Radio and SEO: Driving consumers online

I will admit, I am a fan of commercial radio in the morning. Its incessant chatter and repetitive play list give me a sense of routine to get me through the day. Recently, I’ve noticed there has been a splurge of radio ads ending with the call to action to search for a specific word or phrase online. The protagonist of these ads is the Asbestos ‘Hidden Killer’, which reverts from reeling off a long URL and opts to use the phrase “for more information call 0845… or search hidden killer online.” You don’t need a memory test to realise a couple of words is easier to remember than a web address; but just in case….

Memory Test 1: Memory Test 2:
Hidden Killer                                                            http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/hiddenkiller/
Why let drink decide                                             http://whyletdrinkdecide.direct.gov.uk/
Back to work                                                             http://backtowork.direct.gov.uk/index.html
Abuse in relationships                                         http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/

So have these radio ads got a fail safe strategy to driving more consumers online?

A benefit of this genre of advertising is that ad savvy consumers may not recognise the phrase directly as a call to action, so the potential for ad blocking is reduced. Also, with the key phrases relating specifically to the content of the ads this will aid in recall once consumers are online and able to act on the request. However, I would have a few concerns if we were the digital agency responsible for this type of campaign. From an SEO perspective the work on the search term used in the advert will be intense. As the actual URL isn’t quoted in the advertisement the sole route to information is through search engines. SEO that acquires and maintains the top position is therefore paramount to the campaigns success. With algorithms continually changing and competition rife as search marketing becomes widely used by companies seeking a cheaper way to reach receptive consumers, sitting pretty at the top of Google is no walk in the park.

But great SEO isn’t the only contributing factor to the success or failure of a campaign using online search as a call to action. In terms of consumer recall, radio advertising is unique in that consumers don’t have any visual stimulation to engage them or highlight important information visually. In conventional radio adverts directing consumers online the cue for interested consumers to listen properly is the ‘www dot’ that prefixes every URL. The most cueing that these search based adverts have is a ‘search online for’, however, some merely state ‘search’ followed by the key word or phrase. This shorter call to action is more easily missed or unnoticed as the call to action gets mixed into the rest of the script and consumers aren’t used to listening out for a key phrase as opposed to the obvious www dot before a URL. What’s more, if consumers forget the URL but remember elements of it, or what the ad was about it is likely that typing a combination of these into a search engine will bring back the correct results. Whereas, with the search terms being fairly generic phrases using common words if they are forgotten it is much harder to either remember it again or search for something similar online and get the correct website returned in the results (especially as most of the SEO effort will have to go into maintaining top positioning for the key phrase itself).

Is a search based call to action the way forward?

Despite the problems, this genre of advertising does fit with consumer’s online habits and processes. Consumers are in the habit of searching for information online (the majority of consumers will have a search engine set as their homepage). The search engine, for many, is the new address bar. Therefore, by advertising a search term consumers can identify easily with the action they are being asked to perform, and when they open their browser the search box will act as a reminder and prompt to ‘search for…’. Furthermore, consumers widely believe that websites listed at the top of search results are a credible source of information; the current ads using this search strategy are largely informative sites such as Department of Health and Job Centre plus, therefore an authoritative and knowledgeable image is crucial to give impact to the information they’re distributing. By encouraging a natural search process, and then appearing at the top of the rankings, these sites are replicating the process that consumers go through when spontaneously searching for information. They are therefore more likely to be comfortable and receptive to the information they find. The type of message being imposed and the action required from consumers is an important consideration for companies looking into this advertising strategy, but with the ever growing dominance of Google, and the mobility of the internet it may be worth a thought or two when next devising an online campaign.