Contributor: Rick Kestenbaum, general manager, AnalyticOwl
Connecting with individuals via media can be difficult. You need to engage with them personally and emotionally. It is a challenge that charitable organizations often struggle with trying to deliver their message to a mass audience.
No other medium engages in a more personal way than broadcast radio. As part of the local community, it is the duty of the radio station to generate awareness of issues that impact the community in which a radio station’s listeners live, work and play. Radio inspires listeners to get involved with charities, religious institutions and causes. AM/FM radio reaches 86% of adults 18+ who have contributed to any religious or social care/welfare organization in the past year, according to Scarborough’s USA+ 2024 Release 2.
AnalyticOwl’s Industry Insights report for the Charitable/Religious/Nonprofit category, based on 2024 calendar year data, reveals a number of opportunities that cause marketers can use to better understand the impact of radio on website traffic, and to understand where and how to optimize to even better response.
One key finding is that during this date range, 65% of charitable, religious or nonprofit website visits that occurred immediately after commercials aired came from search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.), while only 32% of visits came from users who entered a specific website address. Why is this important? In Google Analytics, the “Referring Source” metric identifies the last website a visitor was on. That can give the impression that all of that traffic should be attributed to search engines, when in reality, many visits are from people who had just heard a commercial and then used a search engine to get to the site. Understanding that people will overwhelmingly behave this way no matter what call to action is used is key to understanding the full impact of radio. Hard-to-remember website or landing page addresses, dedicated phone numbers and response codes all attempt to create a narrow response path that most people simply won’t go down.
For both categories, response rates were highest on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In this case, the best strategy is a higher presence at midweek to leverage that spike in response, but also a presence the other days of the week which all had response rates that warrant their inclusion. The best daypart overall was Midday. Afternoon and Morning Drive both contributed at a nearly equal level, which is unusual since Morning Drive usually drives higher numbers later in the day as a benefit of reach and frequency. Evenings and Overnights often prove to deliver good value given lower rates. And :60 was the best performing ad duration, driving 6% lift in web traffic. This is an important consideration for those using :15s and/or :30s, as cause marketing commercials seem benefit from delivering a more detailed message to really engage the listener.
Radio visitors also drove quality visits. Session durations averaged 2 minute, 20 seconds with an average of 2.2 pages viewed, indicating serious interest and response. Bounce rates were on the low side at 34%, indicating that fewer people just visit a single page before leaving the site. And over 50% of site visitors used a mobile device, a great reminder that radio audiences can easily respond anywhere and everywhere.
Advertisers who follow these insights will find that increased response leads to increased engagement in the form of participating, volunteering and donating. Combining these insights with radio’s incredible connection and reach can help deliver a cause’s message in a very powerful way.