Find Your Audience With Radio Advertising
“But I stiiiiilllllll haven’t found, what I’m looking for.”
We’ve all heard the U2 anthem, but did you know it’s actually about small businesses attempting to target the right customers?
No? That’s okay, because it’s most likely not, but it should be!
A small business can’t simply decide to start marketing and then call it a day. Think about when sports teams decide a new stadium is needed. Do they just cut a check and ask the city to pick a random spot? No, they find the best one.
It’s no easy feat to find your target audience as a small business owner, but there is one method that’s pretty much a golden ticket - radio advertising. It’s efficient, it’s entertaining, but most of all, radio thrives on reaching just the people you want - locals. Here’s how.
Support Local = Listen Local?
Most of us have heard the “____ local“ chants, whether for eating, shopping, supporting. Is there walk behind the talk, or is it just a bunch of feel-good words?
Edison Research surveyed 1,051 radio listeners to ask what local meant to them, in terms of how far they’ll travel for a particular good or service. The results are deeply telling.
Look how few people travel more than 20 miles for, well, anything! One in six is the best ratio, meaning people stay close to home when they want to buy.
Take grocery stores. Imagine you ran a small family-run market on one end of town, how much advertising money you’d waste thinking “well, I want all of fill-in-the-blank city to hear. I want to maximize my reach”. Apologies oh glorious market maestro, but I’m afraid that’s just not how people shop.
Locals Use Radio Because They Want Local Info
Edison went on to ask about the types of media locals would pursue based on different needs. Let’s just say, radio was a weapon.
The point of all this is that local consumers are tuned in, literally (to radio) but also figuratively (to their community).
Now, it’s fair to question how local radio holds up against other mediums in terms of raw listenership. After all, there’s no denying that satellite radio, streaming platforms and podcasts are bigger now than 10 years ago. So, let’s dig up the data.
Edison Research conducted a separate report, a quarterly “Share of Ear” survey for Q1 2022, and the results were astonishing to even the most ardent radio fan. For “Share of listening to audio sources in a car or truck”, 59% answered AM/FM radio...over three times as much as the runner-up of SiriusXM at 17%. No one denies that podcasts are growing, but at 3%, they have miles to go in catching up with radio.
Demographics for Radio Advertising
Some businesses are less concerned with specific customer demographics than others. Take the aforementioned grocery store example; everyone buys roughly the same amount of groceries regardless of age, gender, income, and so on. But to many businesses - think construction supply companies (typically for those who identify as men) or makeup brands (typically for those who identify as women), demographics are invaluable. So then, is radio, because it knows the demographic makeup of listeners, which advertising businesses can use to their full advantage.
If you run a business that wants to target middle-aged consumers, with an above-average income, who like the outdoors, we have the stations we know they listen to. Want to ensure “young men who like baseball” become aware of your new sporting goods business? We have the stations that crowd loves and listens to almost daily.
Targeted Advertising in Boise is the Best Kind of Advertising
Don’t be Bono and continue not finding what you’re looking for. Out there across the Treasure Valley is an audience that wants and needs to hear you. And you can find them, easily, on the medium with the best reach - radio. And the only thing better than the best reach, is the best stations, which Iliad Media Group proudly has. Our stations are the Valley’s top rated, which means they can get your business more leads, reach, calls and sales. So let’s talk, and find your audience.
