If you\u2019re one of the 30 million small businesses in the U.S., you may feel your marketing is a perpetual uphill climb. It\u2019s a constant struggle to generate quality leads, let alone convert those leads to sales.<\/p>\n
Radio advertising has been around since 1922. While radio ads have run for nearly a century, this type of brand awareness mass marketing is decreasing in effectiveness as more sophisticated audience targeting capabilities hit the marketplace. So, what\u2019s the future of radio advertising? Recent revenue figures aren\u2019t promising.<\/p>\n
From 2017 to 2018, radio revenues only grew one 1.1 percent<\/a>. Overall, radio revenues were $17.6 billion in 2017. Last year, that figure increased to $17.8 billion. That\u2019s a large number, without question. But it\u2019s the breakdown by platform that\u2019s the most telling of where this medium stands in today\u2019s digital climate \u2013 and where it\u2019s headed.<\/p>\n Local radio (AM\/FM) brought in $10.4 billion (up from $10.3 billion in 2017), network radio remained flat at $1.1 billion and national radio dipped from $2.6 in 2017 to $2.5 billion in 2018. It was digital and off-air that propelled radio. Digital increased from $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion and off-air also saw a rise from $2.4 billion in 2017 to $2.5 billion in 2018.<\/p>\n Streaming; however, is a different story. Last year, Americans hit a record-high with 534.6 billion total streams \u2013 up 42 percent<\/a> from 2017. That\u2019s a lot of streaming. It will only increase as the digital transformation continues. The streaming audience will have to come from somewhere. That \u201csomewhere\u201d is likely AM\/FM.<\/p>\n Industry experts project total radio will remain stagnant in 2019. In the 2020 election year, radio will surge once again. And by \u201csurge,\u201d experts mean increase by 1.2%.<\/p>\n Over the next 10 years, digital and off-air will continue propelling the industry forward until, eventually, there isn\u2019t a need for traditional any longer. What does that mean for your advertising and marketing plan? Costs will continue to rise as listenership declines with AM\/FM radio\u2019s audience jumping ship to streaming services and other digital platforms.<\/p>\n Radio sells ads in 15, 30 or 60 second spots. Promotions can also include mentions and other add-ons that radio stations\u00a0consider \u201cfreebies\u201d or upsell you to.<\/p>\n The cost of creating a single-voice radio ad is $1,000-$2,500. This includes creative strategy, copywriting, production, etc. Adding more voices will cost you an additional $150-$200. How much you\u2019ll pay for the spot to air varies. Of course, the length of your ad plays a factor. But market size, placement times and frequency also come into play.<\/p>\n Basing an ad off a 60-second spot, airing 19 times per week (15 times during Monday-Friday and 4 times on the weekends), you\u2019re looking at the following minimums.<\/p>\n That\u2019s quite a discrepancy, isn\u2019t it? Based on these figures, we can break down cost per lead (CPL).<\/p>\n In a mid-market (Portland, Pittsburgh, Nashville, etc.), $1,100 for 19 spots is roughly $58 per spot. And, since there are 4 weeks in a month, you\u2019ll pay $4,400 per month.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you own a pizza restaurant. If 50 people call after hearing your radio ad in a given month, your CPL is $88. Is your average order $88?<\/p>\n With Valpak direct mail, your cost can be as little as pennies per household. For pizza restaurants, we recommend you mail 30,000 targeted homes around your location. At 3 cents per household, that equals $900 per month \u2013 $3,500 less than a month of radio advertising.<\/p>\n If 50 people call your pizza restaurant in response to your Valpak ad, your monthly CPL is $18 (80% less than radio).<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s look at an industry with higher average order value and lower consumer demand.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you own a window installation company and 5 people call after hearing your radio ad. Your CPL is $880. The average cost of window installation<\/a> is $5,114, so radio advertising is a viable marketing investment for your business\u2026 but Valpak is better!<\/p>\n If you run Valpak\u2019s recommended quantity of 100,000 targeted homes in your service area, you\u2019ll spend (on the high end) $3,000 per month \u2013 still $1,400 less than a month of radio advertising.<\/p>\n If 5 people call your window installation company, your monthly CPL is $600 (32% less than radio).<\/p>\n And, you have a better chance of attracting your target audience with an ad in Valpak\u2019s Blue Envelope.<\/p>\n The above figures are based on the top-performing station in those markets. There won\u2019t be much difference between New York (the largest U.S. market) and Dallas-Ft. Worth (the fifth-largest) but there is between Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston (sixth-largest). Yes, even though these two cities are only separated by a couple hundred miles geographically, they\u2019re separated by a couple thousand dollars in radio ad cost.<\/p>\n Radio boasts a listenership of around 243 million people. That\u2019s 93% of the country tuning in to ol\u2019 AM\/FM dial every week. Most adults listen to their local AM\/FM stations during the drive to work (morning drive) and on their way home (afternoon drive). Spots during these times typically tend to be priced higher.<\/p>\n The \u201csweet spot\u201d audience age for most advertisers is 25-54 years old: the largest demographic of spenders. It does depend on what you\u2019re selling, though. If you own a roofing company, you won\u2019t want to target new adult contemporary, which has a larger demographic of female listeners. You\u2019ll want to target the AM stations \u2013 talk, sports \u2013 where there is the largest listenership of men. Likewise, if you own a boutique, you\u2019d want to target the FM adult contemporary or Top 40 station, which captures a larger number of women.<\/p>\n But \u2013 and this is a big but \u2013 there\u2019s no guarantee who will be listening when your spot runs. And how active are those listeners really? Think about your work commute. You\u2019re paying attention to the car in front of you (hopefully!) or distracted by work or family obligations\u2026 \u00a0not getting $5 off a dinner purchase of $25 or more.<\/p>\n What if the audience is interested? They\u2019re not pulling over to write down your address or phone number. They\u2019ll have to go off memory later \u2013 and you just need to hope they don\u2019t confuse Tony\u2019s Pizzeria with Anthony\u2019s Pizza.<\/p>\n Think about the last radio commercial you listened to. Do you remember what it was about? Did you turn the channel instead of listening? Don\u2019t forget those streaming numbers! A significant portion of radio\u2019s audience is purposefully choosing to stream music so they don\u2019t have to listen to ads. Sorry, Tony!<\/p>\n Advertising with Valpak means your consumers \u2013 the ones who live locally and want to receive your offers \u2013 have your ad delivered to their front doors. There\u2019s no prime time for mail that makes one day more expensive than the other.<\/p>\n Every month you advertise, your ad is getting into the hands of thousands of people who want it and will use it!<\/p>\n You may be thinking that people don\u2019t read snail mail anymore, but research shows that\u2019s not the case. In fact, 62 percent of millennials<\/a> have visited a store in the past month based on information received in the mail. Most of this demographic wants to receive coupons and ads for restaurants and retail businesses in their mailboxes too.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the personalization of receiving a Blue Envelope every month. There\u2019s no other way to say it \u2013 when you\u2019re sifting through your stack of mail and you come across Valpak, you do a little fist bump. Guess what? You\u2019re not the only one; your customers do too!<\/p>\n People love receiving the Valpak envelope every month because they know valuable coupons from sought-after local businesses are inside. It\u2019s almost as if Valpak has ESP. We don\u2019t. But we do work hard to perfect hyper-targeting. What does that mean?<\/p>\n Valpak direct mail advertising<\/a> reaches 39.2 million households based on several criteria. So, whether you\u2019re selling pizza or windows, your target audience is getting your insert, for just pennies cents per household. Valpak audience targeting is leaps and bounds ahead of radio advertising, drilling down to multiples of 10,000 high-income, high-spender households, whereas radio is limited to a station\u2019s broadcast signal.<\/p>\n Have you ever heard a commercial on the radio and thought, \u201cThat restaurant sounds great! I\u2019d love to try it,\u201d only to find out at the end of the spot it\u2019s located about an hour away from you? Using Valpak\u2019s direct mail system, you will never run into that situation. Your ad will only reach the most qualified homes in a specific radius of your business.<\/p>\n Households that receive Valpak\u2019s famous Blue Envelope direct mailer have 32% higher household incomes than the national average. Their average home value is 33% higher and 72% are owner-occupied. 1<\/sup> But, we can break this down even further.<\/p>\n When it comes to purchase power, Valpak\u2019s audience spends:<\/p>\n Check out the <\/em>Valpak Consumer Infographic<\/em><\/a> for more purchase power statistics by industry.<\/em><\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re a home improvement business or own an upscale salon\/spa, your ad is only going to the households most likely to spend money at your business. With Valpak, everything you need for a successful ad campaign is included in the cost, such as creative ad design and marketing ROI performance tracking.<\/p>\n Did you know about 65% of the population are visual learners<\/a>? That means they\u2019re more likely to remember your ad by looking at it than only listening to it. Obviously, radio can\u2019t cater to the majority. Your beautifully created, attention-grabbing ad sure can!<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t think you\u2019re the creative type \u2013 that\u2019s not a problem at all! Valpak has a creative team that will design your ad using the lean ad design<\/a> method. (View our Coupon Lookbook<\/a> of ad designs for a complete guide to best practices.) This ensures you\u2019re getting a visually appealing ad with analytics and insights that track results from lead to close to prove marketing ROI<\/a>.<\/p>\n You may have a marketing plan in place. You may even have an in-house team executing it. But if you\u2019re exceeding your marketing budget, or even worse, your expectations aren\u2019t getting met, it may not be your team or your budget. It may be your marketing strategy. Valpak offers both brand-building and promotional opportunities when you combine our signature direct mail with our digital platforms.<\/p>\nRadio Advertising Costs<\/h2>\n
How Much Does It Cost to Advertise on Radio by Market?<\/h3>\n
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Radio Advertising Audience<\/h2>\n
Direct Mail Advertising Reach<\/h2>\n
Direct Mail Audience Targeting<\/h2>\n
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Direct Mail Design Best Practices<\/h2>\n
Direct Mail Increases Marketing ROI<\/h2>\n