Can radio advertising boost your business?

Radio advertising can be effective if it is done correctly. Large international brands have been using national radio stations to promote their products for a long time. Smaller businesses have used local radio very effectively, generating significant profits for their business.

Radio adverting is worth, considering, at some point. Firstly it is reasonably inexpensive especially when compared to other forms of adverting e.g. TV advertising. Secondly, radio advertising is very personal. People listen to the radio in all sorts of locations including the car, at work in bed or even in the shower. Radio listeners are a very captive audience.

People have an attachment to their chosen station which means that any advertising featured on the station can also be well received. It is also difficult to ignore an advert on the radio when compared to adverts within a magazine. It can be easy to skip over adverts within a magazine but when people listen to the radio and an advert comes on, all of the listeners will hear it.

Radio advertising can also be very targeted. If you wanted to promote a product to an audience of men aged between 24 and 44, you would target your campaign on a station that attracts that kind of audience, usually by the nature of the music they play.

So why isn’t everybody advertising on the radio?

Radio also has a number of disadvantages. There can be a huge amount of wastage. There will be a significant number of listeners who will not be interested in the products being advertised. Businesses who redirect their budget from radio advertising to direct mailing or telephone calling will be speaking directly to a potential customer.

Radio is also not a great direct response medium. Direct response advertising must result in a sale that can be measured for it to be successful. However, this can be difficult to do when the peak times for advertising are during the mornings and early evenings. People rushing around to get to work, or driving home from work, are not necessarily going to make a note of your phone number or website when they hear it on the radio.

10 steps to successful radio advertising

1. Only think of radio advertising as one element of your marketing mix. Don’t be dependent upon it. Never spend more than you’re willing to lose.
   
   
2. Don’t commit to radio advertising until you have tried more obvious forms of marketing. Improve your marketing to existing customers before you try radio advertising.
   
   
3. Test your advertising on a small scale before rolling it out on a large scale. Ignore the incentives that radio sales teams will use to encourage you to try a large campaign.
   
   
4. Understand how radio stations come up with their advertising rates. Stations often have two different ways of charging for their advertising. Small businesses new to advertising are often charged from a rate card where to pricing can be high. Agencies who book advertising on behalf of their clients will be charged per 1000 listeners. Radio stations employ independent researchers who are able to identify the number of listeners tuned into to a particular station at a particular time of day. Agencies are then able to select and agree a rate and a time of day when the radio runs an advert. Ask the radio sales team what the cost per 1000 listeners would be. You will probably get a much reduced rate.
   
   
5. Make sure that your adverts go out at the best time of day when they are most likely to work for you. Remember that there are certain periods of time during the day when very few people are listening. The most popular time of day is the breakfast show; however you may not want to be advertising at this time of day as most people are just too busy to respond to your advert. Mid-morning and early afternoon are often good times. Avoid evenings because people watch television. Weekends tend to have fewer listeners than weekdays.
   
   
6. Beware of the cheap deals on very small local stations. They often have very low listening numbers and are not worth the investment. You will get what you pay for.
   
   
7. Negotiate great deals on your radio advertising. Offer to run a week’s advertising at a ridiculously low price. You may not get the price that you asked for but you will get a much cheaper rate than you would have done if you had booked adverts using the rate card. The sales teams are always working towards targets and will be more desperate to hit their targets towards the end of the month. This tends to be the best time to negotiate a really good deal.
   
   
8. Avoid clever or funny adverts. You don’t want an advert that’s going to win an award, you want an advert that’s going to sell for you and bring you customers. Follow the AIDA principal: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. Try using a straight-forward voiceover and use the word YOU a lot in the script. Remember to tell the listener what to do next. Create a direct personal, message to the person hearing your advert.
   
   
9. Consider other forms of radio advertising. You can sponsor the weather or the news. Radio stations also run promotions which tend to be competitions that run throughout the day or week. Advertisers provide a prize and pay for the commercials but often get greater airtime because of the number of time the competition is mentioned.
   
   
10. Measure the results of your advertising accurately. You need to know if the advertising is working. If it is, you will want to roll it out on a bigger scale, even trying different stations. If it’s not working, drop it and invest your marketing budget elsewhere. You need to know where your enquiries are coming from. Set up a separate phone line for radio adverts only.

Contact Apple Pie Marketing on 01962 732392 for an informal discussion about radio advertising or other ways to improve the marketing of your business.