Featured Article
March 24, 2011
Holdtime Analysis Provides Valuable Tool for Developing Effective On Hold Messages
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
The idea of delivering messages while on hold may not appeal to every user, but there is some value in hearing the latest pizza specials while waiting for the Pizza Hut representative to return to your call to take your order. Advertel (News - Alert) has been creating on hold messages for a number of years, enabling companies to make the most of the time they have a captive audience on the other end of the line.
Advertel offers the tools necessary to enable companies to measure their on-hold listening audience. The company invented the Holdtime Analysis process in the 1980s and to this day, no one has been able to crack its secrets. Advertel is still able to use this powerful model to determine exactly how a company should program its audience based on reasonably accurate call traffic data.
“We don’t recommend a “one size fits all” solution like our competitors do,” said Paul Beran, CEO of Advertel. “We’ve come to know how beneficial a correctly sized on-hold program can be, and how much is at risk by employing the wrong sized program. Failure to change your recording often enough, or create a recording that is long enough, and the listener becomes annoyed with repetition and hangs up. You obviously don’t want that.”
To develop the best on hold messages to enable a company to leverage the value of its listening audience, Advertel provides a powerful analysis. The finished report, or Holdtime Analysis (HTA), offers listening audience estimates that are similar to those used to measure radio and television audiences. Estimates are provided on Cume, Reach, Frequency and Cost per Thousand (CPM).
This analysis provides a proven accurate profile of a company’s telephone listening audience, as well as specific recommendations for an appropriately sized on-hold message program. This assessment is based on the company’s call traffic data and is used to develop the most appropriate and effective approach for on hold messages.
Any company using on hold messages must pay attention to the correct length of production, musical interlude and the regular schedule of updates, or run the risk of too much repetition for repeat callers. The result can be premature caller abandonment and lost sales.
“Armed with this information, you can make a media mix – with ADS-ON (News - Alert)-HOLD – look even better because of its traditional low cost per thousand,” added Beran. “Your campaign CPM’s will all come down because you’ve added a genuine ADS-ON-HOLD to the mix. Even though you’ve got some form of on-hold program playing, you probably don’t have the data necessary to cost justify the expense. That’s often the reason why companies tend not to spend very much on their on-hold program. They just don’t have enough audience information…unless they subscribe to a genuine ADS-ON-HOLD from Advertel, of course.”
Advertel’s Holdtime Analysis helps to drive a proactive approach to understanding a company’s call traffic to avoid these pitfalls and leverage the potential of the calling audience. Even more promising is the fact that this service from Advertel is free.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Juliana Kenny
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