09 Nov 5 Ways To Dramatically Reduce Your Radio Advertising Costs
5 Ways To Dramatically Reduce Your Radio Advertising Costs
Everything is negotiable. That said, negotiation isn’t the only way to reduce costs.
With radio advertising there are ways to do your homework up front and save yourself some money. Here are the 5 best ways to reduce your radio advertising costs.
1) Do your research about the station’s audience so that you’re sure your message is reaching your target audience.
If your product or service is something that is for families with young kids and you’re advertising on a station that is strongest with the age group 50 and higher, you’re not going to get good results and you’ll be wasting a ton of money.
First use a little common sense; if the station is only playing golden oldies then you can probably scratch that one off the list if your target is parents with young kids.
Second, ask the station for their audience studies and make sure they give you an age breakdown. Most stations will have data that is verified by some third party. If you don’t see that third party listed on the data ask how they collected it. If the data doesn’t seem clear and transparent there’s a reason for it. Trust your gut. If you can’t get a clear answer, something could be up.
Third, listen to the station. Not just for the music, but for the general tone of the promotional messages and the way the station presents itself on the air. If that feel seems to fit with your target audience then that’s a good sign.
2) Explore ways to maximize your coverage without increasing your budget.
Ask about sponsorships, contests and live events that the radio stations have to offer advertisers. All of these are categories of radio advertising that go beyond the boundaries of the typical schedule of commercials that run during regular programming.
They can be had at varying costs so it’s a good idea to ask about any availability the stations have for special sponsorship opportunities. Even if the cost is the same as the commercial schedule you were considering you might come out ahead because the air personalities will often have enthusiasm about special promotions and events that the station is running and that the personalities might be involved with.
Some stations might offer special deals on day parts that aren’t selling well. You have to be careful here because you don’t want all of your commercials running in the overnight slot but you might want to look at Saturdays. Many people are out and about in the car on a Saturday so you might get some decent listenership at a lower rate by including Saturday in your radio commercial schedule.
3) Go with multiple smaller stations instead of one big station.
Some markets have a leading radio station that is so big they throw their weight around and that can carry over to their pricing.
If you do your homework and a little legwork you might be able to put together a multiple station buy that gives you more coverage than the big station in town. Plus it may end up being the same price or even less expensive than your commercials with the big guys.
4) Take advantage of co-op dollars.
Lots of big companies offer co-op dollars for their local vendors to advertise on local radio. So if the companies who make the products you carry offer co-op, they will pay for either your whole schedule or part of it.
The other plus is that you also will get a fully produced, highly professional commercial supplied by your vendor. The down side is that your business will only get a short tag at the end of the commercial.
Co-op can help you make radio advertising very affordable and it also helps make your business look very professional.
5) Get some free air time.
Now this one’s more of a long shot and usually will only work for companies that are already spending money on radio advertising at the station, but hey it’s worth a shot.
Get to know the people at the station especially the on air people. Become friendly with them and send your product into the station for the on air talent. This works great for a bakery or restaurant. Who doesn’t like free food?
This tactic can be especially effective with the morning on air crew. They are usually given more latitude with their show since at most stations they are considered the “stars”.
Another approach is to identify an issue or cause that one of the on air personalities is passionate about and come up with an idea around that. It could be a promotion or just some simple awareness of charitable events in the are surrounding the personality’s cause.
So there you have it. 5 Ways that you can dramatically reduce your radio advertising costs. Try them out and let me know how they work for you.
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