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Increase Radio Revenue With Mixed Media

Non-traditional revenue opportunities can help keep you in the black

Radio client ad dollars continue to flow to digital media.

Build up your revenue streams with a mix of media — tap tangential, non-traditional revenue sources like search engine marketing, video or website creation.
Pixabay/Gerd Altmann

MarketingCharts.com says radio advertising is expected to increase marginally from $18.2 billion to $19.1 billion by 2021 (https://tinyurl.com/yc973qvf). In the same time period, online advertising is forecasted to grow by 9.9 percent every year, to $116 billion.

Part of the reason for online advertising’s growth is that radio drives online search. In a study done over the summer of 2017 (https://tinyurl.com/ya589aaj), researchers found that radio drove an average 29 percent lift in Google searches among those categories advertised a mere minute or two ago. And those searches result in additional ads viewed and clicked online.

So how do you maintain or even increase revenue, in light of this? I suggest exploring non-traditional revenue sources in the digital realm.

Let’s look at some revenue streams you can add to your portfolio and offer to clients, getting your salespeople working again. These ideas may seem difficult to execute at first, but with a bit of determination and research, you can successfully add to your radio station’s revenue.

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

Search engine marketing utilizes Google AdWords to advertise your clients to specific markets based on keywords, geography and demographics.

You can assist your radio ads in driving calls to your client or traffic to their website, as well as keeping them “top of mind, top of search.” The ability to target coincides with your local clients’ desires, as you can ensure the ads appear to only local people.

AdWords starts with the searcher “Googling” for something. Then, Google kicks into high gear with its algorithm, trying to match that query with keywords in the AdWords advertiser keyword pool. Since there’s only room for four AdWords advertisements at the top of search results and two at the bottom, the algorithm chooses up to six ads to display.

Your salespeople or account representatives will help clients choose appropriate keywords and create ads linking to their website or phone number.

WEBSITE CREATION

There are plenty of businesses out there that still don’t have a website. These days, creating basic websites with a logo and contact information is a cinch, but can be a great source of revenue from those clients who just need to be found online.

WordPress is the most common website content management system in the world. This CMS has many free themes and tutorials available to help you learn how to build a simple one to five page website.

Building websites takes some practice, and the most efficient way to do that is by having clients pay you to do it. If a client needs a simple WordPress landing page with their address, phone number and list of services, it’s time to take a test drive and prove you can do it.

RADIO CAN MORPH INTO VIDEO ADS

One of the biggest areas for growth in advertising is in online videos. In fact, by 2021 video is forecasted to be the largest share of online advertising spending. It’s time to get in on the action and build an additional revenue stream for your station.

With a rudimentary understanding of video creation and a free tool, like Windows Movie Maker, you can begin making simple, 30-second videos for your client.

You already have the audio in place from their radio ads — now you need to find visuals to match. These can be still images or videos. These videos can then be used on the client’s website, or as part of a social media ad program, YouTube ad program or run on other local media outlets or websites.

Options include:

• Purchasing stock images or videos online
• Finding free (Creative Commons Zero) images or videos online
• Taking or having a professional take photos or videos of the client’s business or products

Another option is partnering with a video production company.

Radio continues to be a strong option for advertisers, but the industry can only strengthen its hand by offering multimedia options.

Cliff Robbins, co-founder of website design and hosting company Trustdyx, is a graduate of the computer science program at Regis University in Denver. He has focused his post-U.S. Marine Corps career in technology sector, including software development and digital strategy.

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