Radio Stations and Small Business Advertising

Small business advertising tends to be localized. Most of these companies only operate in a specific city, region or state. When it’s time to invest dollars in brand awareness, lead generation and promotions, radio stations are the perfect partner.

Many reasons make this collaboration ideal for both businesses and radio companies. You can use these points to state your case and become the preferred vendor for local advertising.

Radio Masters Localization

The localization factor stands out as a key reason small businesses choose you for their ad spend. Historically, this has mainly been for airtime spots, offering exceptional reach across the listening area.

Now, digital advertising has become a complement to airtime, and radio stations have the localization edge here, too. It all comes down to the fact that local media sellers know the market better than anyone else. You have a pulse on consumer sentiment and new business growth, both of which impact local advertising tactics and messaging.

The value this provides to small businesses is immense. It demonstrates your expertise and allows you to make the most informed recommendations. It’s not something they’ll get with a national agency or simply doing digital on their own.

Radio Already Has a Trusted Foundation

Radio advertisers have long trusted you with their audio ads. As you begin to offer more digital options as an integrated campaign, your years of relationship-building will pay off. Introducing digital to those only buying radio from you should involve a strategic approach.

These businesses likely have some digital ad presence, but they need to know why they should purchase from you. The first advantage is selling them digital and radio spots as one campaign. You can capitalize on others as well, including:

Showcasing results from other customers
Asking the right questions about their goals and expectations
Sharing insights on what competitors are doing with digital

Trust is the hardest thing to cultivate with customers. Once you have it, keep earning it by updating customers on new trends and insights.

Explaining the Radio and Digital Lift Opens Eyes

When you’re beginning to chat about digital small business advertising, you may also face companies that view radio and digital as an either-or. They may not understand the lift they produce when used together.

Extensive data proves the digital-radio lift principle. Broadcast radio is the leading mass media for reach, so it covers every demographic. Complementing this with digital can lead to more local search activity and higher performance for Google and social media ads.

As an integrated campaign with the same goals, messaging and creative, you can create a winning promotion. These ads will engage consumers’ eyes and ears, driving better recall and engagement.

Small Business Advertising Can Literally Start Small

Most small companies don’t have large advertising budgets. They’ll be hesitant to spend big amounts on initial campaigns. This can be a problem for some agencies or other radio or TV stations because digital offerings have minimums.

When you use digital advertising technology without these restrictions, the first campaign can be under $1,000 across several low-cost tactics like display and geofencing. Once you’ve proven you can deliver ad performance, they’ll expand their budgets for longer-term advertising.

One Source for Small Business Advertising: Streamlining and Simplifying

Small businesses don’t want to deal with multiple vendors for advertising or anything else. It becomes overly complex and time-consuming. Since you can offer radio and digital as one, it streamlines and simplifies their buying process.

You are their single source of contact for buying, reporting and invoicing. Ultimately, you’re their partner, not just there to collect the money. When they succeed, you do as well by winning renewals and a bigger share of their ad wallet.