If you don't have time to read this entire article, then I will tell you right now. The best way for any local small business owner to advertise is on Fayetteville radio.
Consumers in the Fayetteville metro area (Cumberland and Robeson counties) are expected to spend at least $7.1 billion at retail this year. To claim a greater share of this giant pool of cash requires local business owners of every size to advertise their goods and services. As Professor Jef Richards at Michigan State University points out, “Advertising is totally unnecessary…unless you want to make money."
The bottom line: It is difficult for anyone in the Sandhills to purchase a product or service from a local business owner if they aren’t aware of it.
There are many ways for North Carolina small business owners to advertise. Options include local newspapers, local magazines, local television, and online. But to achieve the “3-Rs” of advertising success, Reach, Recall, and Return, no other medium delivers results as effectively and efficiently as advertising on Fayetteville radio.
1. Reach
The first “R” is Reach. According to a study by Nielsen, after the actual content of the commercial message itself, reach is the most potent advertising element that can drive sales. Reach is more important than brand, recency, or even context. Fayetteville radio provides local business owners with the biggest reach among consumers.
Last week, 288,946 adult consumers tuned to their favorite Fayetteville radio stations. This is significantly more than the 181,951 consumers reached by area TV stations or the 182,061 reached by local newspapers.3 Fayetteville radio reaches everyone. Unlike other local media, which tends to skew towards older audiences, Fayetteville radio reaches consumers of all ages. This includes members of Generation X, Y, and Z; Millennials, and Boomers. Everybody.
Percent of Consumers Reached Each Week By Fayetteville Consumers
Media expert, Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, advises, “Everything we’ve read about listening and aging audiences would have us believe that only our grandmother is listening to radio. Turns out the industry’s biggest supporters, the radio advertisers who foot the bills, aren’t buying that at all. Radio works, and the listeners are telling us in the latest survey data that radio has one helluva return-on-investment.”
2. Recall
The second “R” affecting advertising success is recall. To be effective, advertising must be remembered by the consumer when it comes time to choose which Fayetteville business owners to patronize.
Local Ad Recall, a research company that measures the effectiveness of advertising, found that brand recall was five times higher for companies that advertised on radio versus the companies that did not. Consequently, Fayetteville small business owners who advertise on radio have a much better chance of being recalled and, therefore, frequented by prospective customers than companies that do not advertise on radio.
Consumer insight company, Nielsen found similar results. Across several different business categories, on average, radio advertising improved recall by 82%. The businesses measured were a health and beauty company; an information technologies company; an auto aftermarket retailer; a motorcycle company; and a mobile app company.6
Unaided Brand Recall
Radio Ad Recall
3. Return
The third “R” of advertising success is return-on-investment (ROI). ROI is a measurement of revenue growth that a Fayetteville business owner can expect for each $1 invested in advertising. According to Advertising Age Magazine, when executed correctly, radio advertising can deliver a greater ROI for a local business than investing in TV, digital, or social media ads.
Over the past few years, Nielsen has conducted more than 20 studies to determine how much ROI a business owner could expect when advertising on radio. In every case, radio’s ROI was, in the words of Advertising Age, “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.
Overall, according to Nielsen, among all of the studies conducted, radio ads produce a very impressive 10x return-on-investment.7
Radio Advertising ROI by brand category
Doug Schoen wrote in Forbes Magazine of radio’s ability to deliver the “3-Rs” of advertising.
“The implications of results like these are profound for the communications and advertising industries,” Mr. Schoen said, “and as a marketing professional with over 35 years of experience, I found this data nothing short of fascinating. It’s quite clear that we should all be paying more attention to radio, its reach and potential to help our businesses. It’s doing the job with expert efficiency.”
Fayetteville Business Owners Agree: Radio Advertising Works
Joe Quigg began advertising on Fayetteville radio shortly after buying Ed’s Tire and Auto service from the original owner, Ed Melvin.
“Ed, who served as my mentor for the first few years, had been huge in yellow pages and newspaper advertising,” says Mr. Quigg. “He feared that if we quit advertising four days a week in the newspaper, then the world would end.
“I knew, though, that advertising on Fayetteville radio was right for us,” continues Mr. Quigg. “When I was in corporate sales, I was spending a lot of time in the car. My radio was always on. So, I knew it could reach the customers of Ed’s Tire.”
As his advertising strategy began to show positive results, Mr. Quigg stopped newspaper advertising altogether and started adding more Fayetteville radio stations into his mix.
“Every week that goes by,” says Mr. Quigg, “five or six customers tell me they came in because they heard us on the radio.”
“When it comes to spending money, I am very conservative,” continues Mr. Quigg. “I don’t like spending money I don’t have to. Our sales have grown every year since I have owned the business. Radio has been a big spend for us, but it has also been a big part of our growth. I wouldn’t be willing to do without it.”
Advertising on Fayetteville Radio Creates Lifetime Customers
Carolyn and Tony Barbour are the owners of Budget Rooter, a Fayetteville based small business with a long list of commercial, residential, and industrial customers. “I can testify,” says Ms. Barbour, “our radio advertising has created lifetime customers for our company.
Mr. Barbour started Budget Rooter in 1998 as a part-time job. He worked nights and weekends out of the back of his Geo Storm. By 2000, word of mouth helped expand the business to a point where he could make it his full-time pursuit.
By 2002, Budget Rooter hired a second plumber to keep up with customer demand. This is also when Ms. Barbour quit her job as a nurse to take on the mounting administrative duties of the firm. This included advertising and marketing.
The company continued to grow based on referrals. It’s also when the Barbours began to buy double-trunk ads in the phone book. “These were insanely expensive,” says Ms. Barbour “but not all that effective.”
In 2007, the economy took a downturn and many of Budget Rooter’s competitors began to fail. Not wishing to succumb to the same fate, the Barbours decided to expand their advertising efforts.
“We thought about using TV,” remembers Ms. Barbour, “but when we started asking other Fayetteville small business owners what type of advertising worked best for them, they all said radio.”
So, in 2007 the first Budget Rooter radio campaigns started airing on 2 Fayetteville radio stations. These commercials featured the company’s now iconic slogan, “Don’t flush your budget on high repair bills.”
“For the first several months, our radio helped us keep our nose above water,” says Ms. Barbour. “I promise you, it was advertising on Fayetteville radio that kept us afloat.
As Ms. Barbour tells it, after being on radio consistently for nine months, the business started to take off. “In the deepest part of the downturn,” she recalls, “we were growing.”
Since 2007, Budget Rooter has not missed a single month of advertising on Fayetteville radio. “Our radio ads have been so successful,” says Ms. Barbour. “we have increased the number of stations we run commercials on from two to five.”
Fayetteville Radio Delivers Excellent ROI For Local Flooring Store
Cape Fear Flooring in Fayetteville started out as a carpet cleaning company 19 years ago operating out of a tiny house. This year, the company moved into a brand new, 6000 square foot showroom and warehouse along with their 28 employees.
“We began advertising on Fayetteville radio in 2000, a year after we opened,” remembers co-owner, Amie Crouter. “We had just expanded into water mitigation a few months earlier. I had just set up an account with Mohawk, one of the largest manufacturers of floor coverings in the world. And, we had just sold our first flooring job even before we had hired an installer.”
After 18 years, Cape Fear Flooring still advertises on Fayetteville radio. “Radio advertising has really driven our growth from the beginning,” says Ms. Crouter. “We have always asked new customers how they found out about us. Overwhelmingly, we are told they heard our radio commercials.
“Since we started advertising on the radio, we’ve never stopped,” she says. “Advertising on Fayetteville radio has provided an excellent return-on-investment for us.”
Ten years ago, Ms. Crouter asked a recording studio in Fayetteville to produce a jingle for Cape Fear Flooring. “Although we have freshened up the music in it a few times over the years,” she says, “the message has remained the same. The words ‘together we make it home’ are always how the jingle ends.”
“The car I drive has a Cape Fear Flooring logo on it.” says Ms. Crouter. “When people see me in it, they always sing our jingle…word for word. Clearly, our radio commercials are working like they are supposed to.”
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