When it comes to small town advertising one of the most effective is radio. Many small towns dont have newspapers or TV stations, but many have radio stations.
And local residents listen to those hometown stations and react to the advertising presented onthem.
The good news is that most small-town stations are a bargain when it comes to the cost of buying radio advertising versus largercities.
And like most things we talk about here, small town radio advertising must be done differently than largecities.
For any advertising medium to be successful it must follow basic advertising and marketing guidelines. It must be the right message, presented to the right people (your target market), at the righttime.
And of course, the second rule: Your advertising must be an investment, not an expense. It must produce more business than it costs. Otherwise, why doit?
The Major Advantages of Radio Advertising
The major advantage of radio is its everywhere. Our cars, bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and the workplace.
Try to find a jogger without a radio and a headset. No other medium reaches so many people in so many different places.
Here are some advantages radio offers that you may be able to adapt to your business:
Its efficient: You can monitor the efficiency of your ad dollars and see the results of yourefforts.
Its flexible: You can change your message and time schedules for ads with relativeease.
It has low production costs: Unlike TV or print ads the cost of producing a radio spot is muchless.
Its listeners are loyal: If you have the right target listening to your station, they are more likely to stay with that station. Few people listen to more than two or three radio stations. In small towns it may be justone.
It can be anywhere: It can sell you a product in the shower. What other medium can dothat?
Each day radio reaches 77% of America. Every age bracket registers in the high 90s as weekly listeners. Keep in mind that your local stations numbers may vary depending on the size of yourtown.
Things To Think About When Buying Small Town Radio Advertising Time
If I were advising you on buying time in L.A. or New York, one of the first things I might ask you to consider is something called drivetime.
Most large cities have people commuting to work by car or public transportation and many carry radios with them to pass the time while stuck in traffic. For advertising this is a truly captive audience.
But small towns rarely have traffic jams because there is no traffic to speak of. Unless you want to call four or five cars lined up at a stop sign a trafficjam.
Chances are in a small town you have a small retail area and a large rural area of farmers and ranchers. Guess what farmers and ranchers dont commute to work. When they wake up, they are atwork.
Lets go back to drivetime for just a second. Drive time is usually considered 7:00 am to 9:00 am in themorning.
Some areas may also consider 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm as drivetime.
Small town people may not be in their cars during these hours, but it doesnt mean they arent listening.
Many are reading the morning paper and listening to the radio at the same time before the long 10-minute commute (walk) towork.
On the other hand, the drive time for farmers and ranchers may be as early as 4:00am.
Combining the two drive times we suddenly have a four-hour block of time to reach both townies and farmers. Thats a large block of time to place commercials. So how do you know how many ad spots to purchase?
How Many Radio Advertising Spots Should IBuy?
Most mistakes in radio advertising are buying too few spots and/or playing them at the wrong times. To some businesspeople it comes down to a matter ofcost.
How can I get the MOST spots for the LEAST amount of money? This is flawed thinking. Cost shouldnt even be a consideration. Why?
Because we expect our advertising to PAY for itself. Remember, its an investment not anexpense.
One ad rarely sparks a buying decision. Usually, we must be exposed to several ads over a period of time unless we have an immediate need, and we just happen to hear the commercial at the righttime.
Advertising build customers over periods oftime.
Radio should not be purchased in spots. Instead buy blocks of time. Your commercial played several times over a short period of time is better than your commercial played fewer times over a long period oftime.
SBA (Small Business Administration) Radio Advertising Guidelines: I Agree to APoint
The SBA suggest the following. Buy a block of 42 commercials. These would be played on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Three spots between 7:00 am to 9:00 am and four spots between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm for two weeks. (Seven spots per day x 6 days = 42spots).
This is excellent advice for the larger cities, and I agreefully.
The only area that I would advise you to make adjustments is if your target market is the rural community of farmers or ranchers.
If youre a feed store or implement dealer farmers are in different places at different times of theyear.
During planting season, theyre on the tractor from dawn to dust and even longer and the radio is their only companion. Same with harvesting season.
You may want to vary your ad times to accommodate this group if they are your targetmarket.
Concentrated advertising gives you one other advantage. It makes your business appear larger than it reallyis.
Theres a perception among customers that companies that do a lot of advertising are successful or they couldnt afford to advertise. I can hear what youre sayingnext.
Companies that do a lot of advertising are also overpriced to pay for that advertising. I wont deny that some of that thinking is true, but I think if you ask people if Walmart is overpriced most would sayno.
High price talk comes more from word-of-mouth than from a perception of the cost of advertising.
I also feel that in rural areas people listen to the radio more in the morning and during the day than atnight.
Most people are TV people in the evening and radio people in the morning. Chances are you wake up to a clock radio rather than a TV on atimer.
My Budget Is Too Small, I Cant Afford 42Spots
Many small businesses dont have a large advertising budget. For many it takes every cent just to purchase inventory and meet thepayroll.
The real purpose of advertising is not just to spend money but to grow your business. If this is the case, then you can use that to some advantage.
The key is to be consistent. Most of us listen to radio at the same times each day. If you can only afford one spot per day play it at the same time on the same days week afterweek.
At least you will be reaching the same customers who listen during that time. As your business grows try and add morespots.
Some stations will work with new customers by offering more spots than you pay for. Ask for new advertisers specials.
Also see if you can be placed at the end of PSAs. Such as This message brought to you as a public service by yourname.
The production costs of PSAs are donated to the PSA by the station. There should be no or little production cost in adding a tag line for your business.
This would give you one more exposure during the broadcast day and may actually show up during high rating hours and it shows potential customers your community evolvement.
Put your waiting list to sponsor the weather. This is usually a prime spot and few businesses want to give it up but if they do make sure yourenext.
The Last Word on Buying Radio Advertising
Some final thoughts to keep in mind regarding buying radiotime:
1. Make sure youve identified your target market and are advertising to the right people. If youre advertising to the wrong people, youre wasting yourmoney.
2. Just because you like a particular station doesnt mean your target market does. You may love rock n roll and theyre listening to the classical or talk radiostation.
3. Ask for deals or guarantees. Most stations arent going to guarantee that your advertising may work but they may offer you additional free spots if you get a small response from your initial ads. Its certainly worth askingfor.
Radio can be a great media and can-do wonders for your business. If youve been considering it but were afraid to commit the money to do it. Nows the time to go forit.
In most cases I think youll find it will pay off for you and your business.
Take a look at Tom Egelhoffs Amazon Best Selling Small Business book, How to Market, Advertise and Promote Your Business or Service in Your Own Backyard.
Subscribe to Toms New YouTube Channel??The Art of Learning Small Town Business.
Listen in on Toms weekly Saturday radio show 8 am to 11am Mountain Time Open For Business on AM 1450 KMMS Radio,Bozeman.
How To Buy Small Town Radio Advertising Time was originally published in Startup Stash on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
