Is Radio Better Than Newspaper?

Roy Williams, President the “Wizard of Ads”, a well known advertising consultant said," If you (1.) make exactly the same offer on radio as in the newspaper, and (2.) spend exactly the same amount of money with each media, (3.) across precisely the same span of time, radio outperforms newspaper nearly 14 to 1.

Here Are Some Of Newspaper's Disadvantages

Decreasing Penetration: Gone are the days when almost every household subscribed to at least one newspaper. Just after WWII, there were more than 1.2 newspapers in the U.S. for every household. Today, it's 0.4, meaning that on average, a household subscribes to less than half a paper. (RAB Newspaper Performance Reports, based on ABC data) (Knight Foundation, 2011)

Ad Clutter, No Separation: Your ad placed next to your competitors’ can only be an advantage if your price is absolutely the lowest.

Passive: The paper provides information once consumers decide to buy, but it does not build brand awareness or create product demand. Newspaper advertising thus works mainly for comparing prices.

Browsers, Not Readers: Most people don’t read all sections of the paper every day. Ads in a given section reach only those who read that section.

Can’t Target: It's difficult to accommodate selective approaches that improve your cost efficiency and enhance frequency against clearly defined, high-potential customer segments.

Declining Ad Revenue: All three major newspaper print ad revenue categories have declined sharply in recent years. When compared to 2010, Retail is down 42% since 2005; National is down 45% since 2003; and Classified is down 67% since 2005. (State of the News Media, 2011)

New Competition from Outside: One of newspaper's ad categories (classifieds) is under attack both from Internet sites and radio stations.

Aging Audience: Newspaper readership skews older (50+).

If you're an advetiser that uses newspaper, here what you need to know:

Less ad clutter: Radio features commercials one at a time unlike newspaper that often displays multiple ads on the same page, diminishing branding opportunities.

Radio Excels: Where newspaper is deficient, Radio excels. Combining the two in a media mix capitalizes on the advantages of both media.

Excellent Reach: Radio reaches 72% of adults every day, and 93% every week. Using Radio together with newspaper increases the reach of your advertisement among light readers and younger consumers.

Time: Sixty-two percent of shoppers listened to Radio 13 minutes prior to making a purchase -– providing the greatest "purchase proximity" of all major media. Combining Radio with newspaper allows you to influence more customers and closer to the point of purchase when they are most receptive to critical marketing information.(Radio Marketing Guide, 2011)

Linear Medium: Radio is a linear medium, unlike newspaper where the reader can skip past ads.

Intrusive: The success of your marketing strategy depends greatly on how you reach and motivate your customers before their decision to purchase has been made. The intimate power of Radio can stimulate new demand by creating emotional reasons to buy your product and then directing customers to the newspaper for detailed information. It can help maintain loyal customers by keeping your name or brand image top-of-mind.

Listeners hear commercials: Newspapers like to be judged on how many subscribers or readers they have, not on how many people read an ad. Radio judges itself on how many people are available hear a commercial (Average Quarter Hour). Newspaper readership is more comparable to Radio’s cume audience.

Targetable: Radio programs many different formats, each attracting a particular demographic or lifestyle listener. Advertisers targeting a specific audience often find Radio more efficient than newspaper.

Message Frequency: Radio adds impact through message frequency. That means bigger and faster results because repetition sells.

Radio's Efficient: Of all media, radio is the most efficent!. You get more bang for your marketing buck than any other media today.