Contributor: Beth Osborne, director, marketing and content, Marketron
Advertising is continuous. The biggest brands in the world are still buying media, so why wouldn’t a local business? The argument that everybody already knows the business doesn’t hold up in the modern world. Just because a consumer knows a company doesn’t mean it’s at the top of their mind or has value in their eyes.
The reality is that we hear and see advertising almost all day long, and humans are both forgetful and suffer from short attention spans. If you ask the average person to name a specific brand in a category, much of the time, the response may be none. People require constant reminders for recall and awareness. Plus, markets change, as do the actual businesses.
Audio Ads: Frequency, Retention and Recall
In any discussion with a prospective advertiser, the key questions are:
- Whom do you want to reach?
- How often do you want to reach them?
Frequency matters in terms of retention and recall. People need to see or hear something numerous times before it sticks. It begins with the ability to engage, and audio has an edge here.
According to neuroscience and cognitive research, audio has higher levels of engagement and recall than any other medium. A big reason, per the study, is the emotional intensity that audio ads create. These reactions create memories.
The frequency fueling this recall and retention doesn’t dilute it in any meaningful way. A recent Radio Matters post revealed that creative wearout is rare in radio as long as the creative is effective.
Changing out creative certainly matters in driving specific goals for companies, but the idea of frequency being a problem in radio is a misconception.
Frequency is also necessary because only a small part of an audience immediately needs that company’s product or service.
Staying Top of Mind When Consumers Become Ready to Purchase
Regardless of the local business industry, the odds are that only a few people hearing the ads are in the market. We know radio can create future demand when businesses are constant advertisers. It’s another reason continuous advertising is necessary.
When that consumer needs a plumber in an emergency, which one will they call? Potentially, the company they’ve heard for years on their favorite station will come to mind. Longtime businesses must realize they can’t simply expect everyone to know them just because they’ve been around for decades.
Markets Change, and Businesses Risk Diminished Awareness Without Consistent Advertising
Businesses that rest on their reputation can become less-known brands for several reasons. New competitors can appear anytime, ready to encroach on their market share. If they consistently buy local media with radio as the foundation, the new business becomes a familiar name.
Another reason long-existing brands can see awareness falter is that markets don’t stay the same. Population migration has accelerated. Cost of living increases and the permanent adoption of remote work have fueled moving in America. The Census Bureau reported that more people moved across state lines in 2021 than in 2019.
Anyone moving to a market starts as a clean slate in terms of local business awareness. New residents will all need products or services from businesses and represent a key demographic any advertiser should want to engage. Radio gives these advertisers a unique, localized way to do this, allowing them to even outperform national brands.
A case study from Westwood One, featuring a local pest control brand, demonstrates this point well. The business is a consistent radio ad buyer, and it’s helped them achieve greater awareness than any other competitor, including nationally known companies. AM/FM radio listeners had the strongest awareness and ad recall.
What the company has achieved because of continuous radio advertising is something any local business would love to replicate.
Businesses Don’t Stay the Same, Either
Just as markets change, so do companies. At least, they should do so if they want to strengthen their viability and relevance. In these times, they need to let audiences know what’s new. It could be products, services, areas they serve, new locations and much more.
Depending on their own media or communication with their customers, they won’t get this exciting news in front of a larger audience. Radio’s substantial reach delivers this, creating a great return for awareness and new customer acquisition.
Radio Is the Heart of Successful Continuous Advertising
These reasons make a convincing case for continuous advertising and making radio the centerpiece of that strategy. Digital can amplify and target the messages, but radio has the power to give a local brand the kind of prominence and impact it needs to thrive and grow. Next time a business says they don’t need to do this, you have a compelling story to tell them otherwise.