In 2015, radio held its own in attracting advertising dollars within the highly competitive media environment. Radio boasts the broadest mass reach among all media while providing narrow targeting capabilities for advertisers through numerous program formats and networks. These attributes combine to make broadcast radio the most efficient, effective vehicle for advertising.
Knowing that radio has such a large reach, and that people continue to listen to broadcast radio, as well as digital radio (which does have advertising!), the next step is to consider what type of response tool is best to use in radio advertising – a web address, a phone number, social profiles?
No matter how well-crafted your radio advertising is, you won’t have a good ROI unless you actually tell people what you want them to do. Some ad campaigns fall flat because they fail to include a call-to-action. For radio, the call to action needs to be memorable or people won’t respond because if they’re driving, or riding the subway, or walking and listening, they’re not going to be able to write it down. Vanity 800 numbers are an essential aspect of radio advertising because they don’t have to be written down to be remember – they’re inherently easy to remember.
Below, we break down some benefits of using vanity numbers in radio campaigns, and the impact they will have on advertising ROI and lead gen results:
Better Advertising with Radio
Let’s do a word association game. Are you ready? “Radio.” What’s the first thing that came into your head? For a long time, the word radio was primarily associated with music. This is understandable, since radio was primarily a platform for music for many, many years. But while you can still tune in to your favorite station to hear the latest hit song, a lot has changed when it comes to radio. The medium of radio has expended so much that it can conjure up a number of different meanings, including sports, commentary, podcasts, and more. This expanded repertoire means radio is able to appeal to a wider audience by offering something for everyone, making it prime advertising real estate.
Radio Reaches More People
According to a recent study, radio is the top performing platform when it comes to weekly reach among adult consumers. Consumers listen to the radio over 12 hours a week, with a reported reach of 93%. This number is not only impressive, but it also trumps the weekly reach of both television (85%) and SmartPhones (74%). Due to its easy availability and previously mentioned expansive range, radio is able to connect with its listeners in real-time across hundreds of markets each day. Also, the majority of listeners have jobs, and tend to tune in when they are out of the house (and more primed to make a purchase). Therefore, it just makes sense for businesses to take advantage of this medium by adding radio to their advertising campaigns. But it’s not enough to simply get your commercial on the radio; you also have to ensure people remember it.
Use a Vanity 800 Number to Ensure Memorability
While tricks of the trade such as catchy jingles and witty concepts will always have a place in radio advertising, the most important tool is a way for listeners to remember how to contact your business. This is why using an unforgettable vanity number is so important to an ad campaign. Studies show 51% of consumers remember vanity 800 numbers better than URL’s in a broadcasted advertisement. And consumers make 14 times more calls to a vanity 800 number than a numeric toll-free number they hear on the radio. Vanity 800 numbers provide a far more memorable call to action, making your radio advertising more effective than the competition.
Radio is a crucial piece of media consumption for many Americans, and should also be a crucial piece of any advertising strategy. By fully utilizing both the opportunities radio has to offer and an unforgettable vanity phone number, your campaign will reach more people than you ever thought possible. So the next time you hear the word “radio”, you’ll think “success”.