Four States Small Business Blog

Radio advertising is far from “dead.” In fact, radio advertising continues to bring a high 12:1 return on investment, and more than 71.6 million Millennials alone use the radio on a monthly basis. Even more, radio personalities have tremendous influence, with 8 out of 10 listeners indicating they would consider trying something their favorite radio personality recommended. 

We live in a digital age, and as a result, many marketers are turning to digital advertising to reach customers where they are. However, while digital advertising is a critical piece of any marketing strategy, traditional advertising channels are still very effective at getting the word out about your business. Falling into an “either/or” way of thinking can be harmful, because you can miss valuable opportunities to reach and engage your target audience.

When designing a marketing strategy, your target is to drive more sales and increase your net revenue. This requires careful planning and balancing, as businesses do not necessarily want to increase their investment in marketing, they want to invest smarter. They want to maximize their marketing dollars and see bottom-line movement.

Considering that 93 percent of Americans over the age of 18 listen to the radio each week and that 90 percent of Americans use the internet, the potential power of radio and digital advertising becomes clear. Although each strategy can independently help you reach your marketing goals, bringing them together allows you to accelerate your success and boost your ROI. If you want to reach new heights in your marketing, see what you can accomplish when you bring these two powerful advertising platforms together.

As every business has unique marketing needs, radio advertising costs can vary quite a bit. A simple Google search of “radio advertising costs” will provide broad ranges, like $200 - $5,000 per week, which isn’t very helpful when planning your advertising budget.

When purchasing a product or service, customers undergo a process that takes them from the identification of a problem to the acquisition of a solution called the customer journey, or buying funnel. By using the customer journey to guide your marketing program, you can provide the support your customers need throughout every phase of the buying process.

Competition in the restaurant industry can be quite intense. That’s why finding ways to stand out from the crowd and build continual awareness of your restaurant is essential. Local radio can help.

Foot traffic is essential to running a brick-and-mortar business, as more traffic opens up more opportunities for sales and customer engagement. This, in turn, leads to higher revenues.

With 3.5 billion Google queries being made each day, search engines are critical to the customer journey. Savvy, empowered customers use search engines like Google and Bing to find and research the products and services they ultimately purchase.

CPG giants like Procter & Gamble (P&G) have traditionally relied on TV advertising - and more recently, digital - to reach the maximum amount of consumers. However, a P&G executive recently revealed the company has become frustrated with “narrow digital-ad targeting” and TV can’t provide the reach they desire. As a result, many of these companies have rediscovered radio as an ideal way to reach their target audience.