As an advertiser, you need to answer two fundamental questions about your advertising media investments:
Strategy is the key to accurately answer these questions, and ultimately ensure your marketing success.
Lucky for you, the variety of advertising platforms available these days enables you to plan a successful marketing strategy tailored to specific business goals. Businesses have many choices when it comes to advertising, and each has its benefits and drawbacks.
As the digital age continues to rapidly change the marketing landscape and create new possibilities for how and where we target consumers, radio advertising probably seems like it went out with the transistors.
Well, call Ripley’s…because believe it or not, radio advertising is still a marketing tool employed by many businesses.
But really, how effective is radio advertising right now?
With the rise in technology and successful companies like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music, you may be questioning how many people still listen to the good old fashioned terrestrial radio.
Turns out, plenty.
According to Brad Kelly, Managing Director of Nielsen Audio, “Each week, more Americans tune into AM/FM radio (93%) than watch television, or use smartphones, tablets, or computers.”
So we know that radio can reach large audiences with a decent dedicated budget. The costs you can expect to incur with radio advertising include:
The costs for radio advertising will depend both on the time of day and the type of show being sponsored. For example, an ad that runs in a prime-time slot on a very popular show will be much more expensive than one that runs in the middle of the day during music play. This cost is subjective, however. Popular radio shows will have more listeners, and you will have a wider pool of consumers. This in turn could make your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) lower. CPA is figured by taking the sales that resulted from an ad and dividing that figure by the actual cost of the ad.
Media, like any industry, is full of terminology. Nearly every medium has a different way of measuring its effectiveness. Broadcast uses gross rating points, newspapers use circulation, billboards use traffic counts and websites use impressions or clicks.
The more you know, the better your strategy will be.
Using a number of simple, objective parameters, you can confidently decide what media and communication channels are your best marketing choice.
Radio stations design their programming to attract certain listeners and then sell those listeners to advertisers in tiny increments. As with TV, advertisers look carefully at listener ratings to determine who and how many listeners their ad will reach on a given station. Because the radio market is fragmented you should be able to get detailed information on radio shows in your area.
Before investing in radio advertising, verify the station’s audience numbers. Look over their media kit to get a feel for not only the number of listeners, but also their characteristics and demographic data. Do their listeners align with the characteristics of your ideal customer?
Ask the station about its Nielsen numbers. As the definitive source for comprehensive audio metrics and insights, Nielsen measures listeners however they tune in.
Radio is affordable, targeted, and pervasive.
A 30-second ad spot on the radio is far more affordable and easier to create than its television equivalents, and radio ads can be incredibly cost-effective in reaching local customers.
Since radio stations often target style with specific demographics like pop or talk radio, you can make sure your spot is heard by the right audience…within reason.
Radio ads can also be quick and easy to produce.
Traditional radio is a one-way medium. Because of the way radio content is served, advertisers cannot make use of big data to target ads to individual demographics the same way they can with internet advertising.
One of the biggest downsides of radio is the mindset of the listener. It’s too easy to be distracted, have the radio on simply as “background noise,” or just flat out change the station when the commercials hit. Even if they hear and digest your ad, it’s most likely not something they’ll be able to act on instantaneously like they could with a digital ad.
Then there are the products and services that need more of a visual representation, and radio does them no favors.
In short, your marketing efforts can easily get glossed over when advertising on the radio.
In the sea of many advertising opportunities, it’s easy for marketers to feel overwhelmed.
Fact is, more and more people are turning to digital media for their news, entertainment, etc. And there’s a public perception that conventional radio is an outdated medium. The radio, especially in the eyes of the younger generation, seems more and more distant.
All that said, after researching and confirming your potential reach to your target audience, you may discover that radio can complement and boost your ad campaign by reaching consumers during the day, in the car and away from home, when they’re on the go and potentially closest to the point of purchase.
Which brings us full circle. Where is your money going?… And is it working?
If you have clear answers to these two fundamental questions, then you have the key to your marketing success.
If you need help, the Twelve Legs Marketing team has years of experience in both digital and traditional media, and we’re here to help!