To celebrate the day, Jennelle from our DSA Regina office put together some interesting facts pertaining to the timeless wonder that is radio!

The radio was invented in 1895, but the first advertisement didn’t appear on air until the 1920’s and is one of the oldest forms of advertising there is. Through the years, many have thought that the radio industry was going to die, with different options becoming available such as: iPods, satellite radio, streaming services, etc. However, today an average of 91% of Canadians listen to the radio at least once per week. Canadians spend an average of 19.2 hours per week listening to the radio. Needless to say, radio isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and since today is National Radio Day, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate radio. Here are the top 5 benefits of including radio in your advertising efforts:

• Hyperlocal – Consumers see radio as a local medium where they can get the local news, weather, sports updates, etc. People often feel as though they have a personal connection with the station they frequently listen to, based on the format as well as the on-air personalities.
• Timely – Day-parting your ad placements is a great way to ensure you are reaching your target audience at precisely the right time. Are you a restaurant who has a different message depending if it’s breakfast, lunch, or supper? With radio, you can air your ads during the time of day that makes the most sense for the message. Are you a local retailer who’s having a one day sale? Drive traffic to your store by creating urgency with your messaging, “today only!”.
• Provides strong frequency – Typically people have a station of choice that they tune into more frequently than others. Because of this, it ensures that your message is being heard by the same person multiple times, creating frequency amongst your desired target audience.
• Provides rural reach – Radio is a great way to get your message into rural markets that are often hard to reach with other mediums. In Saskatchewan, for example, farmers listen to 6-10% more hours of radio per week than those people living in cities. This is, again, likely due to the hyperlocal content as they seek out information like weather and Ag reports through-out the day. Rural audiences are also more likely to spend time in their vehicles, as they may need to commute for groceries, gas, work, etc.
• Highly targetable – Radio is quite segmented since there are so many different station options in each market to listen to. People typically choose their stations based on the format or on-air personalities of each particular station. Because of this segmentation, advertisers have the ability to choose the stations based on the target audience of listeners to ensure they are reaching the right audience. For example, News/Talk stations often skew to an older demographic, rock stations skew to a male audience, while a top hits station is going to skew to a female 25-45 audience. Depending on the message of your campaign, you can tailor your advertising placements based on the audiences of each station.

Contributor: Jennelle Gervan – DSA Regina