What Women Want....................goes Country!

Arbitron and Joint Communications take their "What Women Want" study to a country level as they profile 1,060 18-54 female Arbitron diarykeepers in this eye opening report. My comments that follow are their findings along with dialogue about how they relate to our loyalty program for country radio. The survey shows that country female listeners are as ambivalent about radio contesting as other 18-54's, but do "Like to win things".

A. TWICE as many country listeners are members of at-work or frequent-listener clubs than the average 18-54-year old female diarykeeper.
They are highly desirable listeners for many reasons;

1.They are twice as as likely to think contests are fun for entertainment value, even if they don't play.
2.They are three times as likely to think of DJ's as friends.
3.They are three times as likely to want a visit from radio station personnel at work.
4.They are twice as likely to use radio advertising to make purchase decisions.
5. They have DOUBLE the TSL as a non-club member.

COMMENT: This is very encouraging for any country station embarking on a loyalty program as these positive comments reflect membership clubs that are very outdated, ie; give us your email for newsletters, concerts, random calls, etc. When listeners get points for listening, to bid on prizes they want, they will quickly tire of the old noncompelling model...........and station!

B. MOST COUNTRY WOMEN ACCESS THE INTERNET, just not at work.
59% of all Country radio women 18-54 log on weekly, just not at work as the number goes to 15% in that category.

COMMENT: Not a problem in our opinion. 59% is a large enough number for successful participation. And our listeners have 24 hours to login keywords for point inclusion. We've also found that people who play this game while at work make it the company station, not wanting to miss kewords.

C. COUNTRY RADIO WOMEN SAY THAT THE BEST WAY TO FIND OUT ABOUT A RADIO STATION IS HEARING ABOUT IT FROM A FRIEND.
Women trust their friends to make recommendations; the credibility of a reference cannot be underestimated. Stations must find ways to improve ways to motivate women to "tell a friend".

COMMENT: Listeners won't refer a friend to something that just gets them station newsletters or chances to WIN! They will, however, refer a friend to station that gets them valuable prizes........for listening!

D. OVER 80% of Country women who were contacted by a station and asked to listen for a contest, Actually listened!
Country women are almost three times as likely to listen to a radio station if it asks them directly, to check it out for a contest. This suggests a very strong loyalty between female Country listeners and their stations. They really like the connection.

COMMENT: Our program is announced 2-4 times per hour. We think this 24/7 on-air invitation
will translate into a active database.

E. ONLY 12% of Country radio women have listened to the radio "specifically to win". Yet, 47% "strongly agree" that they "Like to win things"
This suggests that traditional on-air contesting is NOT the most effective way to appeal to a Country radio listener's desire to win. It suggests that Country radio do some serious brainstorming and rethinking about the whole issue of contests.

COMMENT: Nuff said!

Finally, it says, These women are valuable, since they have a tremendous amount of TSL and they use radio to make purchasing decisions. They are an audience that will truly listen, so do NOT miss any opportunity to speak to them. The caution here is that your competition will be targeting them too, so you must be unique in the way you engage them.

hmmmmmm..............

jimmy risk