How much does radio advertising cost?

How much does radio advertising cost?  The short answer is – it depends.  One of the great things about radio advertising is that there are options available for every budget and in some cases you can advertise without any money available at all.

Prices for radio advertising can differ based on the time of day you would like your ad to run.  The most expensive time of day is… you guessed it – the morning.  Morning is the highest listening time of the day – people driving to work, getting ready, catching up on important news, and let’s face it we all need help getting into the “groove”.  Costs for radio advertising is highest from 6 am to 10 am.  Likewise, costs tend to be higher for the evening commute – roughly 4 pm to 6pm.

The most affordable times of day to advertise on the radio is in the overnight.  Rates will typically drop starting around 8 pm.  Sometimes you will hear radio sales people talk about their “available” spot rates.  BE CAREFUL when you hear these words because while they may be low rates, what they may not tell you is that your ad will ONLY run in the available time slots after all other non-available ads have been scheduled.  This typically means that your ads will run in the evenings. So, remember the old saying, “You get what you pay for”.  If that’s all you can afford then it’s a good place to start.  However, don’t be fooled by an unscrupulous sales person telling you that their rates are the best in the market only to find out later your ads ran in the overnight when you thought they would be played in the daytime.

So how does radio advertising rates work?

The cost for advertising on the radio is done on a per-spot basis.  You will be charged every time your ad runs.  So, if you want your ad to run 5 times per day for 5 days you will have a total of 25 ads.  If you have an single price ad rate of $10 per ad you will be charged a total of $250 dollars for the 25 ads (and you thought high school word problems were never used in real life)!

What are the lengths of radio ads?

Radio ads can be done created in different lengths and the typical lengths are :15, :30, :60 seconds and sometimes :45 seconds.  Prices will vary based on length.

Do I have to pay extra to have the radio station create my ad?

Most often stations will not charge you to create your ad unless you’re looking for a jingle or a celebrity voice.

How do I reduce my costs for radio advertising?

Consider running your radio ads for a longer period of time.  By increasing the number of times your ad will run we can reduce the per-ad cost which will save you money AND give you more exposure.

You can also ask about any radio promotions that we have running. We typically always have an event we’re promoting and by advertising in one of those events we can give you a reduced price with great exposure.

You mentioned free radio advertising – how does that work?

At WHOU we offer some free options for radio advertising.  If you belong to a non-profit organization you can get your event posted on our Community Calendar for free.  To add your event to our calendar you can fax it to207-521-0056 or email it to [email protected].  We will run your announcement twice a day during our Community Calendar during the week leading up to your event.

Sometimes we can also create a public service announcement for you if your message has a significant impact on the community.  Feel free to ask us about this option if you think your cause might apply.

Trade for Radio Advertising

Another way to reduce the cost for advertising is the possibility of trading a good or service for the advertisements.  While we can’t always make this work out sometimes it is a great option.  Again, give us a call and we’ll be happy to talk to you about trading as an option.

What about the cost of radio advertising at WHOU?

If you haven’t guessed by now the answer is… it depends.  However, our philosophy is that we want YOU to be successful AND we will work with you and your budget.  We want to understand what your goals are, who your customers are, what your service and/or products are.  By getting to know you and your business or organization better we can help create a radio advertising or marketing package that is not only affordable but also effective.