Ride the Radio Recovery: Are you ready?
Get your unfair share of ratings and revenue
Many including President Obama believe that we are near or at the end of the recession. Most believe that it will be a long recovery and that society has irrevocably changed its way of spending. Business owners including radio, that have been riding out the recession, are now asking themselves when and how much to advertise.
This is a difficult question. On one hand we all realize that in order to stay viable as a business we must advertise. On the other, with debt choking many of the industries largest broadcast groups, how does an industry in lock down believe it can afford to aggressively advertise and market?
The truth is that those groups that will survive, most intact, will advertise differently than they did before. Those that don’t will be auctioned off to the highest bidder repurposed and marketed effectively by their new owners. As is the case with all businesses, the timing to promote their stations will be critical. Promote too soon and the ability to convert increased ratings into a corresponding increase in revenue will fail. Too late and your station’s market competitors will out position you for the limited amount of radio advertising dollars available within the market. To succeed broadcasters will have to practice what they preach to their advertisers and promote their stations.
It is no secret that one of the country’s most successful independent radio stations, WBEB in Philadelphia, is successful because it owns a strong brand and promotes it regularly. We can’t be naïve and expect that major groups can mimic this kind of success right now. They can’t, their hands are tied by debt. The groups that will be successful will sell off enough of their stations to reduce their debt and allow themselves the opportunity to enhance their product and advertise and promote their stations effectively.
Great opportunity exists now to aggressively market your station. Think about the opportunity that presents itself to both small and large broadcast groups today. In many markets across the country most radio stations are not using any form of external advertising to promote their stations. As we move toward economic recovery, broadcasters have a great opportunity; an opportunity born out of crisis and confusion within the industry. Those broadcasters that are able to begin advertising their stations first, using external marketing, will gain an unfair ratings and revenue advantage over their competitors. Are you ready?
