Radio advertising today is generally considered a poor investment. Besides the fact radio ads are an unwelcome interruption to the listener, the huge growth of "ad-free" satellite radio stations serving your market has grown dramatically and greatly diluted the audience base of local radio broadcast stations.



But, with that said, there is a nugget of gold in the radio market that most people do not know about.

This secret marketing "golden nugget" is Christian radio.

Yes, they have a smaller listener base than most regular radio stations. But if the most important thing to you is the number of real dollars coming into your cash register, then you will want to read this story.

John P. opened a new appliance and satellite dish store in a community of about 35,000 residents, in Northwestern Wisconsin. For his grand opening, he advertised on the main TV station in the area, the two highest rated radio stations, and in the local newspaper. As an after-thought, he purchased a few ad spots on a Christian radio station located in a community about 60 miles away.

John was a very analytical person, so he kept very close track of the results.

The TV ads pulled the highest number of visitors. The newspaper pulled in the second highest, and the two major radio stations came in third and fourth. The Christian station came in last in total volume of visitors. As far as his advertising spend, most of his money was spent with TV, his second highest investment was with the two main radio stations. His third highest investment was the newspaper and his lowest investment was with the Christian station.

The highest total dollars spent by visitors came from the newspaper readers. This he found as no surprise based on experience.

According to this, you would conclude, and rightly so, that the newspaper was his best return on investment. His worst investment appears to be the Christian station.

But here is where it really gets interesting.

His second best medium for volume of actual dollars brought in during this event was the Christian station. The Christian station brought in more profit than TV and more than the other two radio stations combined.

John also kept track of conversion ratios. Newspaper provided one paying customer out of eight visitors. TV and the two radio stations converted at the rate of one customer per 16 visitors. But the Christian radio station came in at better than one sale out of two visitors.

Here is why John got such a phenomenal return on investment from the Christian radio station.

Christian radio listeners are a fiercely loyal audience. So committed and loyal, in fact, that they are continually sending in DONATIONS to support their station. Just think about that. What other medium that accepts advertising have you ever heard about that receives supporting donations from its audience?

When they hear your ad on "their" station, you become, in their minds, "part of the family". Because you are supporting them, they feel a strong inclination to support you. If there is a choice to be made for a specific need they have, they will tend to choose you first. This is true, of course, provided your products or services are not in conflict with their beliefs.

The biggest challenge in marketing any business is building credibility and trust. These are built in features with Christian radio advertising.

John chose the "interview-commercial" format for his ads. This is a powerful advertising method. The station owner or manager interviewed him about his business. This type of ad format comes across to the listener as informative rather than an irritating interruption. Also, in the listeners mind, they are not doing business with an impersonal business but a real person just like them.

Before moving forward with an ad program such as this, it would be wise to listen to the station for a few days to get a feel for their content, so you can better harmonize with their audience. Also, find out when their most popular programs air and use only those time slots - at least initially. These will be the most responsive times for you and give you more accurate test results.

Because Christian programming is normally more content than music drove, you may find the most popular programs air in early evening.

And, as with all marketing, your best results come from being honest, being genuine, being yourself.

Keep newspaper as your base source of revenue generation, but you may find the local Christian radio station a strong ally and a wise investment for a long term boost in business. This group of loyal customers can create steady growth for your business, and help smooth out the ups and downs of the marketplace.