As an advisor, you probably at one time or another thought about using radio to tell the world about your unique difference and the services you provide. This can be a great idea if you understand your audience and you have a strategic plan in place to reach and convert them. I tell advisors not to think about radio unless they have a budget and a strategy to pursue radio marketing for 12 months. The phone probably won’t start ringing the day you hit the air, but with consistency and practice you can start attracting prospects fairly quickly.
Changing listener habits
One might think that the popularity of digital and satellite content would have killed the radio industry a long time ago. The fact is that radio still reaches 90% of U.S. households every week. These “households,” however, are moving as the majority of listening is now done in vehicles. This audience is also comprised of a high number of adults aged 35-64.
Commercials?
It seems logical that all an advisor would have to do is develop a budget and a bunch of commercials to attract clients. Though it can be done with time, this is also an excellent way to waste a lot of money. With a 30 or 60 second commercial, you can elevate your brand and increase name recognition in your market. With that amount of time, however, it’s difficult to get your phone to ring unless you are pushing a product with an attractive rate or price. This would only attract a transactional prospect and could burn through six months of your investment before you saw any traction. You would need to hire a direct response company to develop the campaign first and allocate a pretty hefty budget on multiple stations to achieve the reach and frequency necessary to attract your audience.
You’re the star!
Most of the advisors I work with who use radio develop their own hour-long, weekend show. This is typically much more affordable and gives them the time to brand their firm and generate leads. Think about it like doing a seminar for thousands instead of a handful of people at a library. The monthly cost in most markets with air time and production is similar to a dinner event. An advisor would need to commit around 90 minutes a week to record the show, and many do it from their office.
If you are interested in learning more about using radio and how we can support you, call Scott Drake at 800 440 1088. Scott Drake is Director of Client Acquisition at Quantum and has been a large market radio host for more than 20 years.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/topics/1330/radio/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/252185/radios-weekly-reach-in-the-us-by-age-and-gender/
Scott spent 20+ years as a large market radio host, on-camera news talent and VP of content creation. He helps develop and manage all advisor client acquisition strategies for Quantum, including live events, digital, social and legacy media campaigns.
