Can radio and television make a case that our audiences find some value in our ads?

Google says that their ads are a special part of the product. In fact, in Google’s latest annual financial report, they suggest that their search ads are “just more answers to users’ queries.” Facebook has a similar position, noting that their ads are targeted to each user’s unique interests.

A great New Year’s Resolution for our industry would be to make the commercials a more valuable part of our product--rather than a means to a revenue end.

Are our sellers and production departments doing their best to make our clients’ ads “just more valuable answers to our audience’s needs?”

If not, maybe we are missing a simple and low-cost way to increase our value to our audience as well as our marketing partners/clients.

In the case of radio, I believe that we could increase the industry’s TSL just by giving a little more TLC to our streaming stopsets where there is often filler music and recycled (read stale) content.

Silicon Alley Insider recently pointed to Google’s value of relevant advertising by quoting their annual report from 2004.

“We don’t allow ads to be displayed on our results pages unless they are relevant where they are shown. And we firmly believe that ads can provide useful information if, and only if, they are relevant to what you wish to find--so it’s possible that certain searches won’t lead to any ads at all.”

Wouldn’t your ratings and revenue improve if you were able to offer more real value to your audience during your commercial breaks?

Consider giving your sales team and production department regular refreshers on your audience’s qualitative profile. What are the unique traits, needs, and desires of your station’s audience? What categories are particularly well-fitting to your format? What constitutes a valuable message for your station?

Instead of ad buyers always interviewing and negotiating with YOU, why not turn the tables a little? Evaluate whether a particular client or message is right for your station/audience. Wouldn’t that re-frame the conversation with the buyer? Then, you’re in a position to add value to the client by giving them advice on better fitting their message to your target audience.