How do you personally listen to the radio? Do you have a favorite music station? A morning show that you love to hear during your commute? Do you prefer AM? FM? Are you a music or podcast streamer that you listen to from an app like Pandora, YouTube Music, Spotify or similar? We have so many choices these days, and with so many options, advertising on radio can be very confusing.
AM/FM Radio advertising
Broadcast Radio has been around for over 100 years and advertising on radio has been around just as long. Broadcast radio is delivered via radio waves projected from antennas and anyone with a receiver can hear those broadcasts. They have the local and syndicated programming with talk shows, news, traffic updates, music and other programming. The radio media companies have activation teams that are at your favorite events, they have large concerts and your favorite on-air personalities. The personalities will endorse approved brands, attend your events and ads can run throughout the day. This is a classic medium to talk to a large audience during commutes and to bring energy and trust to your brand by associating your company to the stations and talent that endorse you.
Broadcast radio is a great opportunity to talk to a lot of people across D/FW or miles from the antenna, but advertising that widespread may not be your goal. Remember, the cost per spot typically is based on how many people you will/could reach.
Streaming Radio Advertising
With online technology came streaming options for radio. We have our favorite radio apps like: Pandora, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, iHeart Radio, and more. Most of these streaming radio apps have a free listening version that is ad-supported, which means that they air radio advertising to support the station(s). What is great about streaming apps is that with the internet connection that facilitates the stream, robust data about the users becomes available and can be utilized for ad-targeting purposes. Each device that is accessing the app has agreed to permissions including location and data tracking. This allows us to target by user demographic, behaviors, listening preferences, and even by locations that they’re located in or have visited recently.
With Streaming Radio advertising, we lose the “local” connection to our programming, but we gain a ton in targeting options. This is best used when we have a specific area or clientele that we want to focus on.
We know this all can be overwhelming and price points are all over the place. Primo Advertising can help you through this planning process for marketing via radio. Please call to schedule a free advertising consultation.
