Is There Real Value in your Customer's Journey?
The Customer Value Journey is about turning average clients into super-fans. In the case of radio, we have two equally important customers, listeners and advertisers. Robert Frost wrote: two roads diverged. This is no doubt the case for Radio. The journey and definition of value for our two customers are quite different. The listeners want to be informed and entertained. The advertisers want results. Mr. Frost was able to choose a path. Radio does not have that luxury. Radio must take both roads, simultaneously, and make sure they are equally satisfying.
Further complicating this is the fact that no one completes the journey to super fandom alone. You must have a strategy that guides the customer on this journey, giving them boosts when they get stuck and encouraging them every step of the way.
History Lesson
In order to understand where we need to go, lets first look at where we have been. Radio’s bread and butter, the “On Air Giveaway.” Anyone who has been in radio for a minute has lived through this customer journey.
The Listener Journey: Host solicits listeners to call, letting them know caller 9 wins “X”. The listeners call. The first eight are informed they are not winners and get hung up on. Their journey is OVER. The ninth caller is informed THEY WIN! They respond with, “Really what did I win?” Host tries to convince them it is awesome, takes their info and hopes they claim the “prize.” The host hangs up on several more callers, letting them know they are not winners either, journey over!
The Advertiser Journey: Account Exec makes a sale that includes giveaways as a mechanism to create sampling and or store traffic. The rep works with programming to get the contest on the air and executed. The client provides product. The client hopes the contest works. The mentions and contest are broadcast. Rep follows up and hopes the certificates were used; the on air mentions have been attributed to other business and the client has somehow tied increased sales to the contest.
Best case scenario for the Listener Journey is the winner is happy, uses the prize and loves the client. So there is one happy customer. Rarely is this quantifiable. In addition, how valuable was the experience for the twenty “losers” that were hung up on? 1 out of 20 satisfied is not a great conversion ratio. As for the advertiser, they might get one lead that hopefully goes to the business and makes it clear the radio station is the reason. There is no measurable attribution.
Problem/Solution:
Problem: Clear lack of value and attribution for the customers. Radio needs to build real, attributable value in their customer’s journeys. Solution: Disruption of radio’s standard operating procedures. Rethink client activation. Rethink listener engagement.
Webster defines engagement as emotional involvement or commitment. Therein is the true solution. Listeners are passionate about the music. Allowing them to get a say in every song played creates TRUE ENGAGEMENT. Rewarding them with points provides value. Choosing to use those points on a specific client product demonstrates desire to have that client’s product.
MIXER does this and more! The journey continues with retargeting, database building, audience tagging and attribution. True engagement. Meaningful activation. Actionable Data. Measurable results.
