My Google radio ad experience

[Ace Purple]

Last week I began my foray into the world of Google radio advertising. I was drawn in by an enticing offer for Google AdWords customers: if I had a radio ad created by a third-party found via the Google Ad Creation Marketplace, I'd receive $400 in credit to use for an ad airing by 8/31/2007.

It happens that I've been working with a great band called The Karg Boys, a brother duo that I've been friends with since we were little kids. It just so happens that they are very, very good musicians, and with my radio background I offered to help them out however I could. They had a developmental deal with Universal Music Publishing, and while that recently expired, they still work with the Universal crew at length. I've played poker over at Universal Nashville a few times; there are some good people who work there.

The Karg Boys just put the finishing touches on a song called In My Book; you can hear a preview of it here. I felt that it was their best work to date and I figured utilizing that song would be a great way to promote the band.

With Google's Ad Marketplace, you can put out bids to 5 parties to bid for the right to do the project. You can choose your price range; I went with $0-100 and had plenty from which to choose.

I went with a guy named Stu Schroeder out of Pittsburgh, which proved to be a GREAT move. He wasn't the cheapest, but I got the sense that he would be the best, and I was right. I wrote the script and supplied the song, but he produced it above and beyond what I had hoped for. Outstanding work.

If you care to hear it, here it is: Karg Boys radio spot

If you ever find yourself needing an ad produced, via Google or otherwise, Stu Schroeder comes with my highest possible recommendation.

A note to you production guys out there: this might be a nice way to bring in some extra cash.

The band was thrilled with it and gave their blessing, so I put it into the system, paid Stu, and received Google's approval (they check every ad that goes through.)

I began a test run to find out how the Google radio process works. There are some specifics I'm not allowed to discuss as per Google's Terms of Service, but I quickly found some things out:

-When they say that a listed market covers the "general area", they're not kidding. A CHR station in Nashville was actually one covering Cookeville/Monterey, TN. A listing for a CHR in Pittsburgh was actually one out of Morgantown, WV. Because of my knowledge of radio and access to databases, I was able to figure this out, but the average person out there might not be that savvy.

It gets strange: a Memphis country station actually covers Jackson, TN; for the Jackson, TN listing, a Hot AC actually covers Dyersburg and Union City. I didn't mind that so much since that could help with booking regional gigs on down the line, but it was interesting to see how it played out in actuality.

-There are some actual big market stations on there that are really in the listed city. Within the Top 10 markets nationally, I managed to get some really, *really* good rates for a modern rock station in one city and a CHR in another. Both are the real McCoy, no adjacent market pretenders there. The times the ads ran were not necessarily plum spots, but a full powered, city grade signal with a format that appeals to my target audience in a market of millions is about as good as this is going to get for the money, even if it means hitting at 12:30 a.m. or 5:45 a.m.

-In some cases Google tells you the call letters of the station involved; in other cases that is withheld, as that station (according to Google) is not an Arbitron subscriber.

-It seems that there are some stations out there which would rather make a little bit of cash than none in the overnight hours, which is where Google can be a benefit for both the advertiser on a tight budget and the station.

Google's $400 offer ends at the end of August, and it's only available for AdWords customers (I'm not sure if someone signs up right now for AdWords if they could then parlay that into getting the radio ad deal), but it has worked very very well for me. As a radio guy I've loved the level of detail that Google provides, and this experiment alone has been worth the money I paid to have the ad created, let alone whatever exposure I can create for the Karg Boys.

[Bob Loblaw]

See Lou, that's where my real interest lies, is the results.

ALL Advertising is (ultimately) results based.

How much of an increase in web traffic did the band's website see during the run of the campaign?

Can you track, via providers vs what markets spots were booked on, where the most interest hits came from?

Did the ads sell any cds? Tickets to shows? Subscriptions to myspace/newsletters? Anything to show growth?