Align your brand with the biggest radio stations and advertise your brand

Radio advertising might be seen as old-fashioned especially with the rise of the Internet and other types of media.

According to an article in the City Press, South Africa has 40 commercials/public radio stations, 256 community stations, making a total of 296 stations in the country. The paper noted that 38 additional stations were added in 2015.

Commercial radio has a reach of more than 16 million South Africans every week. 17 hours of the week are spent listening to the radio with the majority of it at home and in the car. Below lists out a few benefits for advertising with radio:

Selective Targeting

Radio stations already target specific demographics and market segments. Therefore by choosing which station to broadcast with, you can lock into your potential customers and increase the frequency of delivering your message. At the same time think about all the advantages and disadvantages of radio advertising on your selected radio station. See if that’s what you are looking for.

Increased frequency

Advertising works with frequency and reaching your audience repeatedly. Radio is the perfect medium for this. You are able to expose your ad to the audience repeatedly to build awareness. Also due to the loyalty of people listening to the same station, you are able to impact the same people more often.

Stand out

Known as the uncluttered medium, radio offers a clean slate for your advertising efforts. Today’s newspaper and magazines devote two-thirds of their space to ads, TV one-third of its airtime, while radio offers only about 10 minutes per hour to ads. Listeners usually tune in at work or while driving or exercising — situations where they are usually alone and all ears. They can be reached when they’re away from home and ready to buy. Regardless of format or time of year, radio is a proven medium for reaching an engaged audience in an uncluttered environment.

More memorable

Compared to a written advertisement, the sound is more effectively stored in memory. In addition, there is the ability to instill emotion and also allows listeners to use their imagination to create their own image of the product/service.

More frequent

The fact is, frequency sells. The more ads you can get on the air, the better the chance it will make an impact. Radio allows advertisers an inexpensive way to get their voice heard – over and over again.

Stir emotions and create demand

Even with the focus today on video, radio is still an active medium. It can create immediacy, driving shoppers to a specific store, brand, or to take a specific action. Radio advertisements are able to engage with audiences in a personal and unique way.

Cost-effective

Radio advertising has significantly fewer costs compared to other types of media. Television and print ads can go up to hundreds of thousands including costs for video equipment, studio time, actors, models. Radios ads require fewer resources while being able to reach the same target audience that a television spot would have resulted in.

Time efficiency

Lead times with print and television ads can be very long, especially with planning and may take up to a year for the ad to run. In contrast, producing a radio spot can occur between two to three weeks. Another advantage of this is the ability to adapt and react quickly to changing market conditions.

Measurable results

You can track results quickly and accurately compared to television where it may take months for measurable results or print media which can be even more difficult to track. Results for radio ads can be analyzed on a daily basis, and if the message is not working in a week or two, a new radio spot can replace it efficiently as mentioned above.

These are the 10 biggest radio stations in South Africa, based on weekly listener-ship.

Ukhozi FM – 7.5 million

Metro FM – 6.8 million

Umhlobo Wenene FM – 4.6 million

Lesedi FM – 4 million

Motsweding FM – 3.1 million

Thobela – 3 million

Jacaranda FM – 2 million

Kaya FM 95.9 – 1.8 million

5FM – 1.8 million

RSG – 1.7 million

New entrants into space

Another sign of the voracious demand is the new players who are deciding to enter the space, such as the new urban online radio station, Wiggle Tunes, that targets like-minded listeners based on raising awareness, entertaining, informing, educating, and addressing socio-economic challenges through broadcasting as a mass media channel.

As a rookie in the business, for Wiggle Tunes t’s not only about listener numbers, but about the 360-degree format on influence online has.

With the widespread access people have to radio, even indirectly through shopping centers and supermarkets, radio continues to have a big presence in the advertising industry. Businesses – small or big – should continue to consider it as a top medium to advertise their product/services as the advantages over other resources remain strong.