If there was a medium out there that had a listener base of more than 94% of the population, you would certainly consider it a very effective medium. Wouldn't you? Tune to Radio Gospel Jovem for ad free latest hits.
Does a medium like that actually exist? At this day and age there are so many mediums that bombard the consumer with advertising messages, how on earth could one medium still command such a large audience? How could such a medium command and engaged audience?
Sure it's easy to "pop up" every now and then in front of someone, but any sort of advertising medium needs to have a way to engage with that viewer or listener if its going to be effective.
You would think that a medium like that, that reached such a large percentage of the population would be extremely expensive to advertise on. It would also very likely be out of reach for most small and medium-size businesses, right? Wrong.
The medium that I'm talking about does exist. The medium is radio.
Recent studies actually show that radio listenership is on the rise. CDs are slowly disappearing out of people's cars, and the frustration of creating that perfect "playlist" is losing its novelty effect. People are going back to a pre-programmed way of listening to music and using the medium as a way of escaping the stress of daily life as they commute to and from work. Often times a radio will be played from a web stream or a box on a desk during work hours, or just in the background at home.
The fact of the matter is that radio reaches more people than almost every other advertising medium out there. Sure it has its pros and cons, but with more radio stations out there than ever before it also remains one of the most targeted mediums for reaching a select clients. It is also very affordable.
When you compare all the options available to the small or medium-size business today, radio continues to come in is one of the most low-cost options when you consider the cost of reaching one individual listener at a time. (cost per thousand or cpm). It often times breaks down to just pennies. This translates to being 10x to 100x cheaper than other mediums.
Radio lives and breathes by delivering long-term results and maintaining relationships with its clients. Radio only works for the "radio station" if its advertisers are happy. Often times radio stations will throw in "added value" options such as extra commercials or promotions to support a commercial schedule to help ensure a positive experience for its advertisers.