When you hear radio and young consumers, you may think these things don’t belong in the same sentence. Does Gen Z even know what radio is? That’s an extreme question, but it’s not out of bounds. There are plenty of stereotypes about younger generations, and most aren’t true. The data uncovers the truth: Radio remains a great channel to connect to the latest generation. Your advertisers just need you to point out why.
What Does the Data Say?
Starting with the facts sets the scene for talking to advertisers about radio and younger consumers. We covered some of this in our latest audio trends infographic. Here’s what we know.
- 7% of people ages 18-24 listen to radio weekly.
- Those ages 18-34 cite AM/FM radio as the most trustworthy platform.
- Gen Z is most likely to listen to radio in the car.
- 89% of Gen Z radio listening occurs through a traditional receiver.
- 60% of Gen Z listens to music-formatted radio stations.
How Gen Z Sees Radio
As noted above, Gen Z sees radio as trustworthy. Research into their thoughts and feelings about the medium revealed more insights. Those include:
- Radio provides them with a human connection.
- They find new songs by listening to radio.
- They use radio as a source to learn about music, artists and news.
- Gen Z associates radio with nostalgia and good memories.
These are all very positive signs about how younger generations perceive radio. They often have less faith in other mediums, including social media and TV. They do spend more time with these types of media, but your advertisers shouldn’t silo their campaigns to TikTok or OTT/CTV. With radio, they have a unique opportunity to engage Gen Zers with audio-only ads in an environment they trust and respect.
The Pitch: Getting Local Advertisers to Appreciate Radio
You’ve got some powerful data you can share with your clients, but they may still have doubts. Here are some tips to nudge them over.
- Recommend radio as part of an integrated campaign that also uses digital. When you have multiple tactics with the same message, consumers are more likely to recall and retain the information.
- Include talent in audio ads that Gen Z has an affinity for, which can legitimize the spot and associate it with someone they admire.
- Advise customers to speak the language of Gen Z in radio ads. This doesn’t necessarily mean a torrent of slang. Rather, it’s about understanding how Gen Z talks about a particular product or service.
- Suggest that the ad’s CTA (call to action) ties back to where Gen Z spends time. In most cases, that’s social media, so the callout for this group to learn more could be for them to follow the brand on Snapchat.
- Encourage advertisers to lean into the nostalgia aspect when developing content.
Radio is still one of the best forms of advertising regarding reach, recall and impact. The many ways we can listen to it have evolved, but it’s still a big part of the media consumption pie. Make sure your advertisers don’t discount it as an excellent channel to reach young consumers!
Learn more about advertising to this group by watching our on-demand webinar, What Your Advertisers Need to Know About Gen Z Buyers.
