I was asked, “How can we effectively partner with radio stations to do more than just spots (commercials or public service announcements) on the air?”
Here are my thoughts about radio. I encourage our radio reps to chime in too for any additional ideas or inspiration!
How do we extend our radio advertising strategy beyond just the 60 second spots that air during drive-time or as rotators throughout the day-part or prime-time at night or into the wee hours of the morning?
1. Live Radio Remotes & Event Sponsorships
The radio station can provide live remotes, which is live DJ coverage prior to, and during your event. We can also work with the radio station to have your brand partner with local community events that are already scheduled and that provide live sponsorship mentions of your brand.
2. Lead Generating Digital Promotions
Tying in radio campaigns with your digital promotions allows you to expand the reach as well as the frequency of the reach. Radio stations can promote social media accounts, and encourage people to enter online contests by driving traffic to your website. Another digital option with radio stations are digital ads on their station websites and Facebook page(s) for example. Stations can also help with email blasts via email to their loyal listeners, or contacts within your client database.
3. Community Involvement
Radio stations strongly relate to their local reach, and are often where people get their information about local events, area happenings, and even emergencies. That’s why radio stations can assist when it comes to marketing your business with local fundraising or sponsorship opportunities. The station you advertise with might already have a partnership with a local homeless shelter, for example, and can quickly arrange a plan for you to sponsor a food donation drive or other related event that gives you visibility in the community. Hearing your sponsorship associated with a familiar radio voice often has great impact in conjunction with the whole marketing mix. And always be sure to send out press releases to your contacts at the news radio stations, or have Peppershock do that for you.
4. Social Media Promotion
Nearly every advertising medium, radio included, has some form of social media integration with their marketing messaging. Radio stations and DJs tend to have a large following. First, stations can promote social media posts from their station’s platforms and DJs can endorse or provide special promotional consideration as long as they disclose it as such. This can be on topics and events related to your business, that can drive traffic towards your social channels through tagging, hash tags and link sharing. Maybe your business has created a unique hashtag related to your business. Station DJs or promos can mention this hashtag both on-air and on their own social accounts to help it get traction.
5. SEO, SEM, SMS & Back-links
Radio stations realize the importance of how your business is presented, so it makes sense that they’re now offering a full range of SEO or SEM services to complement on-air marketing messaging. This can include driving traffic to your website, geo-fencing, and text messaging, and it helps with your website traffic and search results. Back-links from a popular website can help your own SEO results, so having a link on the radio station’s site and then a linking to the radio station’s website can produce better results for more visibility.
Radio station marketing opportunities are moving far beyond ads these days. Integrated marketing campaigns are here to stay. In many cases, radio stations are in a unique position to help businesses achieve their marketing goals.
Interested in learning more about these services? Your marketing materials are created from scratch to leave a lasting impression on listeners, visitors, and readers. Let our trained, professional crew help you strategically reach your target audience to boost your brand and your bottom line!
Don’t know where to start? How about we launch with a marketing audit to uncover areas that need better results to provide a better ROI?
