up on the strength of radio’s effects at driving responses.

• _{The effect of radio only became apparent as we zoomed out to a broader 24-hour attribution window, which becomes even stronger on a 3-day moving average basis.}‍
• _{There is cost suffered by advertisers who might have mis-evaluated the performance of their radio activity by purely focusing on short term attribution}

3: Re-thinking how we plan and optimise radio schedules

• _{Our research suggests that radio campaigns should focus on achieving a sufficient high level of weekly reach to optimise response.}

• _{It might be necessary for media planners to prioritise the weight of the schedule, rather than individual spot optimisation, to fully capitalise on the delayed nature of radio ad response.}

4: Radio is also very effective at increasing upper funnel metrics

• _{Our research showed that Sky’s strong lead in the Brand Presence Metrics being reflected by significant uplifts amongst radio listeners in the Brand Affinity metrics of Brand Consideration and Brand Likability. This suggests effective customer priming is taking place amongst the radio exposed audience.}

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