Internet radio station RadioMOI.com recently cut a deal with multimedia advertising firm MediaAmerica Inc. that will allow advertisers to stream targeted radio spots to the Web station's 270,000 subscribers.
By signing MediaAmerica, RadioMOI has found an independent network-radio advertising firm that has been in the game for 13 years. In addition, RadioMOI has found another market for its advertisers.
The Internet station plans to showcase the platform to all facets of the advertising community, Phil Lubman, vice president of RadioMOI, New York, said in a prepared statement.
Other online radio clients of MediaAmerica's Internet division include DiscJockey.com, StreamAudio.com and YellowOnline.com.
“I know banner ad click-through rates are plummeting,” said Michelle Jennings, executive vice president at MediaAmerica, New York. “The opportunity to have audio and video and interactive banners gives advertisers the ability to increase click-through rates. I believe it [will] be the next generation in Internet advertising.”
The company is working to improve the effectiveness of banner ads by introducing interactive streaming audio and video elements. MediaAmerica also will help marketers target their audiences by using data that Internet users reveal when they sign up at Web sites.
MediaAmerica targets advertisements based on age, sex and geography. In some cases, interactive banner ads are included with the streaming audio and video spots, Jennings said.
RadioMOI is a free-form station that plays everything from classical and jazz to trance and heavy metal. The diversity of music would seem to make it difficult for direct marketers to reach target audiences, but RadioMOI's user database is designed to help advertisers target ads. The level of detail depends on how much information users reveal when they sign up.
Traditional radio spots can be streamed before, after or during RadioMOI shows, said Lori Ceravolo, RadioMOI’s marketing manager. Advertisers can tag specific songs. For example, if the boy band phenomenon were to suddenly go kaput, a record company could tag a song with a sale offer that would stream right before or right after the song played.
Direct marketers will have the option of streaming audio ads during RadioMOI shows, posting rich media banners on the site or posting them in a newsletter the station sends to subscribers. “Advertisers seem to like the newsletter more because users have opted in to receive it,” Ceravolo said.
