Radio Results Blog

There are 75,072 adults in Southern Maine who have an annual household income of $150,000 or more. This is just under 10% of the population.

Why should Maine small business owners care about this segment of the population? This tiny slice of the population accounts for 40% of all retail spending, that's why. We're talking $4.4 billion in cha-ching!

If a business owner wants to claim an unfair share of these rare and valuable southern Maine consumers, then advertising is required. And which medium is most capable of reaching these big spenders? Portland radio.

According to Nielsen, 94.6% of these big earners tune into a local, Portland radio station each week. This is far more than watch local TV, read local newspapers, or thumb-through local magazines.

Thousands of Maine small business owners depend on Portland radio to attract new customers. Radio advertising works so well that even TV networks benefit from it.  A recent study demonstrates just how well.

First of all, radio reaches more adults each week than any other medium. More than TV. More than smartphones. More than newspapers. More than anything. Last week, for instance, almost 700,000 consumers living in southern Maine tuned into a Portland radio station.

So, when a national TV network wanted to compel viewers to tune-in to a recent mini-series, it advertised the show on the radio. To determine if the advertising paid off, Nielsen, a media research company, partnered with Cumulus Westwood One, a radio broadcasting company, to measure the results. Let's just say the results were spectacular.

When a Maine small business owner invests in an advertising campaign, the goal of the ads should never be to sell a product. The primary purpose for any type of ad including those on TV, on radio, or online, is to be remembered. When a consumer can't recall your company's message when it's time to make a purchase, chances are they'll buy from your competitors.

So, when a business owner has to choose between purchasing ads on Portland radio, TV, or digital, the owner needs to know which ads are most likely to be remembered. Spoiler alert: it's the radio commercials. How do we know? Science tells us so.

Last week in southern Maine, according to Nielsen, 700,000 adult consumers tuned-in to their favorite Portland radio station. This is, by far, more people than who watched TV, read a newspaper, used a smartphone, or used an online app.

The reality that radio has the largest reach is not lost on thousands of Maine small business owners who depend on the medium to advertise their products and services. As we wrote in the article "The 3 Rs of Radio Advertising", reach is the second most potent element of a successful ad campaign for driving sales. What is the most powerful component?

Confession: WMEA-FM, 90.1, is one of the Portland radio presets on my car radio.

WMEA is one of the 13 Maine stations that comprise Maine Public. This network provides listeners from Kittery to Fort Kent with programming from NPR (National Public Radio); local news; and classical music.

Each week, 17% of all adults living in southern Maine, tune-into WMEA. This, according to Nielsen, makes it the most listened to Portland radio station. So, does it make sense for a Maine small business to advertise and market its goods and services to this audience. Here are some things considered:

"Past a foreboding sewer. Down the street with the cracks you should not step on, lest you break your mother's back. There, lies a place of unexpected sweetness."

Where is this place? It's in the minds of radio listeners who are in the market to buy a new Radio Flyer wagon.

This mellifluous sentiment fills the first 28 words of an award-winning radio commercial for the iconic children's toy. These words, set against a heart-nudging musical score, instantly transport the listener to a place where they feel welcome. A place that looks different to each person invited on the 60-second sonic journey. This commercial tells a story. To hear the whole commercial, click here.

What story does your Maine small business tell in commercials on Portland radio? Or, do you tell a story at all?

The unemployment rate in Maine last month, according to Maine's Department of Labor, was 2.9%. This is the lowest rate since Eisenhower was President.

Ironically, this so called good news for the economy is actually a dose of bad news for Maine business owners. Their growth and profitability is being hampered by an inability to fill critical job openings.

The labor crunch is affecting businesses of all types and sizes ranging from lobster boats to jet engine makers. Diana Roberge, a recruiter for Hannaford, one of Maine’s largest private employers, told the Portland Press Herald that the company has a wide range of positions open, from part-time jobs in retail to management jobs at its corporate headquarters in Scarborough.

Ms. Roberge also told the paper, "We just have to get more creative with how we recruit." This sentiment was echoed by recruiters like L.L. Bean, Bangor Savings Bank, Tyler Technologies, and EMHS in a webinar hosted by the SBA and Portland Radio Group

Become Passive-Aggressive

Many Maine companies have had success finding the qualified candidates they need by ditching traditional recruitment methods such as job boards, job fairs, and newspapers. Instead, they are turning to radio advertising to target candidates who are already working, perhaps for a competitor, but not currently looking to make a change.

If you listened to Portland radio last week, just like 93% of everyone else, then you probably know this phone number: 1-877-Kars-4-Kids.

I can't speak for you, but I can't get the sound of those cute little kids singing the company jingle out of my head.

Stuck in a prospective customer's head. That's a place every Maine small business owner yearns to be. A jingle is a great way to get there.

Kars-4-Kids is a charity that encourages people to turn old cars into charitable contributions.

According to Billboard, the bible of the music industry, the Kars-4-Kids jingle drives results. The magazine reported, in 2016, that the repetition of the jingle was credited with increasing donations by 50% over the previous year. What Maine Small business owner wouldn't want to have similar increases?

Scott Libby must have had a nutritious breakfast when he put together his marketing plan. Metaphorically, at least.

Mr. Libby, owner of Royal River Heat Pumps in Freeport, credits the jingle he broadcasts on Portland radio with more than doubling the sales of his Maine small business in just one year.

Little did Mr. Libby know, his advertising strategy comes right out of the history books of America's most famous cereal brand.

When a Maine small business owner invests in an advertising campaign on Portland radio, the first job of every commercial is to be heard.

Unless an ad is heard, it will fail. In a previous article, Famous First Words: How To Start Your Commercials On Portland Radio, we talked about how to grab consumers by the ears.

Once a radio commercial is heard, its next job is to be remembered. Unless an ad can be recalled at the point of sale, it cannot contribute to a ringing cash register.

Before we can talk about how ads are remembered, we first need to talk about forgetting.