$50K in Station Revenue From This Success Story

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Our thanks to Megan Black of Second Street for sharing another advertiser success story with Radio Ink. This one comes from Entercom Portland’s Sam Tongue and involved taking an annual Home Improvement sweepstakes to the next level.

Here are the highlights from this success story:
$50,000 revenue for Entercom Portland
5 sponsors in single shared contest
1,400+ email opt-ins for sponsors
Hundreds of hot, qualified leads

Here’s the idea
For the fifth year in a row, Entercom Portland’s six radio stations put together the Ultimate Fix Up sweepstakes. In the past, it was with a single shared sweepstakes between multiple advertisers, but this year Entercom hoped to drive more measurable results for each participating sponsor. Tongue says, “By providing more valuable results for our sponsors, we also had the intention of driving even more revenue for our stations this year.”

The Execution

Success stories sponsored by SunFunMedia.com

As the Entercom sales team started to reach out to potential sponsors, they had two big opportunities to pitch to the advertisers. Each participating advertiser would get the benefits of an individual contest combined with the benefit of massive branding and awareness that comes from a shared contest. Additionally, Entercom limited participation to specific home improvement categories – this year it was for roofing, foundation repair, vacuums, appliances, and plumbing – making each category a single exclusive sponsorship.

Next Entercom had to tackle the challenge of shifting the Ultimate Fix Up contest from a single sweepstakes, while still giving it the appearance of a unified contest amongst all our sponsors. To accomplish this, they set up a unique contest for each advertiser, created a ballot to host the five contests, and placed it on the umbrella page of the Ultimate Fix Up contest.

Each advertiser was expected to put up a $500 credit to their business, and participants were given the chance to enter up to five times – once for every participating business. So, in total, one listener won a $2,500 credit to any of the participating stores.

Tongue says “In the past, with a shared single contest, it was hard to qualify the leads we generated. So, while each of the five contests were set up to retrieve the same demographic information, each business was allowed an opt-in for their company and two custom survey questions. At Entercom Portland, it’s important to us to create survey questions that will deliver qualified leads for our advertisers.”

Here’s what the five participating companies used:

Stark’s Vacuums
Is your vacuum not working as well as it should be?
Do you plan on replacing your vacuum in the next 12 months?

Aaron’s Furniture, Electronics, Appliances
Do you have poor credit or have you been turned down for credit before?
Are you planning to purchase furniture, appliances, or home electronics in the next 3 months?

George Morlan Plumbing Supply
How old is your water heater?
Do you plan on replacing your water heater within the next 12 months?

Giron Roofing, LLC.
How old is your roof?
Do you plan on replacing your roof within the next 12 months?

TerraFirma Foundation Systems
-During this last winter or spring, have you noticed water seeping into your crawlspace?
– You might have a cracked foundation if: windows don’t open or close, doors get stuck, or you have uneven floors. Do any of these symptoms apply to your home?

To market the sweepstakes, Entercom had a strong email campaign throughout the run of the contest. They sent a kick-off email to their contest database and leveraged A/B testing to pick the most successful subject line – “Own your home? You should enter the Ultimate Fix Up!” They also sent a dedicated email from each of our five sponsors throughout the contest. In addition to email, we also promoted the contest heavily on-air, on our website, and through social media posts.

The Results
All together, the contest brought in over 2,000 entries and 1,400 email addresses for clients. But beyond email, Entercom was able to deliver a list of hot, qualified leads to all five sponsors.

For the foundation repair company, 11 people requested to be contacted by phone – 10 of which showed signs of a crumbling foundation. With an average sale price of $3,000-$5,000 for foundation repair, it was important to Entercom to showcase the immediate return on investment. Beyond the leads for advertisers, this was also a big win for Entercom Portland as it brought in $50,000 in revenue ($10,000 for each sponsor).

See more about this success story HERE at the Second Street website

 

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