The Pros and Cons of Radio Advertising

According to the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), 90 percent of consumers spend an average of 20 hours per week listening to the radio. With these types of statistics, radio advertising appeals to many insurance professionals as a way to spread their message to entire communities.

Advantages of radio advertising include:

• Ability to target specific demographics
• Less expensive form of advertising
• Informal style creates a relevancy with which consumers can relate.
• Advertisers benefit from the personal and emotional reactions from listeners
• Spreads your name and that of your agency throughout the community

Confirming these benefits is a recent study by the Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab, which reported that that radio advertising added 15 percent of total brand recall as compared to television alone.

The study also revealed what many experts thought to be true, which is that radio advertising breathes new life into existing methods of advertising, such as newspaper ads, stating that radio ads in combination with newspaper ads further boosts message recall, thus increasing brand recognition.

But, like other advertising mediums, radio does have its limitations.

Disadvantages of radio advertising include:

• Extensive research needed to compare costs of airtime amongst each radio station in the area
• Extensive research needed to determine which stations will effectively target desired markets
• Limited amount of time to include important information
• Ad success is dependent on correct timing and station placement
• Ad scripts are only as good as the person reading them
• Despite the high number of radio listeners, many listeners change the dial during commercials

Because of these disadvantages, it's important to recognize the risk involved and learn how to buy radio time in an effective manner to offset these drawbacks and further the success of your agency.

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