One of the most frequent objections I received in my decade of selling radio advertising was: “Radio results are hard to measure.” My prospects and customers weren’t wrong. Radio results can be hard to measure. Actually, all advertising results can be hard to measure. With a sea of advertising options available to business owners, understanding how to calculate ROI is critical for success. Today, I’m going to walk you through the process of measuring ROI in radio advertising.
Begin with the End in Mind
Here are three questions you should ask yourself as a business owner or head of marketing who is considering investing in radio advertising:
1. What does success look like? While the immediate goal may be to increase revenue, it's essential to delve deeper into what success truly means for your specific business. Is it about reaching new markets or boosting sales in your current market? By clearly outlining your objectives, you can align your radio advertising strategy to achieve measurable results that align with your overall business goals.
2. What are your business KPIs? One way to define success is to set specific, measurable KPIs. KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator and refers to the action or actions that typically occur when your target audience is making their way through the consumer journey. Two common radio KPIs are an increase in unaided brand recall and an increase in store traffic.
3. What is your current cost per acquisition (CPA)? This is important to know because broadcast radio is a relatively affordable medium due to its large reach and lower CPA. If you know your current benchmark, you can measure any changes against it during your radio campaign.
Know Your Audience
Have you ever heard the phrase: “Fish where the fishes are”? Unsurprisingly, if you focus your radio ad spend where your target audience is most likely to be, you’ll reach them more effectively. Analyze your target audience's demographics, such as age, gender, income, and interests. Then match them to the best station profile in your market to ensure your message reaches the right audience.
Know Your Media
Radio is a traditional media with mass reach. Radio can help you achieve short-term goals, but its strength is in brand building. If you’re looking for a quick impact, you're going to have to spend more upfront to increase frequency. If you’re looking to win the long game, radio is your ally, but those results won’t happen overnight. Slow and steady wins the race.
Optimize Often
Use KPI data to optimize your advertising strategy and improve campaigns. A dollar spent blindly is a dollar wasted. So is sprinkling your advertising budget too thin across too many mediums at a time. Aim for dominant frequency in each media you invest in and then track those KPIs. If your KPIs aren’t trending, adjust the messaging, targeting, and timing of your radio ads to maximize your ROI.
Maximize Your Marketing Dollars with Leighton Media
Calculating radio advertising costs and maximizing ROI is essential for running successful advertising campaigns. Regardless of the advertising method, it’s important to analyze your options and understand what is best for your customer and brand. Most companies find that using multiple mediums (if your budget allows) is the best way to reach your target audience.
As experts in marketing, our team of media consultants can help you find the audience you want to reach with your brand. Click the link below to contact a Leighton Media Consultant today!
