Advertising on the radio

Eliza_2

I'm wondering about advertising on our small local radio station and just wondered if anyone has tried it and how successful it was.

Also how does it work? Do you have to provide the text? Or a recording of the full advert? What might I expect to get for the money?

I know I can ring them and ask, but as I've never done it before I don't want to sound a complete idiot or sign up for things I don't need.

Thanks

Charitymanager

When I worked for a Council I used local radio advertising to promote a grants scheme for families. It cost £4k for a two week run. Bear in mind that was a local authority rate that will have been reduced due to volume of sales. However it was also in a big city so the listener numbers will have been high. I didn't find it generated that much. What I found did was those decaux signs that they have around towns, it was amazing how many people contacted us as a result of them.

Eliza_2

Thank you - some really excellent advice there. Our local station has a small business summer deal, I may just go with it then.

paddyrg

Eliza wrote: »

Thank you - some really excellent advice there. Our local station has a small business summer deal, I may just go with it then.

Ask the station, but the price of the advertising slots will be separate from the cost of producing the advert. If you plan to do this a lot, you can make a 'doughnut' ad, which has all the jingly jangly branding at the top and tail, with a space in the middle for you to voiceover your deal of the week/month/whatever.

You may also find your local recording studio can produce your ad cheaper than the station, but see what their deal is first - it'll certainly be the easiest option to get a package.

BTW Lincolshire Poacher's tips re domains is a good one. Been there, done that, made a couple of quid in the past - nothing greedy and actively sought out the companies who /should/ have bought the domians in the first place and they still paid less than most brokers at that time...but if they had been unlucky I could have held them to ransom I suppose.

jm2926

Ours works well, but due to some geographical issues it is almost the only station available in the area (Ayrshire). Still expensive though.

Just phone and enquire and they will send someone. Ask for listener figures, examples and discuss what you aim to achieve and your message. Don't let them harass you into the expensive package, listen to other adverts on the station. If you stop listening during a 30s ad or it turns out to be more soundtrack than message then will it fit your audience?

We went for 10s ads with a recognisable sound and format last and first week of the month so over payday for most folk. Capture customer source info Instore and analyse web traffic on the site during and after ads.