Did you know that in the early days of radio, advertisers owned and controlled entire programs?  Sponsors ruled the air waves with variety, comedy, drama, live music, and quiz shows. Where do you think the "soap opera" got its name?

"The term 'soap opera' was coined by the American press in the 1930s to denote the extraordinarily popular genre of serialized domestic radio dramas, which, by 1940, represented some 90% of all commercially-sponsored daytime broadcast hours. The 'soap' in soap opera alluded to their sponsorship by manufacturers of household cleaning products; while 'opera' suggested an ironic incongruity between the domestic narrative concerns of the daytime serial and the most elevated of dramatic forms."

In the 1930s and '40s, show sponsors included cigarette brands, tire companies, and soap brands. Even after the launch of television in the early 50s, radio evolved to meet the needs of its listeners, and both local and national advertisers enabled stations to broadcast their programming.

But, after the launch of digital technology, it's a wonder that radio still breathes. It is, and remains, a very viable advertising channel.

Radio revenues edged up in 2011, finishing the year at $17.4 billion, up about 0.6% from $17.3 billion in 2010, according to a February 2012 report from the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).

It's funny how some things change, yet remain the same. AT&T was the leading advertiser on spot radio in 2011, spending $364.9 million. In 1923, WEAF in New York accepted the first radio ad, giving the station owner a monopoly for a short time on what was then called, "toll broadcasting." And guess who the station owner was? Yup, AT&T."

Check out which types of companies spent the most on radio in 2011.

Sources: "The History of Radio Advertising", "Radio Broadcasting History by Decades," The Museum of Broadcast Communications, Marketing Charts

Is it Presidents Day, President's Day, or Presidents' Day? Ask any grade school teacher and the grammar is straight forward. The third Monday in February is a day to celebrate all American presidents. That's a plural word – as in more than one president. 

So, why do U.S. advertisers have such a challenge with the holiday name? I took a look through the Sunday paper, online, and watched TV and here's a list of some of the brands that got it right and wrong:

Got it Right – Presidents' Day

Macy's, Sports Authority, Ashley Furniture, Kohl's, Jo-Ann, Sears, Big 5 Sporting Goods (western states), Lord & Taylor, Honda, Coach, Dell, Toyota, Restoration Hardware, kmart, Amazon, Bon-Ton

Got it Wrong – Presidents/President's Day

Michaels – Not surprising, since the company doesn't use an apostrophe in its own name!
Office Max, Direct TV, Sleep America, GMC, Bath & Body Works, Pearle Vision, DKNY, Mazda, Golfsmith, Forever 21, La-Z-Boy, MattressFirm

And these are just samples of the brands advertising Presidents' Day sales and promotions. Got any to share? 

No, this isn't my opinion, but results of a new study from Econsultancy, in partnership with Adobe. Social media just isn't cutting it to generate bucks.

All the energy marketers are putting into this channel is more about "social media engagement."

Marketers also indicated social media engagement to be among their top 3 digital-related priorities this year. The area topped the list, cited by 39% of company respondents, on par with the proportion who indicated content optimization to a be a top priority. Other areas marketers will be focusing on this year include conversion rate optimization (34%), brand building/viral marketing (32%), and mobile optimization (29%).

So, here's the challenge…

Among company and agency respondents, almost half said that social media has added many more programs and goals, but not the revenue to support new hires, indicating this to be a key challenge.

In another survey by CMO Council last December, "Few marketers are tying social media marketing initiatives to lead generation (38%) and sales (26%), with a far greater proportion using soft metrics such as social presence (76%), measured by number of followers and fans, and website traffic (67%) to determine the success of their campaigns."

The bottom line?

Measuring followers, fans, and social presence may be the current practice, but eventually decision-makers are going to say the ultimate statement… "SHOW ME THE MONEY!"

Source: MarketingCharts and Econsultancy

The results are in and I'm disappointed. I was hoping that QR codes would draw a more diverse audience. But, it's fairly clear that it will take time – unless, of course, the next shiny new product comes along and does a better job.

The ideal audience for using QR codes is… young and male.

Although men and women report equal awareness of QR codes (77%), men who are aware of them are 75% more likely than women to have used one (28% vs. 16%) to access product information, according to survey results released in February 2012 by BrandSpark International, in association with Better Homes and Gardens. Looking at age groups, 18-34-year-olds (85%) display the highest awareness of QR codes, with 30% of those having used one. 35-49-year-olds are next, with 80% having heard of QR codes, and 23% of those respondents having used one.

The good news is that 77% of survey respondents are aware of QR codes. Awareness is step one. But, overall, only 19% of those people have used one.

Have you used QR codes in your marketing communications? Tell us what results you've had.

Most Web sites and blogs today have a "Contact Us" form or generic contact e-mail address for prospects, clients, customers, donors, members, etc. to make inquiries. But, how many of these communications end up in "Nowheresville?" What a waste.

These are the hot prospects and leads your organization wants, and yet, these communications often go unanswered because there's no real internal method for responding to them. Does this describe YOUR organization or company?

I can't tell you how frequently this has happened to me. And, what's my impression of the business or organization when I don't hear back? Poor customer service and a bad brand impression. Not exactly the most ideal "first contact," is it?

Well, it's time to clean this up and take advantage of these inquiries.

1. Delegate one individual as the chief contact for the organization's Web-based communications.

2. Ensure the individual is experienced in public relations and communications, with a solid knowledge of the org's brand.

3. Empower this individual to respond to inquiries immediately, even if s/he doesn't have the answer right away. People need to now your org received their communication and you are going to get back to them. If the requested information requires someone else to reply, the chief contact person should forward the message to the appropriate staff person for follow-up and then ensure that staff person responds.

4. Develop an FAQ of the usual questions you receive to place on your Web site or blog. You can then reply to these question using a link to the answer. This saves time.

5. Test the system regularly to ensure it works and you don't miss any external Web-based communication.

If you make these expectations part of the chief contact person's performance review, there's a good chance it will stay on the daily to-do list.