Understanding Basic Radio Advertising Concepts

by Kevin Smith Author

You have a fantastic new radio commercial. The only left left to do is have it played on the air for many people to hear. How exciting! You're at the last step in your plan, but this is where things often get tricky. You don't want to blow the rest of your budget playing your ad in the middle of the night when no one will hear it. This means you'll need to know and understand a few radio advertising terms in order to read your rate card, discuss your options with the station, and get the most bang for your buck.

 

As you move forward, it’s important to have a firm grasp of these often misunderstood advertising terms:

 

Media Cost This is the price you pay to present your advertisement. In this case, it is the price you pay to have your radio commercial played on air.

 

Spot Moving forward, the word "spot" will describe your radio commercial you want to be played.

 

Media Market The Market describes the set of people that could potentially be exposed to your advertisement. The media market is often described using Designated Market Areas, or DMAs. This is a term trademarked by Nielsen.

 

Population Population is the total number of people in your Media Market. It isn't the total number of people listening to the radio station, but it is a crucial number in understanding whether a station is popular or not.

 

Rating Population is used to calculate the station's rating. Rating is the percentage, from 0 to 100, of the Media Market that will likely be exposed to your advertisement. The most popular station at the most popular time, prime time, may be out of your reach financially. You'll want to find the highest rating that your budget allows.

 

Reach Reach is the number of people in the Media Market that will likely be exposed to one Spot. Estimating reach is tricky! Reach can also be expressed as a percentage, which indicates the percentage of the Population that is exposed to at least one Spot.

 

Gross Rating Points (GRPs) You want your commercial played more than once. This makes it a "campaign." This is a measure of the size of an advertising campaign by a specific medium or schedule. GRP is calculated by multiplying the number of Spots by Rating.

 

Impressions- Impressions are the total number of exposures to your advertisement. This doesn't mean the number of people necessarily, though. Does that sound confusing? Think of it this way- if one person is exposed to your television commercial five times, it would count as five impressions and not just one. Impressions are calculated by multiplying the number of Spots by "Average Persons."

 

Cost per Point (CPP) This is a measure of cost efficiency. Knowing the CPP allows you to compare the cost of this advertisement effort to others. CPP is calculated as Media Cost divided by Gross Rating Points (GRPs). Essentially, how much did you spend, how many times was it played, and how many people heard it?

 

By understanding these terms, you're ready to purchase on-air time for your radio commercial with confidence!

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Created on May 26th 2021 07:33. Viewed 349 times.

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