What You Need to Know About Radio Advertising

When you are getting the word out about your business, you want the best reach you can get for your buck. 

While most marketing is driven through digital channels, traditional advertising mediums like radio can also be extremely effective marketing investments.

Using radio as part of your marketing mix can help you effectively increase your reach within your target audience. In fact, according to a recent Nielsen report, 93% of adults in the US listen to terrestrial radio in a given week.

Your radio ads will reach people while they are working, driving, sitting in waiting rooms or just relaxing. This strong exposure makes it a great fit into your marketing mix. Used in conjunction with other channels, it reinforces your brand and keeps you in the minds of your current and potential customers.

Benefits of Radio Advertising:

• Time efficient: Radio spots can be produced and modified relatively quickly when you have a new product, service, or event coming up.
• Cost effective: Radio advertising is a much more budget friendly option than most traditional forms of advertising. Compared to TV and print, radio is a much better value. Producing a radio spot requires fewer resources and takes less time, meaning you save money. Typically, a good radio spot will cost you less and will reach more of your target market.
• The use of sound: Radio spots use voices, music and sound effects to connect with their target audience. You can paint a picture in your listener’s mind to create an attention-getting message that will lead to a memorable impression.
• Audience specific: You can ensure that your message will get the most exposure among your target audience by selecting the station and time that your radio ad will run. Because different stations air different types of music and programming that each appeal to vastly different audiences, your target market is already segmented for you. This makes it simple to share your message specifically with the people you want to hear it by buying ad time on the stations and during the programming where it will be most effective.
• Measurable results: By using direct response advertising, you can track the results of your radio ads quickly and accurately. Direct response radio ads track results instantly based on target market, station and location, which means that you can find out whether or not your advertising is working effectively relatively quickly.

While television is an effective way to appeal to your target market, the medium can be expensive. Studies have shown that commercials need to run repeatedly to get the best results, causing television stations to structure their pricing to make it more attractive for you to purchase advertising in chunks. It is best to work with a marketing company because their ongoing relationship with TV stations may help with the cost and placement of your ads. 

In order to get the most bang for your buck, it is important to have a complete strategy before beginning your television advertising. Here are few steps you can take before making the commitment:

Incorporating Radio Advertising into Your Marketing Mix

No one channel can give you a well-rounded marketing campaign. By combining traditional marketing methods like radio with digital marketing that includes content marketing and social, you can draw a larger audience than either channel could alone.

Mentioning your website in your radio ads is a great way to bring prospects to your site and to your business. While a study published in The New York Times revealed that nine out of ten listeners forgot a phone number by the end of the ad, nearly one in three report visiting the website of a company that they heard advertised on the radio.

The best time of day to advertise and the best radio station for your business will depend on the audience you wish to reach. For instance, if you are trying to attract professional Millennials, buying ads during drive time on a local station with a large 18 to 35 audience would be a good fit. Local stations provide demographic information about their audiences so that it is easy to find the one that best fits the targets of your current campaigns.

By using professionally produced commercials created by a company with strong experience in this field, you can create an ad that will be heard by a large number of qualified prospects that will bring them directly to your brand. Thinking of adding radio ads to your marketing mix? Contact Splash Omnimedia, your marketing pros.