Audio Ads

[Shmuel]

I'm thinking about signing up for the beta. Has anyone else decided to give them a try? If you have, what do you think about it?

[AdWordsRep]

I'm thinking about signing up for the beta. Has anyone else decided to give them a try? If you have, what do you think about it? Hi Shmuel - like you, I was looking forward to hearing what folks might have to say. So, I'm bringing your post back to the top of the page to see if maybe it gets more activity the second time around. ;)

In the meantime, I hope the mods won't mind if I point you to an Audio Ads 'case study' that might be of interest to you and others:

http://www.google.com/adwords/audioads/casestudy.html

AWR

[AussieWebmaster]

The imposition of sound without video is a tough one... has to be catchy music or a great voice with a capturing message

[Shmuel]

In the meantime, I hope the mods won't mind if I point you to an Audio Ads 'case study' that might be of interest to you and others:

Well they may, but I didn't. :) I did sign up on Friday and was approved over the weekend. We have a meeting later today with our google team, so we'll see how that goes and if we decide to go forward with it.

[abbottsys]

The imposition of sound without video is a tough one... has to be catchy music or a great voice with a capturing message
I agree. I'm just not sure about audio ads. Most folks are in their car when they listen to radio, and can't browse the web. Plus, how do you measure cost/conversion? The good old 25/35/35 text ad is fast, accurate and measurable. I predict it will be *very* difficult to beat. It's the workhorse of online advertising.

[AdWordsRep]

The imposition of sound without video is a tough one... has to be catchy music or a great voice with a capturing message We all know that I work at Google, so take my comments below for what they're worth - namely personal opinion from a Googler. ;)

Anyway, Aussie, I have to say that radio has always held a bit of magic for me. There is just something about 'hearing your name' on the radio that is too cool for words. Way back in the day I won a minor radio contest (over the phone between songs) and waited with huge anticipation to hear my name actually announced. It was such a big deal - and I can still remember exactly how it felt. I can imagine feeling that same way being a small business advertiser hearing my own ad while on the road, coming home from work. So, for me at least, 'simple' audio has a lot of power.

I did sign up on Friday and was approved over the weekend. We have a meeting later today with our google team, so we'll see how that goes and if we decide to go forward with it. Excellent! I wish you the best of success, Shmuel, if you decide to give it a go. If so, maybe you'll respond to your own thread and let us know how it goes - one way or the other. ;)

AWR

[rustybrick]

I have to say that radio has always held a bit of magic for me.

Hey AdWordsRep...

I took you a bit out of context and had fun with this statement...

With my Google's AdWords Representative Calls Radio Ads Magical (http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/013242.html);

Yes, I know I am spinning this story, but sometimes a blogger needs to have some fun. There is indeed something special magical about being on the radio. But there is no magic to the metrics you get from search ads - it is pure analytical (outside of some of the copy-writing, I suspect - but then there you have A/B testing).

[AussieWebmaster]

I agree that conversion is going to be hard to measure with any accuracy.... but branding and lift could possibly be seen.
Obviously there are ways to isolate those visitors but not with the precision of online ads.

[Shmuel]

I agree that conversion is going to be hard to measure with any accuracy.... but branding and lift could possibly be seen.
Obviously there are ways to isolate those visitors but not with the precision of online ads.

True. However, I did get a couple of good ideas...a specific toll-free number set up for that ad only, awebsite set up for that ad only, or an easy to remember 'coupon' code for the user to use on your site.

So yes, the precision may not be there, but it may be enough to validate the ad. If we decide to make the radio ads (which I hope we do, but it's not always up to me), we will start very small...maybe 5 markets, and see how it does there, and then hopefulyl expand. We should be able to look at our analytics and see if we've received a bump in traffic from those markets. Again, not 100% precise, but maybe enough.

[AussieWebmaster]

Setting up the new site loses the branding... but as a straight new campaign for a new site it would be okay.

[abbottsys]

Imagine you're driving to (or from) work and you hear this amazing ad on the radio. You can't do anything because you're driving. But, as soon as you get to your destination you'll do one of three things:

1) Call the 800 number you heard in the ad (if you can remember it.)
2) Go to the website you heard in the ad (if you can remember it.)
3) Google anything you can remember from the ad - and get an SRP that might contain the advertiser, but which certainly contains a lot of the advertiser's competitors.

Moral of the story - if you do radio be very careful about the keywords you use in your radio ad - make sure you're not inadvertently driving traffic to your competitors :)