A Tip For Maine Small Business Owners From Top Marketing Companies

Almost half of America’s largest marketing companies are planning to increase their advertising expenditures over the next 12 months. This is according to a survey conducted by Nielsen among Chief Marketing Officers at some of the nation’s most prestigious brands.

According to Nielsen’s analysis, the increasing budgets are related to the marketers’ confidence in measuring the return that their advertising investments will deliver.

For Maine small business owners, advertising on Portland radio can deliver the highest possible ROI.

Eye Popping ROI

Over the past few years, Nielsen, who tracks both consumers’ media consumption as well as buying habits, has done more than 20 studies to determine what type of return a business owner could expect for every $1.00 invested in radio advertising. In every, case, radio advertising’s ROI, was, according to Ad Age, “Eye-popping.”

The most recent ROI study, release a few months ago by Nielsen is no exception. According to Westwood One, the company that commissioned this latest study, a radio campaign for a men’s personal-care brand produced $11.96 in sales-lift for every $1.00 invested in radio advertising. Wow!

“To determine sales lift,” says Pierre Bouvard of Westwood One, “Nielsen Catalina Solutions matches Portable People Meter panel data and shopper card data from NCS and Nielsen Homescan. This creates a household match of actual AM/FM radio listening and their purchase habits.

Mr. Bouvard also noted, radio advertising’s overall effect on the brand’s sales. “Households where men were exposed to the AM/FM radio campaign saw an 8% lift in sales for the parent brand. The growth in sales was driven by more spending per trip.”

This new Nielsen study not only affirms its 21 preceding studies, but it also confirms what many Maine small business owners and local advertising professionals owners already know: advertising on Portland radio works.

Maine’s Version of A Billboard

Case in point. Tucker Cianchette, owner of Tucker Ford, credits Portland radio as part of his mix for success. “We advertise on radio, says Mr. Cianchette, “because it allows us to get a personal message to a very large audience from every demographic. This is Maine’s version of a billboard.”

Other Maine business owners and marketing professionals, too, have benefited from Portland radio’s proximity to consumer’s buying decisions. This includes Stacy Dodge, owner of Bill Dodge Auto Group. Her company runs 8 dealerships throughout southern Maine including brands such as Kia, Infiniti, BMW, Cadillac, and Hyundai.

“We have been using radio as a primary marketing source for about 10 years now.” said Ms. Dodge. “We have seen very measurable results and are able to target our audiences more effectively.”

Ms. Dodge goes on to say, “It is extremely important to be able to keep your ads current and there is a very quick turn around with radio. A new program or incentive can be announced to us in the morning and we can be on the air with a current ad reflecting the most recent information in the afternoon.”

“We are also more effectively able to market specific brands to a specific audience which is sometimes harder, and more expensive, to do with other mediums, said Ms. Dodge. “Radio is a very cost effective way to get your message out to the people you want to hear it.”

Portland Radio Provides Word Of Mouth

Jim Darroch, Director of Marketing for Madison based Backyard Farms, has successfully utilized the endorsements of Portland radio personalities to expand his company’s business. “Our most powerful marketing tool is a happy customer telling his/her friends about our tomatoes, said Mr. Darroch. “When popular radio personalities share their honest thoughts and opinions about Backyard Farms with their audiences, we’re able to reach thousands of people with the power of a friend’s recommendation.”

Theresa Torrent, Senior Planner of the Maine Coastal Program, echoes Mr. Darroch’s strategy of leveraging the equity radio personalities have with their listeners. “It has proven to be the most effective method that we have tried for getting our message to a receptive audience,” said Ms. Torrent. “With radio we have been able to create engaging messages often working with the radio hosts who the listeners know and trust.”

Cathy Manchester, a real estate agent based in Gray, Maine, credits her advertising on Portland Radio with the ongoing success of her business.

“When we began advertising on the radio several years ago,” says Ms. Manchester, “our business doubled! We went from selling 100 homes a year to approximately 200 homes each year! Radio advertising continues to provide a steady stream of well qualified customers for us!”

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