Can My Business Benefit From Radio Advertising?

Radio advertising is one of the oldest forms of advertising, but that doesn’t mean it still isn’t used.

In fact, in Australia, approximately 80 percent of the population still listen to the radio. Regardless of where your business is located, there are a lot of people to be reached through radio advertising. Of course it shouldn’t be your only form of marketing your business, but it a viable option. 

Benefits of Radio Advertising

First, let’s discuss the many benefits you get when you choose radio advertising for your business:

Reaching a Large Audience - The first benefit is how many people are listening to the radio each day. The majority of your audience are going to be people commuting every day, either to work or school. Get to know this group of people and find out what percentage of them are listening to radio on their way, as opposed to a CD or MP3 player.  Another considerable portion is office workers, warehouse workers or other professionals that are listening to the radio during their work shift. You often hear the radio turned on in an office, shopping center or other business.

Tailoring a Specific Audience – Radio advertising also targets a very specific audience. Some people likely to listen to music are office professionals, commuters, teenagers, urban men, suburban moms and families. If your business is within one of these broader categories of people, it’s likely to work out great for you.

Cost Effective – Buying radio ad spots is more expensive than many Internet ads, but it is considerably less money than TV ads. Television ads cost more to produce and to pay for the space, while radio ads only need audio. It is going to cost you a lot less when you go this route.

Less Production – Not only is it cheaper to produce radio ads, but they also require less production which gets them completed much faster. It is faster than print ads and especially television advertisements.

Potential Drawbacks of Radio Advertising

Like all advertising methods, there are also a few drawbacks to radio advertising, such as the ones listed below:

Background Noise – For many listeners, radio is only background noise. This means you may not get the amount of attention you want the first time around. To really make an impact, the same ad needs to run several times throughout the day.

No Lasting Power – It is possible to save Internet ads, save magazine clippings with print ads and even DVR shows with the commercials already recorded. But the same can’t be said for radio ads. You have to make it memorable so people remember the information.

Limited Ad Space – The optimal times to have radio ads running is in the morning and afternoon for people’s commutes to work or school. But other businesses know that too, so you’re limited with how many spaces are available during these times. You may end up paying a little more for these prime time slots.