If you have ever heard a podcast ad, you almost certainly heard a direct-response advertisement.
In this case, direct-response means the ad uses a URL and/or offer code. This way, if a consumer signs up for their product or service, the advertiser can use that to determine which advertising outlet compelled this customer to take action.
Direct-response advertising exists in many forms. If you’ve ever clipped a coupon or redeemed a postcard that you got in the mail- you’ve participated in a form of direct-response advertising. That flyer you redeemed for a discount on a new set of tires? Yep, it was direct-response advertising.
In television and radio, the strategy of many direct-response advertisers is to purchase relatively inexpensive ad time in local markets across a handful of stations and times. By using unique offer codes and phone numbers, direct-response advertisers can track which are the most effective. This data will inform advertisers how to shift their dollars accordingly for future campaigns and expand their reach.
In recent years, direct-response advertising on television and radio has also become a popular way to drive people to make purchases on the web. This is why you will sometimes see the same ads on different channels pushing separate URLs or offer codes. Are your customers coming from HGTV or The Food Network? Direct-response marketing can answer this for your business.
After the ad airs, the advertiser can directly track what prompted the response.
Even though there’s a certain science to it, direct-response advertising is often looked down on as a lesser form of marketing. Since direct-response ads can generate results with a few airings on a handful of stations, it costs a fraction of a fraction of what a full-scale brand awareness campaign does.
Because of this lower cost to entry, direct-response advertising is often associated with personal injury attorneys and fly-by-night companies who produce infomercials for “As Seen on TV” products.
For most people, “advertising” is what they do on Mad Men. It’s a creative enterprise and an art form unto itself that doesn’t just sell a product, it makes you feel something. “Advertising” is what people go to school for to hone their craft. It’s respected. To many, “direct-response advertising” is what made Billy Mays and the Sham Wow guy famous. It’s usually associated with cheap airtime, cheap production values, and even cheaper quality products.
Thankfully, that’s not what podcast advertising is—and if you’ve ever looked at a podcast advertising rate card, you know that relative to TV and radio, a podcast’s premium audience often carries a premium price. (It certainly isn’t cheap.)
However, podcast advertising does utilize the best element of direct-response advertising, which is the ability to track and attribute results.