Radio To The Rescue

What advertising and marketing medium should I use right now, is a question I hear all the time and especially now.

As you know, I have spent the majority of my life in the radio business, starting out as a teenage disc jockey and then 10 years later moving to the business side in advertising and marketing.  I also have walked away a couple of times and learned out to drive a forklift and run a plastics thermoformer for a living.

I also left the radio business a couple of times to work in the online world and know a thing or two about website development, social media and digital marketing.  I even have spent time in the print business working with newspapers and magazines.

In 2013 I joined WOWO radio in the advertising sales department and this year was named our stations General Sales Manager after a nationwide search.  I have a few other credentials but let’s get to what I really want to share with you.

During the stay-at-home orders that many states have mandated for the health and safety of our people, the common thought was people would be watching a lot more television. That was initially true with a growth of about 30% for broadcast and cable TV.  But then two things happened.

The TV studios ran out of shows as their seasons were cut short because of the social distancing rules and so fresh dramas, comedies and the reality shows had to either go on hiatus or create a version of their former selves.  Streaming services with no or limited commercials were the real benefactors.  Even the TV news networks are losing viewers due to Corona Fatigue.  With the change of seasons and warmer weather, more people are getting outside in a safe, social distancing manor.

The newspaper business has really been hit hard.  Locally we just saw the end of a nearly 200 year newspaper which was slowly dying over the past 20 years.  The afternoon newspaper in Fort Wayne at one time had 60,000 subscribers had shrunk to under 13,000 nearly a decade ago and finally ceased publication as a daily and became a one or two page insert in the morning paper and did an online version too.

Last month both papers used the Coronavirus as an excuse to furlough many of their staffs and pulled the plug entirely on the former afternoon paper.  As a former paperboy as a kid, it was sad to see.  Unless they figure out a way to make money fast, the morning paper will be history too.

So what about the radio business?  Like the newspaper business, if a radio station was struggling to stay afloat before the pandemic, that are really hurting for revenue now.  My station, WOWO radio was not in that position and is not now.  We have seen listenership increases and advertisers looking to increase their advertising if they are open or hold the course of they are not open.  Not all of our advertising partners but most of them, the smart ones want to stay connected to our listeners.

Here’s a quote from one national study:

The longer the coronavirus lockdown continues, the more people are spending more of their time with audio entertainment. That’s according to the media buying agency Mindshare, which has been tracking consumer behavior since the pandemic began sweeping the globe last month. The latest data finds nearly a third (31%) of Americans say they are listening to more radio than prior to the coronavirus outbreak.The new numbers, collected last week by Mindshare’s U.S. Consumer Insights team, also show the longer people are stuck at home, the more likely they are to be boosting their radio listening. In other words, the longer the stay-at-home orders disrupt typical media habits, the more the number of Americans who say they’re spending more time with radio than in the pre-pandemic period goes up.

Among Mindshare’s other latest findings:

• 51% of Americans have limited their time on media because they don’t want to read any more news about COVID-19. That includes 70% of Millennials.

• 80% of Americans are likely to support a brand that has taken action and helped communities impacted by COVID-19

And another report says:

Nearly 90 million Americans own smart speakers as of January 2020, a 32% increase from a year earlier and 85% higher than in January 2018.

I have seen WOWO radio’s streaming listenership surge during the pandemic and with a third of Americans now owning and using Alexa or Google Home, radio stations like WOWO are benefiting and that means you as one of our advertising partners will also benefit from this increased listenership measured in both more listeners and listeners spending more time listening to WOWO every week.

There are so many creative ways my team has been able to work hand in hand with our advertising partners, I invite you to reach out and let’s come up with ideas for your business to take advantage of the WOWO Radio Advantage during this special time.