Doing Offline Advertising the Third Way
I’ve worked in marketing or advertising since I was eighteen years old, with most of those years spent in New York City, and most of those years at agencies. After stints as a graphic designer, media buyer, and communications planner, among other positions, I realized that what I loved most about the industry was helping companies set up new media channels and hold them accountable for performance.
When I met Tyler Elliston, the founder of Right Side Up, we talked up a storm with equal excitement about growth marketing, bending digital channels to hit ambitious performance goals, and the potential of offline channels like podcasts and radio that are relatively untapped by many growth marketers. As we discussed the offline marketing ecosystem and my experience in the channels, we realized that the Right Side Up approach could help companies interested in exploring the offline space launch campaigns, whether their budget was $50k or $500k.
Since 2018, the Right Side Up offline growth marketing division has focused largely on podcast advertising, currently with 18 active clients, like Calm, DoorDash, and Stitch Fix. Of the various offline channels, podcast is among the most misunderstood; despite reaching 51% of US A12+ monthly, according to Edison, the ad landscape in podcast is still surprisingly small. The IAB released their third study of podcast ad revenue, and the US market was estimated at $479 million in 2018. Interestingly, they expect the medium to top $1 billion by 2021. Despite brands like Dollar Shave Club and ZipRecruiter deploying podcast advertising for user acquisition for the better part of a decade, it’s a channel that flies under the radar for most growth and brand marketers. It’s small relative to other channels, it’s a bear to measure, it’s a manual buying process, among other challenges. Historically, most of the brands in the channel have worked with the top three to four agencies, and with recent market consolidation, it really boils down to two main agencies in the space, with a bunch of smaller players with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Advertisers can either work with one of the two partners, or a less experienced agency, for media commissions that scale unfavorably for advertisers over time. Or, they can buy in-house, without most of the subject matter expertise because most of the historical performance knowledge of the channel is held at the agencies. We know there’s a third way, and that’s what we’re building here.
One of the big differentiators of Right Side Up is that we believe the best work is done in-house, so we partner with your internal team closely. As consultants, we’re there to help with the big questions, like: Is the investment worth it? Will going to that conference meaningfully enhance our network or enrich our knowledge? What channels should we test next, and how should we do it? We’re also there to help with the more tactical questions, like: How should we onboard the talent? What should our copy say about our brand? How do I organize all this data? In all our engagements, we allow our clients to buy media directly from publishers, networks, and media owners. Full transparency to media plans, data, and our process.
And because every company has different needs at any given time, we’re flexible on our arrangements. Need us for the initial test but have the personnel to keep it running after that? Great! Are you the only person with offline subject-matter expertise and need a phone-a-friend sometimes? Happy to help! Want us to run the campaign soup to nuts until you’re ready to take fully in-house? No problem! Our engagements span everything from full planning and media negotiation/buying services to lighter arrangements where we consult with in-house marketers leading podcast campaigns, to help even the podcast playing field, and get more brands in the marketplace.
And if you decide to take your business in-house, we’ll help with the transition, even when it comes time to interview and train our replacement. Because ultimately, we want to help companies make every resource spent on marketing and media work in the best way possible. Our transition will be smooth, too, because we don’t buy on your behalf, and we don’t take media commission; that’s what I mean when we say clients buy media directly. We negotiate the right placements for the right rates, and hand it off to advertisers to book in-house with best-practice contract terms and conditions. That way the advertiser owns their own rates, and publisher relationships, from the outset. It’s good for not just advertisers, but publishers too; how would you feel if 40% of your business came from one company?
If you run into snags 6 months down the road, because your podcast campaign has hit what you fear may be diminishing returns? We can help, and we know your campaign. We’re happy to drop in and do a one-time audit, to help you expand past your current core, decide what shows to rest, how to optimize your offer, etc. and leave again until you need us.
Because I can’t stress enough, we really do believe the best work is done in-house, working side-by-side with internal teams. And we believe that advertisers should be close to most media inventory; same as Facebook or Google can be easily managed in-house because of their API, there are benefits from working directly with publishers for not only the advertiser, but the publisher or network as well. Our goal is to help brands expand their marketing/customer acquisition efforts to find profitable growth in offline channels.
We also want to be a good player in the podcast ecosystem, in particular, and be good stewards of one of the last remaining mediums on earth with finite inventory and people who actually listen and respond to ads. And along the way, we hope to change the way people think about traditional offline media channels, like how they can be held to high growth performance standards, and where they intersect with popular digital growth tactics like paid social.
If you’re interested in hiring us to help your advertising or customer acquisition efforts, please email me at krystina@rightsideup.co. I can’t wait to talk about your interest in offline channels, or business and current marketing efforts, and see how we can help. And if you’re a marketer that’s interested in more work in offline channels, whether as a full-time employee, contractor, or part-time moonlighter, please don’t hesitate to reach out and tell us how you can help.
