Radio advertisements are commercials for services or products over the radio that are typically sold in either 30 or 60 second spots. Radio is still a viable medium for advertising, reaching 93% of Americans weekly. Although more expensive than other advertising methods, with a larger marketing budget, radio advertisements can work for your business.

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To find out how to get started with radio advertising, let’s first take a look at the benefits and challenges to advertising on radio.

Benefits and Challenges of Advertising on the Radio

Before you start advertising on the radio it’s important to understand the pros and cons so you know what to expect.

Benefits of radio advertising:

• Reach a large amount of people. Over 90% of Americans tune into the radio on a weekly basis, according to Nielsen. Therefore, it’s likely that your target audience listens to the radio and will hear your ad.
• Radio is a local medium. Many stations only play for a specific geographic location, so your local business will only be advertised to people in your area.
• Target your advertising. Not only can you target listeners by geographic area, but you can also target based on listening trends. For example, younger audiences tend to listen to the top hits stations, while older audiences are more likely to tune into classical and talk radio.
• Reach people who can spend. More than two-thirds of the weekly radio audience works full-time and listens to the radio during the commute and also during the workday.
• Send your message through multiple mediums. Experienced advertisers know that in order to really get your business’s message across, you need to say it many times through various channels (i.e. TV, billboard, email, newspaper, social media etc.). People need to hear about your business multiple times before they are familiar with it, and radio offers a good way to get your message out there.

Challenges of radio advertising:

• People are distracted. Someone who is listening to the radio is probably doing something else at the same time (whether it be driving, working, etc). This means it can be hard to capture someone’s attention with your radio ad.
• People can easily switch radio stations. There are hundreds of AM/FM radio stations that users can choose between while listening to the radio. Therefore, when a commercial comes on, they can easily switch to a different station.
• People are not spending as much time listening to the radio. To reach the entire audience of a radio station requires more spots than television. Television is sometimes called appointment viewing. Viewers generally have the intention of watching an entire show from beginning to end. On the other hand, radio listeners often tune in and out at different intervals. For example, two people that listen to the same show while driving to work may never listen at the same time. Thus, a small business advertiser will have to advertise more often to reach everyone listening, and that can strain your budget.

When Radio Advertising is Right for Your Small Business

Some small businesses fare better advertising on the radio than others. According to a study conducted by Nielsen, retail stores had up to a 23x return on advertising spend, while a soft drink company only had a 1.38x return.

Source: Nielsen

The reason that retail stores do so well is because radio ads play to people as they are in the car, and therefore out of the house. It’s easy for someone to decide to drive to the mall instead of driving straight home after work. Restaurants also tend to do well because people are driving along, wondering what their next meal will be. You are delivering your message to people while they’re in their car and on their way to make purchases.

Keep in mind that this study is being paid for by a company that profits from radio advertisements, and therefore wants radio advertising to seem as lucrative as possible. Therefore, this study is probably overestimating the returns but is still a good indicator of relative success. I wanted to point this out so you don’t set your expectations too high with radio advertising (it’s rare to get a 23x return using this medium).

When Not to Use Radio Advertising

Keep in mind that if you are in a niche market, it is probably not in your best interest to advertise on the radio. While you can target based on broad strokes, you can’t get down to the nitty gritty of a person’s interests like you can with online advertising. For example, let’s say you’re a distributor of vegan food products. Since only 7% of Americans identify as vegan (and an additional 6% as vegetarian), roughly 90% of people listening will have little to no interest in your product.

However, while the product may be relevant to only 10% of people listening to the radio, it’s probably relevant to 100% of people searching “vegan food” online. This is why search engine ads can stretch your dollars much further than radio advertising for this type of market. To learn more about search engine marketing, check out our guides to Google and Bing ads.

Best Stations and Times to Advertise

Best Stations to Advertise On

One of the first steps to radio advertising is deciding what station(s) you want your ad to run on. You can use Radio Locator to see the stations that are located in your area, and the type of genre they play.

Here are some general guidelines for targeting based on age from the direct response radio advertising agency, Strategic Media.

Targeting Radio Advertising

Age Range	Station(s) Most Listened To
Teens 12-17	Primarily Top 40, some Urban, Alternative
Adults 18-24	Top 40, more Alternative, Urban preference
Adults 25-34	Alternative, Rock, Top 40, some Urban, Adult Contemporary
Adults 35-44	Rock, Adult Contemporary primarily
Adults 45-54	Oldies, Adult Contemporary
Adults 55-64	Classical, New Adult Contemporary
Adults 65+	Adult Standards, Classical, News Talk

To find out the audience that a radio station serves, simply reach out to them and ask. Most radio stations will have a contact person or department specifically catering to customers who want to advertise. The station should have a breakdown of their listeners based on the following criteria:

• Gender
• Age
• Income
• Location

Once you have narrowed down which stations have an audience that matches up with the customer base of your business, you will have a better idea of which stations you will want to advertise on.

When You Should Advertise and How Often

Radio stations split up ad times into day parts. You probably won’t be surprised to know that the most popular times to run advertisements on the radio are during the morning and evening commutes.

The different time slots you can choose from are as follows:

Best and Worst Times to Advertise on Radio

Time Slot (aka Daypart)	Known As	Desireability Level	Explanation
6 AM - 10 AM	Morning Drive or AM Drive	High	Considered to be one of the two most desirable time slots for radio advertisers because of the high engagement of listeners.
10 AM - 3 PM	Midday	Medium	Many talk stations tend to lose audience during this period. However, the shows of major talk personalities such as “Rush Limbaugh” are located in this day part. Some music stations gain audience as listeners use radio for background noise during work.
3 PM - 7 PM	Afternoon Drive or PM Drive	High	A coveted time for advertising. Food and entertainment advertisers tend to seek this time out for advertising.
7 PM - 12 AM	Evening	Low	Listeners are thought to be less responsive to radio ads during this time frame. With the exception of 7 PM – 8 PM, the audience tends to be much smaller than the daytime. However, there is an opportunity to get “bargain” rates.
12 AM - 6 AM	Overnight	Very Low	Considered the worst time to advertise. Unless you’re running a 24 hour diner or some other business that caters to people that work at night, this time period should generally be avoided.

You can choose to have your ads show exclusively in a certain day spot, or have an equal distribution of your ads. This means the radio station will switch up what day and time your ad shows. The advantage of doing this is that you may get prime time ads for cheaper than you would if you chose to show all of your ads during the peak slots.

That being said, we do not suggest this because radio ads are usually more effective when the same people hear your ad multiple times. It’s easier to achieve this when you run your commercial at the same time every day.

There is no scientific way to choose which daypart your ad will show. It’s all about going with which time you think will work best for your business.

Brian Minkin, owner of the jewelry store Kaylah Designs, says he “chose the after work commute (5:15 – 6:00pm) as [his] time slot.” When asked why he chose this time, he explained that, “it’s certainly one of the pricier time slots, but we felt it was the best one for us considering that our target demo are working people, and we wanted to make sure that they would have our ad bouncing around their head as they got home. We [also] felt people would be far more likely to think about buying things during their off time.”

Listen to his ad here.

Determine the Length of Your Commercial

Traditionally, radio spots are sold and priced based on 60 second commercial spots. However, you can buy 30 second or even 15 second spots.

Unlike television, a 30 second commercial doesn’t necessarily cost half as much as a 60 second commercial. For example, a 30 second commercial might be priced at 80% of the rate of a 60 second spot.  This is because radio listeners tend to get less annoyed by the amount of time which commercial messages take than by the number of different commercials that are aired. (Here is good video explanation by Dan O’Day).

There is a study by Dr. David Allan that indicates that 60 second commercials are more effective than 30 second commercials. The longer commercial gives the advertiser an opportunity to tell a story and repeat their brand name and call to action more often.

Our suggestion: Go with the 60 second commercial.

Decide How Often You Want Your Ad(s) to Play

Frequency is the number of times your ad is heard by an individual person, while reach is the amount of people that hear your ad. In other words, frequency is talking to someone a lot, and reach is talking to a lot of people.

Many people think of three as the magic number. If someone hears your ad three times, they are likely to remember your business. Though this isn’t scientific fact, it is a good starting point for your small business when advertising on the radio.

As far as reach, you want to target people that are similar to your client base. You can start off by choosing one station that has listeners you believe are consistent with your current clientele.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), high frequency over a short period of time is much more effective than low frequency over a longer period of time.

This is because you can hammer your message home to people if they hear it multiple times in a week. If someone hears your commercial multiple times over a one month period, the message won’t be as potent because the listener probably won’t even remember hearing the message the first time.

By focusing your advertising in one daypart and advertising with good frequency (for example three spots per day Monday through Friday), you should be able to tell if this type of advertising is working for your business.

The risk of course of this strategy is that you might accidentally pick a daypart which doesn’t work for your business and get a misleading reading as to effectiveness as a result.

Suggestion: Pick the daypart that will be most effective for your business, and try a schedule of 3 ads per day, Monday through Friday.

How Much Radio Advertising Costs

For a ballpark range, we can look at estimates from the article How Much Does Radio Advertising Cost? from localmarketingideas.com. These are figures for weekly advertising costs, based on advertising with a top performing radio station using a schedule that includes 15 spots Monday-Friday and 4 weekend spots.

Radio Advertising Weekly Estimated Cost by Market

New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago	from $4000 to $8000
Dallas/Ft.Worth, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego	from $2000 to $5000
Denver, Cleveland, Kansas City	from $1000 to $3000
Akron, Wichita, Baton Rouge	from $800 to $2000
Myrtle Beach SC, Green Bay, Topeka	from $500 to $1500

How Radio Ads are Priced

There are many fancy words and terms that are used when discussing radio advertising. You may hear terms like Gross Rating Point (GRP), Cost Per Point (CPP), Average Quarter Hour Rating (AQR rating), and many others. There are some clear, concise definitions here.

However, pricing ultimately comes down to the following equation:

Number Of People Listening x Cost To Reach 1,000 listeners (CPM)  =  Cost of Advertising Per Spot

Number of people listening in my opinion is best measured by Average Quarterly Hour Person (AQH Persons). The radio station can provide this data for the daypart you’re interested in. The CPM rate can vary greatly from station to station, and market to market.

The average daytime CPM rate is typically in the $12 – $16 range for adults between 18 – 49. If the audience that listens to the broadcast tends to be older than 50, a CPM of $8 – $12 is reasonable for daytime. Evening and particularly overnight should be lower.

Factors Influencing Radio Ad Cost

• Number of people listening to your ad
• Demographic of the radio station’s audience
• Demand for an ad spot amongst advertisers

The main factor that affects cost is the number of people who will be listening to your ad. Therefore, spots during the morning and evening commute will cost more than spots late at night. Likewise, playing an ad in a big city will cost more than an ad spot in a small town.

Radio stations that have an audience between the ages of 24-54 will also have higher prices. That’s because this age group has the highest purchasing power, and therefore many businesses want to advertise to them. You can also expect to pay more for stations that attract a wealthy audience, such as a jazz or classical station.

There is a chance of prices changing depending on what events are occurring around town. This is because prices fluctuate depending on how many other people want to advertise during that time. For example, if there is a highly contested local, state, or national election, campaigns tend to pour money into local radio and TV at very elevated rates.

A radio advertising spot is not guaranteed, and usually go to the highest bidder. Therefore your ads may be knocked off the air if you don’t match the astronomical rates that occur during an election. The same may happen during major shopping times, such as around Thanksgiving and before Christmas, where major advertisers may buy up airtime to promote upcoming sales.

For more information, view our in-depth guide to radio advertising costs.

Creating an Effective Ad for Radio

There are a few different options when it comes to creating your radio ad:

1. Have the station create the ad for you

Sometimes the station will offer to create your ad for you at no cost. These spots can range in quality from poor to excellent depending on the people working on the spot.

If you go with this option, make sure you are not obligated to use the ad if it is not up to your expectations. Be wary as well since stations have an incentive to make your ad more pleasant to listeners by including music. While this may keep people from switching the station, it could dilute your message. You will also only be able to run this ad on their station; you’ll either have to create your own ad for other stations, or other stations will have to create a different ad for you.

If you choose to go with this option, make sure the station is clear about what you are looking for with your ad, and don’t feel pressure to use the ad if it’s no good.

2. Pay for a professional radio commercial production company

They can help you with the script, selecting a voice, music, recording, and effects. Have them produce two different ad spots so that you will be able to test the effectiveness of different messaging / approaches. You should be able to get a great radio ad made for around $800 to $1200 per commercial.

We suggest going with this option, because you will get higher quality ads that you can test out on different stations. For a more detailed explanation of radio advertising costs, you can also see our radio advertising costs article.

3. Hire a freelancer

If you already have your script, you can hire a freelance voice actor through platforms like Fiverr and Upwork to record your commercial for you. You can find professional actors for as little as $5, just make sure to look at the reviews to see which actors perform the best.

4. Create the ad yourself

Unless you have experience with voiceover acting, you probably want to steer clear of this option. Conveying a message solely through sound is a difficult task, and in most cases should be handled by a professional.

However, recording your own voice is a good option if you want to create a more personal message (e.g. I’m the owner of Dave’s Pizza and have a special offer for customers.) Just make sure you have others listen to it to make sure it sounds professional.

If you do feel like you have a voice for radio, make sure you don’t sound like you’re reading from a script and avoid cliches. Even though creating your own ad will save you money in the short term, if your ad is no good, then it won’t drive any sales for your business in the long run.

Consider Having the Radio Host Promote your Business

When negotiating your advertising deal with the radio station, find out if live reads of ads are available. Instead of playing a pre-recorded commercial, the host or disc jockey will read from a script. This option has several benefits:

• Listeners tend to tune out commercials or change the station when a commercial comes on. When the host reads, it is a voice that listeners recognize, and therefore are more likely to pay attention to it.
• The DJ / host will often ad lib a bit with the commercial, taking more than the 60 seconds that you bought.
• Live reads can provide credibility to a product, implying that the host endorses the product. If you go with the live read, provide the on-air personalities with a free product and/or service so that they can speak from personal experience.

The only downside is that radio stations realize the benefit of this option, and therefore charge around 1.5 times the rate of a 60 second pre-recorded commercial. You can mix in your regular ads with live reads in order for your radio advertising budget to go further.

The Elements of a Good Radio Script

Keep in mind that radio listeners will not be listening to your advertisement in the same way that you will. When you listen to your radio commercial to give your approval for it to be used, it will be in a quiet place with your entire focus on the radio ad. However, the audience for the commercial may only be partially listening to it or may hear only part of the radio advertisement. Additionally, real listeners will likely also be engaged in another activity, which means that you cannot ask them to use their brain to think about your content.

This has a few important implications:

• Anything that is important, you need to repeat several times throughout the advertisement.
• If you want the listener to remember anything specific, like a promo code or phone number, you need to make it very easy. For phone numbers, for example, a vanity number will work best (ex: 1-800-PLUMBER)
• If you are including your address, instead of saying 1234 Main Street, say at the corner of 5th and Spruce, right next to the high school. This work best for small towns where there are many recognizable landmarks.

In order to have an engaging radio ad, David Burrows, Martin+Michael Agency, offers this advice, “Feature a conversation between two people versus just someone reading a script. This has a much better impact as it feels more organic and interesting.”

Addressing your audience in the beginning of the ad also tends to do well at grabbing their attention (i.e. Hey, listeners!). You want to start your ad off strong so people will pay attention to the rest of your ad.

For more tips on how to create a good radio ad, view our article that includes a bunch of ideas from the pros.

How to Measure the Success of Your Radio Ads

Measuring if offline marketing efforts are successful is considerably more difficult than measuring online efforts. However, there are a few tactics you can use.

Use a vanity URL

You can send people to a landing page on your website that has a URL that is specific to your radio ads. This works especially well if you are offering a promotion that people can take advantage of by using the URL mentioned. For example, if you are running an ad on Hot 995, announce in your radio ad that people should visit www.yourbusiness.com/hot995. You will then need your vanity URL to redirect to a tracking URL. Unfortunately, this will only be a useful measure of success if you are trying to drive traffic to your site. To learn how to do this, view this white paper by Brian Clifton explaining ways to track offline marketing. You can purchase your vanity URL here.

Use a call tracking number

You can create a number that is different from your everyday number. If someone calls your business using the tracking number that you use in your radio ad, you will be able to track it back to your radio ad. Learn how to set this up here.

Ask your customers

If you are able to consult with customers one-on-one, ask any new clients how they heard about you. This will be trickier if you own a restaurant or clothing store since you won’t be able to track down every customer to ask where they came from. In these instances, consider asking customers to take a survey on every receipt. Offer an incentive (coupon, discount, etc.) to increase the chances that people will actually fill it out.

Measure sales during advertising period

The easiest way to see if your ads are working is to simply see if your sales have gone up over the period of time that your ad was running. Beware: you can’t attribute in increase or decrease of sales to your radio ad with 100% accuracy. There could be other factors at play that are influencing your numbers.

By having a general idea of how well your radio ads are working, you will know whether you should continue advertising on the radio or if you should shift your efforts to other forms of advertising.

Bottom Line

If you have a large marketing budget, it is a good idea to advertise your small business through a variety of different channels. Radio advertising can supplement your efforts in other areas. By spreading your same message in different ways, you are not only reaching a wider audience, but you are also cementing your message into the heads of potential customers.

Advertising your local business on the radio can help build brand recognition and increase foot traffic to your stores when done properly. Having the right voice can make a huge difference as well, so head on over to Fiverr and find a talented voice actor to enhance your advertisements.

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