Pay Per Call Advertising – Best Practices Part 2

Pay Per Call Advertising, Pay Per Call TV Advertising and Pay Per Call Radio. Advertising works better in the 21st century than in the late 90’s because of the widespread use of mobile phones and new telephone technology. Now a radio listener can punch in the toll free number while driving and talk or perhaps call later with the toll free number stored in the telephone memory. A 2014 TV viewer has their mobile phone in their grasp at all times ready to be sold on your services or call for a needed financial service. There is nothing like #PAYPERCALL advertising to generate live qualified leads for your offer, service or product.

In this installment of Pay Per Call Advertising – Best Practices, I want to address lead definition, lead cost, and the ultimate metric for the marketer – CPA or Cost Per Acquisition.

Lead Definition: Call duration is the best method to maintain lead quality. TV leads @PAYPERCALLTV are usually the highest quality followed by Radio leads. A call definition of :30 seconds should be enough to determine if you have a qualified caller. At our agency our two top offers use a :30 second buffer 24/7 and a :60 second buffer 24/7. The longer the buffer, the higher qualified the lead and the higher the cost.

Lead Cost: You get what you pay for. Low cost usually means low quality. Another agency we know who sells only social media leads bragged about the low cost of their leads. We know from the end marketer that those leads are some of the lowest quality. In many cases the callers have not been screened through an IVR which means that many of the calls are “butt dials” or not qualified in any way. A TV or Radio exclusive lead is the highest quality lead. One of our best clients uses a :30 second buffer and another client uses a :60 second buffer. The :60 second calls are worth more than double.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): CPA is the bottom line. What did you pay for the lead and how many converted to a customer or client? What was the cost of the conversion? What resources had to go into closing the deal? You must crunch the numbers to determine the best leads with the highest conversions and the highest revenue per customer.

Thanks to all of my readers. I love the Direct Response TV and Radio business and enjoy sharing my 22 years of experience in Direct Marketing, DRTV and DR Radio

Pay Per Call TV-Radio Advertising

Pay Per Call TV and Radio advertising is the most accountable, precise and trackable performance based methodology. At my agency, we have built out numerous clients with pay per call offers. These savvy marketers understand that a live telephone call from an exclusive, branded TV or Radio offer is the highest quality lead available.

Here are six tips for Pay Per Call TV and Radio campaigns:

1. Test your offer with cash buys to determine the highest profitable pay per call payout. The smartest marketers understand that the media outlets will make more airtime available if the payout is healthy.

2. Provide your DRTV and DR Radio agency top quality creative or have your agency make top quality creative. There is a lot of clutter, and your advertising must look good.

3.Provide :60 second; :30 second and even :15second spots to take advantage of all available inventory.

4. Use a :30 second to :60 second qualifying duration to filter prank calls and wrong numbers.

5. Train your call center agents to ask two qualifying questions, so that you do not pay for junk calls.

6. Make your offer available 24/7 – 365 days a year. Of course, your live agents will convert best, but a top DRTV Agency can help you with a good call center to take overflow, afterhours and holiday calls.

If your offer makes the telephone ring, you can roll out nationally on local TV, national TV, local radio and national radio and just pay for qualified calls.

DRTV Media Buyer – Remnant TV Media

Direct Response Television, Direct Response Media, Direct Response Radio – these are all forms of DR Media and they represent a remnant media buy. In the vast world of TV Media Buying, most national TV media is sold quarter by quarter to large branded advertisers in what is called the upfront buy. Negotiations for 4th quarter 2013 are underway as we publish this post. After the upfront, advertisers make what is called “scatter buys.” TV networks save some air time for advertisers to jump in and pay even higher rates than the upfront buys, which guarantee a CPM and CPP. What is left is then sent to the network DRTV departments to sell on a week to week basis based on supply and demand. So you see – all DRTV is remnant – but at what cost?

A smart media buyer knows value and seeks soft spots in the TV media markets in order to find –pardon the expression – cheap TV Media. Whether you track cost per call (CPC), cost per lead (CPL) or cost per order (CPO) – I can tell you from experience DRTV works with undervalued and unrated media for the most part. A savvy media buyer knows where to find national high profile cable media at low, low prices. For example, we are currently buying top tier cable networks for as low as $5 per spot in as many as 30 million households.

How do we do it? Well, after 38 years in the media business and 21 years in the DRTV media business – we’ve got a “secret sauce” and a vast network of relationships and insider info.

Thanks for following Ron Perlstein’s DRTV Media Blog.

PAY PER CALL TV – PER INQUIRY UPDATE

For all of you that follow Ron Perlstein’s DRTV Media blog regularly, than you know that PAY PER CALL TV AND RADIO is the new, more effective replacement for outdated pay per click strategies. The level of customer engagement is very important and many marketers have learned that a telephone call with a live agent leads to more conversions than a lead form that generates newsletter subscriptions.

At our agency, we are delivery more leads, more efficiently than ever. We are specialists in remnant media buying for our clients and we have developed roll out models to minimize risk for the client and maintain their predetermined cost per lead and conversion.

As more marketers turn to pay per call strategies, more categories are working. Here are 7 top categories that all work with Pay Per Call TV and Radio.

– Legal
– Health Care
– Home Remodeling
– Senior Care
– Dietary Supplements
– Tax Relief
– Business Opportunities

Back in the 20^th century marketers were always looking for a sale. But now we all know that customer engagement at the broadcast level is the genesis of an integrated strategy that must include digital including social, retail (for hard goods) and print (whether conventional or digital).

Ron Perlstein-DRTV Short Form TV Lead Generation

Direct Response TV can make the telephone ring and many campaigns can be driven by Per Inquiry TV or Pay for Performance marketing. Nowadays all the buzz is about integrated campaigns. That means that you need a TV campaign, a print campaign, a pay per click campaign, an email marketing campaign, a social media campaign, a radio campaign, and a direct mail campaign. Even our deep pocketed clients like Wamsutta, Rubbermaid and Emerson don’t start like that!

Today, I want to talk about TV Lead Generation and especially leads that are driven by live calls. In the old days, calls from toll free numbers drove the TV Infomercial industry. In the early 1990’s, marketers started putting up URL’s and micro sites for online sales. As these online sales grew, DRTV driven integrated campaigns were born. Micro landing pages, newsletters, updates and email marketing all followed as “components” of an integrated campaign. How can a marketer afford all of that?

Now it’s 2012 and the fragmentation of media is greater than ever. But I want to tell you that TV still works, and it can work as a standalone campaign. However, to gain the accountability that we need to track media, using only a toll free number can have a great impact on your media costs, tracking, and customer acquisition. We seeing this trend back to toll free only gain steam, even on expensive long form infomercial products.

Many categories can use inexpensive short form DRTV with stock footage to drive live calls or leads. We currently have several clients using :30 second and :60 second spots with a toll free number only. For one client we drive calls through our Advanced IVR Tracking system to their in house call center. They pay only for 60 second calls. Another client uses a 2 step system in which we gather a name, address, and telephone to send sales materials and have a consultant follow up. Sounds old fashioned, I know – but the results and conversions are high.

Here are just a few of the many categories that work well with lead generating short form DRTV:
– Foreclosure defense
– Debt management
– Insurance
– Legal
– Seniors
– Education
– Diabetic and medical supplies
– Social Security Disability
– Invention marketing
– Tax resolution
Think about it. A web search allows all of your competitors to buy your brand and key words and the customer is directed to anything but your offer. With classic direct response lead generation, your customer is more exclusive, focused and interested in your offer.

Direct Response TV Update – Response Expo

Response Expo 2012 brought together the top Direct Response TV professionals, Infomercial Producers and TV Media giants all at one great trade conference. InfoWorx Direct has attended every one of these since they started 6 years ago. We sponsored the Inventor’s Pavilion and I moderated a blue ribbon panel of Direct Response and DR marketing geniuses. I want to thank my great friends John Yarrington, who runs the Response Expo and Jenny Lawlor, who works with Inventor’s full time.

We met with Comcast, MTV, DirecTV, Turner Broadcasting, ESPN, Bounce and others to solidify those all-important media relationships and, of course, attended lots of cocktail parties at the Hard Rock and the Hilton Bayfront. It was phenomenal to see some of my dearest friends and colleagues and competitors – I love the Direct Response industry!

Each year, I try to help inventor and product developers learn more about what it takes to sell a product on TV and roll it out. Last year, I gave a DRTV 101 presentation that covered the basics. This year, 2012, I wanted to put together a blue ribbon panel of DRTV superheroes and have each of them explain an aspect of Direct Response Television marketing. BJ Fazielli of BJ Global Direct explained cost of goods and overseas sourcing. Al Diem, of Hampton Direct, explained licensing deals and royalties, Doug Frankel, of Broadcast Communications Media, explained media metrics and testing philosophies and Manish Israni, of Telebrands, spoke about the Telebrands product evaluation process and how inventors should pitch their products effectively. I asked some tough questions of the panel because I promised the audience high level information that they could not get anywhere else.

Here are five trends and tips learned from Response Expo 2012:

1. TV still reaches a mass audience and can target specific niches in a way that no other medium does. For any type of full roll out – marketers need TV.

2. Media rates have remained fairly flat, but the economy seems to be doing a little better.

3. Great DR marketers are working on new tracking and metric models as TV drives consumers to traditional inbound telemarketing as well as web, mobile and home shopping. New methods are being developed to track the web sales generated by TV. Traditional MER metrics just calculated from telephone calls do not give the full picture.

4. Hispanic DRTV marketing requires a specialist and many Hispanic homes still speak Spanish at home to preserve the culture even though they speak good English.

5. Celebrities can help – but they must be right for the product and must love the product.

Please check out my DRTV Media blog here for the latest news, updates and trends in the wacky, wonderful world of Infomercials and Direct Response.

Ron Perlstein – International Home + Housewares Show 2012 Update

Ron Perlstein Infomercial ProducerInfomercials in 2012, especially short form infomercials or DRTV commercials are increasingly driven by the retail backend. Annually, I am invited to participate on a blue ribbon panel of DRTV experts and Infomercial gurus each year at The International Home + Housewares Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. Our panel included Gary Sullivan, Scott Hynd, Jon LaClare, Jeff Frankel and myself – all very experienced at evaluating products and helping inventors and product developers evolve their products and pitches. Kevin Harrington of Shark Tank also appeared. This year, we saw about two dozen new products, many of which were viable, but only a few had all of the attributes necessary for As Seen on TV Success. Remember, for DRTV, we look for products that solve a problem, are new and innovative, have a 5 to 1 markup ratio, and can fit on the shelf space afforded in an As Seen on TV department.

The International Home + Housewares Show is the world’s largest homegoods event with 60000 professional attendees and 2000 exhibitors – from over 35 countries. This year the added plus was the weather which was Spring like here in normally windy, chilly Chicago.

We saw many innovative products, and my message to many of the inventors was that the offer is King, and you must develop a robust upsell stream to increase revenue from direct sales to make TV viable. Having a great product is not enough, if you expect to generate enough revenue to keep a direct response TV campaign going.

To learn more about the metrics involved with DRTV and the wacky, wonderful world of Infomercials, click here for a primer on allowable cost per order.

If you are interested in production costs, media planning and turnkey campaign management services click here.

 

Infomercial Producer InfoWorx Wins Platinum and Silver at Worldfest

BOCA RATON, FL (May 17, 2011) – Infomercial production company and DRTV Agency, InfoWorx Direct (www.InfoWorx.com) won Platinum and Silver Remi Awards at the renowned WorldFest Houston Film Festival.  The InfoWorx long form infomercial “Neato XV-11” won the Platinum Remi while it’s long form info-commercial for “OroBed Advanced Sleep System” brought home the Silver.   Both of the award winning infomercials were created under the innovative InfoWorx economy driven Demo Package.

“WorldFest is the most discriminating commercial competition and to win an award at this festival stands out as a very prestigious achievement. For two programs produced through our economy driven Demo Package to win, proves that you can create compelling, award winning infomercials for $55 thousand dollars.” Ron Perlstein, Executive Producer at InfoWorx Direct explained. “I created the InfoWorx Demo Package as a way to help my clients succeed in this tough economy. It scales down production days while it maintains excellent production values including Broadcast HD.  Our two WorldFest awards prove this can be done. Both shows generated great response and conversions using soft offers, and InfoWorx arranged the financing deals for the offers.”

“At InfoWorx Direct we are committed to our mission statement ‘Your Success Is Our Success’ and so when the economy slowed down, I adapted our production packages to serve our client’s needs better.  We’re a full service Infomercial Production and Media Agency with all the latest tools. Money was getting tighter, and the InfoWorx Demo Package was my way of helping my clients get their products on the air with a great-looking and economical $55,000 production.”, Perlstein added. “We’ve been innovators in the DRTV industry for many years.  We introduced Turnkey Infomarketing 12 years ago. We are a full service Direct Response Agency specializing in affordable solutions that allow startups and new products to get started with a low investment. Our new media intelligence systems that enhance our media buying services further maximize our client’s investment and deliver an ROI that allows them to succeed even in a down economy.”

Since 1992, direct response television agency and infomercial production company, InfoWorx Direct, has established itself as a successful, award winning infomercial producer of both short-form DRTV spots and long-form info-commercials. InfoWorx has developed the most affordable turnkey infomercial model in the industry that offers clients award winning television and radio infomercial production as well as TV and Radio infomercial media buying services. The production and media buying agency specializes in all aspects of direct response advertising services and consulting, and offers an entire turnkey solution from script to sales for DRTV clients as well as specific services including production, media buying, telemarketing management, fulfillment, and home shopping placement.

Recently, InfoWorx introduced its economy-driven Demo Package which minimizes the client’s initial investment and delivers award winning production values.  InfoWorx media buying services have also added media intelligence solutions that offer clients the most advanced and effective media buying and tracking technology.

“During these tough economic times it is important that we fulfill clients’ needs especially when investment money is hard for them to find”, Ron Perlstein said.  “Our success depends on our clients’ success and that’s why we must help them maximize their investment throughout in every aspect of their direct response campaign.”

For over 19 years, InfoWorx has established itself as a pioneer in direct response TV advertising, and has generated billions of dollars of major “as seen on TV success” for clients including Emerson Electric, InventTech, SnorEnz, Rubbermaid, and iRobot’s Roomba.  For additional information on InfoWorx, contact Ron Perlstein, or visit http://www.InfoWorx.com.

InfoWorx Direct, LLC, is a full service direct response agency and media buying service with an evolving infomarketing business philosophy. The InfoWorx scientific approach has led to profitable results and success for established companies and newcomers alike. 

 

Ron Perlstein’s Infomercial Update

I, Ronald Perlstein, love the wacky, wonderful world of infomercials and direct response TV!!  For nearly 20 years, I have enjoyed every minute, every production, every media buy and every client.  And when we achieve hit status – WOW!

But how is 2011 shaping up?  Direct response media rates are firming up, and InfoWorx Direct has continued to innovate.  Now, InfoWorx Direct can offer research for all 210 DMA’s in the USA.  What can we discover? 

Which markets have the demographics you seek by age, sex or income?

How has the ethnic landscape changed since 2010?

What market is the best for families with children, early adopters, or over 200 lifestyle indexes?

We have the latest demographics on age, sex, household income, psychographics, lifestyle indexes and more.  Pick any market and InfoWorx Direct can place your media buys.  We offer all 44 local Comcast cable markets and all Cox Cable markets for local cable buys at the lowest rates and best service. 

In 2011, you must have the latest data to be successful with “The Science of Direct Response”.

2011 Housewares Show Inventor Pavillion

I’m here in Chicago at the Housewares Show. Each year myself and other top direct response experts help inventors evaluate their products. With me, will be a blue ribbon panel with friends from AllStar Marketing, QVC, and Thane Direct among others. It’s always a great time to see old friends and help the inventors understand the marketing of the wacky, wonderful world of infomercials. I always have a great time. Last year I bumped into legend Ron Popeil walking the floor seeking funding for a new project! There’s money to be made, and I wish all of the inventors much success. At InfoWorx Direct we have helped startups throughout our history, and we are always there for you.