Radio Advertising

Radio Advertising refers to the activity of attracting interest and attention to products and/or services being offered with paid advertisements through radio broadcasting – a transmission through radio for public or general use. These advertisements can come in the form of Radio Announcements, Radio Billboards, commercial announcements, personal endorsements, promotions, blurbs, and plugs. Radio Advertising Campaigns can also utilize Direct Response Radio Advertising, Remnant Radio Advertising, Viral Marketing, and explore newer technology through Satellite Radio.

Radio Announcements can be made as a “live read” or broadcast through a personal endorser. When a radio announcer reads a copy of the advertisement per verbatim, this is what is referred to as a “live read”. When a product and/or service is incorporated into the announcers’ dialogue on a personal level, they are what is called a personal endorser. Personal endorsements are highly relationship driven. An endorsers could be a customer himself or be paid by the advertiser to help promote their product or service. With regard to using personal endorsements as a form of Radio Advertising, Natalie Hale, CEO of Media Partners Worldwide is quoted in saying, “Use testimonials from radio and personalities or customers whenever possible. If you can get the personality to try then believe in the products’ merits, your message enjoys powerful credibility that translates into positive consumer responses. It’s usually worth the increase in cost to have station personalities deliver your message as an endorsement rather than just another commercial.”

The term “Billboard” refers to highly condensed commercials that generally last about ten seconds which air before or after a feature or program that gives credit to the advertiser for sponsoring the segment. Often, the sponsor’s commercial will air immediately following the billboard. Radio Billboards are sale features that are considered “added value” to the advertiser.

Measurable results are crucial to the success or failure of a particular advertising campaign. The Cost-per-Lead and Cost-per-Sale are important factors in deciding the time being purchased depending on networks. With regular radio advertising, the Cost-per-Sale rate is most often easier to determine and therefore more efficient when buying. These decisions are usually assigned to Radio Buying Specialists, who through training and experience apply their knowledge of the industry to make decisions in how, why, and when they purchase. Their decisions can help steer the direction of Radio Production or creative. Radio Production is a multifaceted process in which a series of broadcasting techniques and methods must be executed in a manner that capitalizes on time, money, and content. Production may include decisions as to copywriting material, the production of commercials, when and where to use voice overs, what content and programs should being featured, music, and other creative elements.

With Radio advertising, time can be purchased directly through the media vendors through brokers called “rep firms” or through advertising agencies. Radio advertising exists on three different levels – local, regional, and national. Local radio advertising is limited to a specific and contained demographic/geographic area. For example, advertisements might be broadcast through a small, local station for a family run restaurant within a specific geographic area. The restaurant does not have any need to advertise nationwide when they are trying to merely promote business within the immediate community it is serving. Furthermore, a national approach would have far more waste than productivity. Regional radio advertising might be limited to a certain region or state. The product or service being offered might have physical limitations and cannot be distributed or delivered on a national level or there may be certain licensing requirements which might prevent sale outside a specific area. National Radio Advertising pertains to the broadcast of advertisements on a national basis in order to reach the maximum number of possible viewers. For example, an advertiser might buy time from a network that may own 8,000 stations nationwide and therefore, the advertisement will be broadcast through all stations owned by the network on a national basis reaching millions rather than thousands of potential customers. One thing to keep in mind is that although the advertisement may be run on a national level, this does not necessarily mean that it is being run in every market because national networks are limited by the number of stations called affiliates that carry their programming.

An example of effective Radio Advertising involves a case provided by Media Partners Worldwide, an advertising agency based in Long Beach, California.

Media Partners Worldwide had the challenge of creating a new direct response campaign for a sub-prime mortgage company who wanted to expand its marketing program from a regional marketing effort to a national rollout. As a solution, Media Partners Worldwide created a targeted radio campaign that was customized for each market using sixty second radio commercials with a strong call-to-action. As a result of implementing this new campaign, Media Partners Worldwide delivered a 400% increase in closed loans over a period of 8 weeks.