Can Radio Still Advertise Effectively?

The radio industry was the second major media outlet that took this country by storm decades ago. The first of course was the newspaper industry. Radio brought us new messages, news around the clock, and music. The radio industry has begun to see a decline in revenue and listeners over the past couple of years due to many different factors. Those factors include the creation of satellite radio, the release of MP3 players and iPods, and internet radio. So the major question here is whether or not the radio industry can still pack a punch when it comes to advertising.

Advertisers want to see results when spending money on advertising campaigns, which means that they want to know ahead of time how well a radio station can reach their target audience. Target audiences are divided up into different categories based on the product or service being advertised by the company. For instance, the target audience for a new video game more than likely includes males in the age range of 13-25 depending on the type of video game.

As the radio industry hurts for listeners, more and more radio stations are developing applications for smart phones so listeners can tune in while out of the signal range of the station or if they are on a bus or a train. Radio stations are now selling advertisements on these mobile applications, most of which are free for listeners to download, so the radio station sells the ads to make money for their budget.

Community radio stations, ones that do not simulcast programs from other areas of the country, offer local businesses excellent opportunities for advertising. Community radio stations offer call-in talk shows, interviews with local businesses, push to mobile features, competitions and sometimes docu-dramas. The radio stations, with the onset of social media, can stay in touch easier with their listeners. This includes the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many other social media sites.

Radio stations are moving away from repetitive programming and more towards fluid and creative concepts. Community radio stations permit advertisers to showcase their products or services easily by changing programming and other features of the station. Community stations design their programming around specific groups of listeners. For instance, a morning show might be aimed at women, discussing topics such as health and childcare. During the afternoon the target audience might include the entire family since the children will be home from school. The final section of the day, the evening, will focus more on men, who will want to hear business and sports news.

Radio stations are beginning to realize that the more they cater to their clients, the more advertising revenue they will be able to accrue. Stations are updating scheduling and changing programs in an effort to make advertising clients happy.