Why Should You Advertise On Radio?

Americans love to tune into radio while on the go, making it the highest customer reach medium. Paying for your radio ads could be tricky if you do not know how to approach it. There is no standard price and it varies depending on the geographic location, time and your negotiation skills. Depending on which ad spot you choose you are billed. Get the best possible rates from your local station by following some simple yet powerful tips. If you are looking for the exact cost for radio advertising, it is important to check with offline media agencies. The figures fluctuate depending on the performance of the radio station and the popularity of the program you want to place your advertisement.

What affects the price of radio ads?
Many factors are crucial while deciding on the charges of the ads. Some of the factors that influence the costing depends on:

Popularity
The commercial rates depend on how many people tune into the radio and this depends on the popularity of the program. The higher the demand, the higher the advertising cost.

Demographics
The price for the ads varies depending on the demographics of the listeners. An advertiser may have to spend more to reach to a target group. For instance reaching to the age group of 25-54, the earning age bracket could mean a lot to the advertiser and hence the charges are high.

Competition
The higher the competition for the ad spot, the higher the price. The station hikes up the price if there are more takers for the same slot. The highest bidders clinch the deal.

Bargain
Once you get the pricing proposal, you can always bargain. There are no hard and fast rules for pricing and the proposal is not always final. You can negotiate around 20-40% based on your bargaining skills.

Radio has 93% penetration among Americans informs Nielsen study, this is more than TV watching Americans or Internet browsing Americans, going to prove that radio is part and parcel of American culture and is an excellent source of advertising for small businesses. Though, online advertising is catching up because it is cheaper when compared to radio advertising. But before you engage in radio advertising there are some challenges to encounter.

Radio advertising and its benefits
Radio advertising offers a wider reach with over 90% tuning into radio weekly. Businesses can reach to their target customers through the radio. Radio is geography specific and it is easy to penetrate the locality quickly especially if your business is locally based. Apart from hitting on geography, the radio targets different age groups. While the younger generation tunes in for music and fashion trends, the older generation focuses on classical music and talk shows. Listeners of the weekly radio audience are full-time listeners and prefer tuning into the radio while listening.

In comparison to print advertising, television advertising, billboards, internet marketing; radio has a focused reach as they get to hear about the business plenty of times and get familiar with the company. Therefore there is no doubt that it is the best way to get to spread the message loud and clear.

The challenges confronted by radio advertising are also crucial in promoting a business. Those who are listening are probably multi-tasking; therefore it may not be easy to capture the attention of the listeners easily unless they want to put their mind into the content. Audience tends to tune to other stations when a commercial comes and therefore you cannot be sure they are listening to your promotion. Moreover, people do not spend much time on radio, as they tune in different intervals, unlike television where they watch a show from start to end.