Over 10 years ago, while Marketing Architects was still charting its course in remnant radio, we suddenly realized that we needed to solve for more than just an efficient media platform. In an advertising channel that only allows for 60 seconds of audio advertising, and touts soft offers to get the desired response rates, we knew we had to find a way to turn uninformed and impulsive callers into educated and confident buyers.

Radio is full of qualified, yet uneducated, callers. Once a consumer listens to a 60 second radio advertisement and places a call, they are able to retain an average of two pieces of information. First, of course, they know the phone number they need to dial. (Even that is fleeting.) Second, they know the reason they’re calling. In most cases of direct response radio, this is because one of the product’s benefits caught their attention and now they want their free trial, free quote or free demo. This is a reasonable expectation, but it means the responsibility for providing additional product information, enticing the caller with benefits and converting them at a profitable level, rests solely on the person or technology handling these calls.

Finding a knowledgeable sales-based call center agent became our priority. These agents were specially trained to know the product inside and out. They could probe and understand why the caller had interest in the product, and use that to begin their sales process, while providing offers and overcoming objections. These were specialized or dedicated agents. They made for a powerful tool in any direct response radio campaign but, being specialized, these agents adapted and succeeded within the specific limits of one product. Also, by their nature, these agent groups are difficult to find and a challenge to scale.

To combat these challenges, over five years ago, Marketing Architects combined persuasion and technology to launch its Vocé sales platform. Similar to these dedicated call center agents, Vocé could provide product information and be persuasive in its sales flow helping callers to become buyers. It is also easy to set-up and instantly scalable.

For a direct response radio caller, it’s important to make it easy for the caller to say “yes”. A smart sales flow stair-steps from a low-risk and low-cost offer up to one that requires more investment but includes incentives as a reward for purchase.

Radio is a targeted channel, giving you access to some of the most valuable consumers out there. Whether you use a live agent or a technology, you’ll find that being informative and persuasive and reducing or eliminating the caller’s risk in purchasing your product, direct response radio can be one of the highest converting channels in your portfolio.