Long Live Radio

The casket may have been built by skeptics in anticipation of broadcast radio dying off, but that casket is far from being put in the ground. In fact, traditional AM/FM radio remains the number one medium in terms of reach across the United States reaching 93% of the population according to Nielsen.

Radio remains relevant for a variety of reasons including the fact that listeners are usually on the go. According to Edison Research, 86% of Americans drive to work and broadcast radio accounts for 70% of in-car audio. This means, drivers are consistently listening to AM/FM stations on their daily commute giving advertisers a reliable medium to reach them through.

On top of that, Americans listen to the radio when they’re driving for reasons beyond going into the office. With more leisurely drive times, advertisers can entice listeners with timely, local, and influential messages.

Radio is also changing on the back end of things that remains a mystery to your everyday listener. The push of programmatic buying has begun and companies like iHeartMedia and Jelli are jumping on board quickly. Jelli has created a platform for the radio giant, iHeartMedia, giving them the ability to sell inventory across all 858 network stations reaching a quarter of a billion people.

“Smart Audio Audience” buys have some obvious pros and cons. Pros consist of the ability to reach a large amount of people, targeting an audience rather than a daypart & demo, and the data to conduct more sophisticated buys to name a few. On the flip side, with such a large geographic, programmatic lacks the ability to buy locally eliminating the option for advertisers to promote local deals.

Digital support has also immerged in efforts to keep broadcast radio alive. Entercom, a broadcast radio company, created 120 websites for each of its 120 broadcast stations giving listeners the ability to interact socially, engage with DJ’s, and be connected like never before. In fact, Kansas City’s own 96.5 The Buzz doubled their station listenership when they added a streaming component.

All of that to say, radio isn’t ready to wave the white flag. In fact, radio isn’t even close to calling it quits, and neither are advertisers who take advantage of the successful media outlet. 

Print and Other Traditional Medias Trusted Over Social

Professor of marketing at Melbourne Business School, Mark Ritson, uses Nielsen research to point out the continued trustworthiness of print marketing. As mentioned by Ritson, Nielsen declares that sixty-percent of people still trust print advertising. Fifty-six percent of people trust outdoor billboards and other out-of-home advertisements. However, the percent of trust level drops to forty-six when discussing online and social media ads.

Even millennials, the social media gurus, trust print and television advertising more than online and social. So why is that? Shouldn’t millennials lean towards the new and innovative outlets?

Well, I have no facts for you. No cut and dry numbers to tally. But what I do have is first-hand experience, insight, and opinions from a millennial herself: me. 

Theory 1: We don’t fully trust the internet itself

Millennials are raised being told, “Don’t trust everything you read online”. Well, that carries over directly to advertisements. We’re taught to do our due diligence to verify accuracy or simply take everything we see/read with a grain of salt.

Theory 2: We assume anything with a poor design is a poor product/service

The poor aesthetics of some online ads automatically rule them as a scam, inaccurate, or simply untrustworthy. Again, growing up in the digital world we are taught to be cautious of things we click on and access.

Theory 3: We are bombarded with digital

There are so many online/social ads that they’re an annoyance. With seemingly fewer television and print ads, they make a bigger impact. Expanding on this, growing up we were accustomed to seeing television and print ads. However, since the Internet was relatively new, there were little to no ads online making their entrance into the digital world disruptive.

Theory 4: We still like the attributes of physical print advertising

Direct mail print pieces give us a physical reminder. While digital calendars/coupons/offers are becoming more and more popular, I would still rather get a direct mail piece, disconnect the coupon, put it in my wallet, and make a point to go to the store to take advantage of the special offer.

Theory 5: We think less expensive = cheap quality

Digital ads are cheaper therefore less important. I think the majority of individuals realize that a television ad is more expensive than a display banner ad, therefore since anyone can afford online/social ads; they must not be as quality, prestigious, trustworthy, etc.

Like I said, no facts with sited sources or charts with extensive data, I simply have opinions of a twenty-something millennial living in the media world.