Sound Answers

A Katz analysis of Nielsen's new Scarborough Supplemental Study looks at the status of the American workforce to see what the lingering impacts of the pandemic are in 4th Quarter and what we can expect moving forward in terms of working from home and commuting. 

WFH-ERS ARE LEAVING THE HOME OFFICE BEHIND

As of October, 7 in 10 employed adults are commuting to a job outside the home, including those who continued to do so throughout the pandemic (49%), and those who had stopped working outside the home, but have since resumed their commute (23%). Among the 28% that are working from home, 11% plan to go back to work at at a location soon. Only 1 in 10 employed adults (9%) will continue to work from home due to the pandemic, and the remaining 9% are individuals who had already been working from home prior to March 2020. 

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Heavy radio listeners are more likely than the average employed adult to be commuting (74%), and slightly less likely to say they will not be going back to work outside the home after working from home during the pandemic (8%). 

THE ROLE OF THE CAR IN WORKERS' COMMUTES 

The car has become a more important component in consumers' lives over the past two years. Cars have become a necessity for people who need to commute and still maintain a sense of comfort and safety, as well as those who moved out of cities. Scarborough data shows that employed adults will continue to rely on their car for commutes - both among those currently commuting, and those who will start commuting in the near future. 

21% of Americans plan to use their car more in the next 6 months, a number that jumps to 26% among employed adults who will be returning to work outside the home, and 28% for those adults currently looking for a job - likely signifying a desire to commute by car. 67% of Americans expect to drive their car the same amount in the next 6 months, increasing to 72% for current commuters, who are exhibiting no desire to change their  commuting habits. 

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ANALYTICOWL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: RADIO WORKS FOR INSURANCE CATEGORY

The insurance category is certainly no stranger to radio, frequently landing high in Media Monitor rankings of top radio advertisers by spot count. Insurers know that radio connects brands with ideal prospects, but what happens once the spots air? A new Industry Report from AnalyticOwl takes a look at response data for 6 months of insurance ads airing this year to help insurance brands better understand how radio works for them.  

RADIO DRIVES SEARCH, REGARDLESS OF THE CALL TO ACTION

AnalyticOwl reports that search is the most common response path consumers take after a spot airing. 70% of radio-impacted insurance website traffic came from a search engine, while 26% resulted from a user typing in a direct URL. The data implies that radio listeners are more likely to search for a brand name or other keywords from the ad, rather than remember a specific URL or phone number.

Insurance advertisers looking at their Google Analytics data alone are not seeing the full impact of radio on their web traffic. Their web analytics would attribute all of that traffic to search engines as the "Referring Source," without taking into consideration that many of those searches were prompted by listeners hearing a radio ad. Examining minute-by-minute web data in connection with radio log times is a way for insurance brands to see the bigger picture of how much impact radio has on their web traffic.

RADIO ATTRACTS QUALITY LEADS

The AnalyticOwl data shows that radio attracts quality leads to insurance sites. Radio-attributed web visits have good session duration (3 min. 21 sec.), pages per session (2.16), and bounce rates (37.66%), meaning radio-influenced consumers show serious interest and engagement while on the insurance website. Half of radio-attributed visits are on mobile devices, which emphasizes the fact that radio listeners are receptive and able to respond wherever they are. 

INSURANCE SPOT PERFORMANCE TRENDS

AnalyticOwl offers up certain spot performance trends to help advise insurance brands on how to optimize their radio campaigns, but reminds advertisers that web traffic is only one tangible measure of campaign performance. Although the data granularity is able to pinpoint top performers, it does not measure the intangible benefits, such as building reach, frequency, and brand equity, that arise from all elements of the campaign working as a whole. Each spot type, day of week, and daypart builds on the other to plant the seeds that eventually turn into consumer action.

•  :30 ads were the most effective spots for insurance brands, driving a 4% lift in web visitation

•  All dayparts drove incremental web traffic, with Midday earning the highest Visit Per Airing (1.6), followed by Evening (1.3). 

• All days contributed a lift in web traffic, with Midweek days delivering the highest (Wednesday and Tuesday, 1.6 VPA). 

•  Foot Traffic analyses reveal Wednesday & Monday earned top new traffic percentages (39.96% and 36.22%, respectively). 

For more information from the Radio Advertising Bureau and AnalyticOwl. 

CONSUMER HABITS, SPENDING, AND MINDSETS MOVING INTO 2022

As 2021 winds down, it's time to look ahead at shopping trends - what changed, what stuck, and what to expect for the coming year. Rewards app company Shopkick surveyed 15,000 consumers for their 2022 Shopping Outlook to take stock on consumer mindsets going into a new year faced with evolving behaviors and continued concerns over health, safety, supply chain issues, inflation, and more. 

IN-STORE IS HOT DESTINATION FOR SHOPPERS IN 2022

Brick-and-mortar stores are still top destinations for the majority of essential and non-essential purchases. 87% of consumers will do most of their essential shopping and 71% will do their non-essential shopping in a physical store. In-store shopping is also becoming more of an event and something to look forward to for 6 in 10 consumers, an increase of +34% over last year.

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Top in-store shopper priorities for 2022 include choosing stores with low prices (46%) and ones that are convenient to them (25%). Consumers also want to feel good about where they shop, and plan to choose stores with similar core values to their own (15%) and those that enforce safety precautions (14%). 

CONSUMERS LEARN LESSONS AND PICK UP SOME NEW TRICKS

Consumers have learned some hard lessons and picked up a few new habits during the pandemic - and 63% feel that their general shopping habits have changed for good. Consumers will make sure to stay stocked up on essential items, and will care less about brand names. Shopping trips will be fewer, but bigger, and consumers will be taking advantage of BOPIS more. Nearly half say they will shop more online, but brick-and-mortars are still very much relevant in 2022. 

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CONSUMER SPENDING CHANGES LINGER

Shopkick finds that 63% of consumers lowered their overall spending in 2021. 38% anticipate returning to normal in 2022, while 45% expect to keep their belts tightened through next year.

Over half of consumers plan to maintain their essential and non-essential shopping budgets in 2022, which also means that nearly half will be making changes. Close to twice as many consumers plan to increase, rather than decrease, spending on essentials. The change to consumers' non-essential budgets is a wash, with equal amounts of consumers planning to increase and decrease their ancillary spending in 2022.  

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Whatever 2022 brings in terms of new or lingering shopping habits and mindsets, AM/FM radio is a powerful partner for retailers. Radio has proven to drive results up and down the purchase funnel, from brand awareness to impacting consumer actions online and in-store.  

For more information from Shopkick. 

January 12th - Radio Advertising Bureau - How to Make 2022 Your Best Year Ever (Part 1). In a world of constant change and uncertainty, it can be difficult to plan and prepare. In this live presentation, you’ll hear what some broadcasters are doing to make 2022 their best year yet. RAB members register here. 

January 13th - ANA - How Brands Effectively Use Radio/Audio to Drive Engagement Among Multicultural Audiences. Webinar will discuss why and how distinct multicultural audiences consume radio across platforms, brand marketers' perceptions of how radio/audio connect with multicultural audiences, and share brand case studies demonstrating the successful use of radio/audio in traditional and innovative ways. Register here. 

States and businesses have been updating COVID-19 related restrictions and regulations. Keep updated on state-by-state and category-specific actions with the links below. 

For more information on tracking America's recovery in terms of employment, finances, leisure, and travel, from CNN

For more information on retail restrictions, from the National Retail Federation

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For more insights from Katz Radio Group, visit our Insights Hub.