TOP 4 MUST KNOW RADIO ADVERTISING TRENDS
Radio advertising trends look at what is happening and what is most likely to happen. They see how radio advertising has evolved so far, what is working, and what is most likely to change. Not all radio advertising trends continue for a long time, but some do. Here are four must know radio advertising trends that will continue as 2018 rolls along.
1. Continued Use of Mobile Devices
One of the important radio advertising trends is the growing use of smartphones. While most people still have a computer, most information is accessed via smartphone. This includes radio apps. So far, radio hasn’t done as good a job of adapting to smartphones as it could. But there is still time to change, which makes it an important trend to watch.
There are a lot of ideas on how to integrate smartphone use into radio listening. One idea is to use in -app texting for things like song requests or even birthday wishes. Another simple function is to pair a smartphone alarm notification with the radio channel of one’s choosing. In essence, this is bringing the clock radio into the 21st century. There is also a lot that could be done with push notifications via an app. Contest alerts, or trivia is a great way for smartphones to integrate into the world of radio.
2. Less Shock Jocks
We’ve entered an era of political correctness, for better of for worth. And this extends to radio personalities. While shock jocks used to rule the airwaves, they have been replaced with more empathetic personalities.
Indeed, if there is hint of racism or bigotry, radio personalities are quickly suspended and even fired. One motivating factor to this is that radio advertisers don’t want to be associated with controversy. Social media plays a huge role in this as there have been many grassroots campaigns to boycott companies that advertise on controversial radio shows.
One example of this is Sirius XM radio host, Patrick Connor, who made inappropriate comments about Olympian gold medalist Chloe Kim. While he was first reprimanded and later issued an apology, soon after he was fired from his show. This shows that there is no longer a three strikes rule. If a comment is egregious enough, it can result in immediate firing.
Nicer on-air personalities is just on of the many radio advertising trends that exist. Advertisers know that their brand can be ruined merely be association and as such will quickly distance themselves from someone who seeks to offend others.
3. Personal Testimonials
Radio host can seem as well known as friends. They are listened to at the same time every day, and their thoughts are broadcast. Through their opinions, it can feel like you really know someone. This is why personal testimonials is just one of the growing radio advertising trends.
It’s a true adage that personal recommendations sell products. But this is hard to scale. However, radio personalities are one way to bring a friendly voice to a product recommendation. They have always existed, and will continue to do so because they work.
Personal testimonials can’t just be about selling a product. Indeed, it has to seem as if the idea was naturally brought up. If an ad doesn’t sound like an ad, then people are more likely to keep listening to it.
4. Limited Growth
Radio is still al viable medium. While it has waxed and waned over the years, for the most part, radio listeners have remained stable in the past year and this trend will continue for at least the next few years.
This stable growth is a result of balanced scales. While the number of people listening to radio has slightly increased, the amount of time that people are listening to radio has decreased slightly. This is because of two reasons. One, people are busier now. There aren’t long periods of down time in which to listen to the radio. The other reason is that people generally have shorter attention spans. They might listen to the radio for a little bit, put on a podcast for an episode, and then decide to go out afterwards.