Radio Advertising Costs

31 Mar Radio Advertising Costs

How Much Does Radio Advertising Cost?  It’s a great question.  And like many great questions the answer is, it depends.

The short answer is that the cost of radio advertising is generally tied to the size of the audience you will be able to reach at the station you are going to be advertising with.  So you’ll find that in the very large radio markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami the cost for a radio commercial will be much higher than it will in smaller radio markets like Des Moines, Oklahoma City and Mobile.

Let’s say you’re going to run a one week radio advertising campaign with 20 commercials on one  station.  You could expect to pay $400 in a very small market and up to $10,000 in a very large market.  Radio advertising costs will vary even between stations in the same market.  So you really need to do some research.

There are also other variables that affect the cost of radio commercials.  Let’s take a look at those factors.

The length of your radio commercial

Usually a radio station will sell you a 30 second or a 60 second commercial.  A 60 second ad will not cost twice as much as a 30 second ad.  So if you have the money to spend you will get a bit of economy by taking the longer commercial.

There are often other advertising options at most radio stations.  You could get a 10 second intro and outro for a weather or news report.  Sometimes there is also an option to get your business’ name mentioned as a sponsor of some content.  For example, “Today’s horoscopes are brought to you by Smith Paints.”  These types of mentions can have a lower advertising cost than a full commercial but may require a longer term contract.

A radio station will also offer advertisers a chance to be a sponsor of a promotion or contest that they are running. In this case your business’s name would be mentioned every time the contest is mentioned on the air, plus you would probably get a full schedule of radio commercials as part of this package.

Time of day that your radio commercial plays

Another factor that is used in the calculation of the cost of radio advertising is when the commercial is played.

Usually these costs are calculated based on the size of the audience that will be hearing the commercial.  So you’ll find that morning drive time and the evening drive time are usually the most expensive times.

If you have your commercial run during mid days or the night time slots you can often get many more commercial plays than you would if you chose all drive time.  Weekends are often very affordable options.

Radio stations  will also give you the option of playing your ad ROS, or Run of Station.  That means that you’ll get random times for your commercial to air throughout the duration of the contract.

These are the factors that will determine the cost of your radio advertising campaign.

How do you make sure that you maximize the return on investment that you’re making in your radio advertising campaign?

There are a few things that you can do to make sure you have effective radio advertising that more than pays for itself.

1. Negotiate.  Everything in the contract is negotiable.  Your radio advertising sales person will have some flexibility and he can always take your request back to his boss.  Nothing is written in stone.
2. Consider a jingle for your commercial.  A jingle make your business sound much more professional.  It also makes your commercial more memorable and will really make your ad stand out among the other commercials on the station.  American Music Concepts is the nation’s premier jingle company.  You can reach them at (732) 604-8625.
3. Ask that the radio station’s most popular personality read the spoken part of your commercial.  People already love that guy, so use his voice to help endorse your company.

So there’s the cost of advertising on the radio and a few tips to help you maximize the return on your radio advertising.

The best thing to do is contact the sales department at your local radio stations and see what kind of advertising pricing they have available.  Always ask if they have any specials or deals going on.  You might save yourself some bucks!

This article is by Donald Seckler. Donald is the President of Peak Inbound Marketing and can be found here