A variety of successful Maine small business owners invest in advertising on Portland radio to market their products and services. A slew of research clearly proves radio reaches mores consumers in southern Maine that any other ad medium.
These studies also show, that radio advertising provides business owners with the highest return-on-investment as well.
Studies are one thing. But, cash register receipts provide the definitive proof of radio advertising’s potency.
If you were 1 of the 700,000 listeners who tuned-in to a Portland radio station last week, there was a good chance you heard commercials for Royal River Heat Pumps, a Freeport based HVAC dealer; Saco River Dentistry, a Buxton based dental practice; and The Time Pilots, a Portland based wedding band. Each of these small businesses report jaw-dropping results from their radio advertising investments
Scott Libby, owner of Royal River heat pumps, credits his ads on Portland radio and its infectious jingle with doubling his business over the course of a year.
When you ask Mr. Libby what he does for a living, he won’t say he sells heat pumps. He tells anyone who asks, though, “I am a marketer. My company sells and installs heat pumps, but it’s my job to make the phone ring,”
To market Royal River Heat Pumps, the company started using print advertising with some success. “But,” says Mr. Libby, “Every time I would turn on the radio I would hear one of my competitors. So, I decided, reluctantly, that I would try it, too. But, I was going to do it differently. That’s when I created my jingle.” According to Mr. Libby, he began to see results immediately.
Knew Right Then The Jingle Was Working
“Twice in the same week,” says Mr. Libby, “I showed up at new-home construction sites. When the builders, who I never met before, introduced me to their crews, the workers immediately began singing my jingle. I knew right then the jingle was working.”
According to Mr. Libby his sales of heat pumps doubled in a single year. He attributes a large part of this achievement to the advertising he does on Portland radio. “When it comes to reach,” says Mr. Libby, “Radio is second to none.”
Hear an example of Royal River Heat Pumps’ advertising below.
Dr. Nicholas K. Roy, owner of Saco River Dentistry, saw new patient counts soar 426% versus the prior year.
“When people come to the dentist,” explains Dr. Ray, “they want to know who they are seeing. They want to feel the energy of the person. They have to trust that person.”
“Radio”, says Dr. Roy, “Is the only way to get that message across.”
To achieve its success advertising on Portland radio, Saco River Dentistry used a combination of :15-second and :60-second commercials. Some of these commercials utilized live commercials featuring Blake & Eva, award winning radio hosts from Coast 93.1. Listen to an example of these live commercials below.
Jon Goodman, front-man for local wedding band Time Pilots, has dramatically increased his share of the $500,000 pool of bridal cash in Maine. Since he began advertising the band on Portland radio 5 years ago, Mr. Goodman says, “it would be fair to say that our wedding business has tripled”
“As soon as we started doing it, ” says Mr. Goodman, “it was like BAM! people started telling me they heard our ad. Then, within a couple of days we got our first call from someone who said she was planning her wedding in the fall and she had heard the Time Pilots ad on the radio.”
“During our first year as a wedding band,” says Mr. Goodman, “Time Pilots did one wedding. A few years later we were doing two to three weddings a year. Since we started doing our radio ads we have been doing 15 to 20 weddings a year. “
Here an example of Time Pilots advertising below:
Mr. Libby, Dr. Roy, and Mr. Goodman each offer definitive proof of what 21 studies by Nielsen have also revealed: Radio’s return-on-investment is, as Advertising Age calls is, “Eye-popping.”
The most recent ROI study released 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.”
According to Nielsen, among all of the studies conducted, radio ads produce a very impressive 6 time ROI. According to Ad Age magazine, these findings indicate that advertisers can expect higher returns-on investment from radio than TV, digital, or social media.
RADIO ADVERTISING ROI BY BRAND CATEGORY
It is pretty clear from studies like this and the first-hand accounts of Maine business owners, advertising on Portland radio delivers results.
More Advice For Maine Small Business Owners
- Grab An Unfair Share of Maine’s Retail Boom For Your Small Business
- What Amazon Knows That Some Maine Business Owners Don’t
- 150,000 Reasons To Advertise on Portland Radio
- TV Networks and Maine Business Owners Depend on Radio Ads For Results
- This Is Your Brain On Radio. Advice For Maine Small Business Owners.
