Gephart on Selling Out of Home Against Local Radio

Kevin Gephart, out of home sales expert

Last week I discussed how to to sell out of home versus local cable TV.  Today I’ll talk about how to sell out of home versus local radio.  To sell against various media, begin with the data-gathering stage. Never take direct aim at a prospect’s media choices,  ask “What do you like best/least about your current media mix?”

Strengths of local radio advertising:

  • More affordable than local broadcast TV
  • Little/no production cost
  • Can offer real time messaging with live ads, etc.
  • Can integrate an ad creatively into programing, aside from just commercial breaks
  • Easy to convey emotion in ads
  • Advertisers reap the brand attributes of the station itself: “Hey, they advertise on my station!”
  • Air personalities can make powerful spokespeople for advertisers
  • Great creative platform
  • Targetability by station demographics
  • Great frequency medium. Advertisers can afford a number of ads per station
  • Ad length flexibility (05s, 10s,30s, 60s, etc.)
  • Uniform ad platforms/lengths across markets
  • Proven/accepted direct-response media
  • Accepted media for co-op tag advertising

Weaknesses of local radio advertising:

  • Can’t achieve 100 weekly gross rating points across a market with just one station. Usually requires 4-9 stations
  • Need to buy multiple stations to reach multiple demographics
  • Lacks visual ad image
  • Highly creative/intrusive ads may be prohibited because they “don’t fit the brand of the station”
  • Advertiser’s share of voice on local radio is diluted in two ways:
    • Advertisers only get a portion of the ad time in a given hour (30 seconds, 60 seconds, etc.)
    • There are hundreds of thousands of alternative choices for radio content delivery
  • Listeners can easily swith the station when an ad is aired.
  • Ad breaks are often 5-9 minutes long, advertisers in the middle to end of the break lose value
  • Hard to reach younger demographics
  • Ads are overpriced based on cost per thousand comparisons
  • Ad “packages” may contain a lot of fringe time, low value placement

How can OOH capitalize on local radio advertising weaknesses:

  • OOH can amplify any broadcast campaign by adding a lot of reach and frequency for proportionality little budget
  • OOH can outperform radio personality endorsements. OOH isn’t limited to any station’s personalities list. OOH can secure any local celebrity/sports personality for a “billboard” endorsement
  • The medium is the message. Research proves consumers believe advertisers using DOOH are: “more relevant”, “more in tune with the times”, “more interesting”
  • OOH can convey intense emotion with visuals and ad copy
  • OOH is a media that consumers are migrating “to” and not “from”
  • OOH ads are not skippable, can’t change the channel
  • OOH delivers 24/7 share of ad voice on each printed unit
  • Can singularly achieve 100 weekly GRPs within the market
  • Reach every demographic at once and for the same dollar
  • Low cost per thousand ad impressions
  • Gratifies advertiser’s ego better than any other media
  • Highly creative ads create buzz, street talk, and social media posts amplifying the reach at no extra cost
  • DOOH can “roadblock” key drive times, running an advertiser 100% in key time parameters
  • A powerful co-op ad medium, especially with DOOH
  • Can achieve direct-response results equal or better than any other media

Next week pros and cons of local print advertising.

If I can leverage my experience to help you or your company sell more ooh faster contact me at   kevinjgephart@gmail.com or use the form below.

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