The Dental Marketer

If you’ve been thinking about radio advertising, pull the trigger now.  If you already advertise on radio, buy a little more in January.

First quarter is always a radio advertising buying opportunity, especially January.  The radio industry suffers a “retail hangover” after the holiday season exhausts the advertising budgets for seasonal marketers who depend on year-end gift-giving.  

Dental practices are largely immune from seasonal customer buying patterns.  Dentists are typically best-served by a regular presence on the radio, so except for skipping the last two weeks of December, their radio buying schedule remains the same.

Keep advertising in January, but take advantage of the special discounts available, and buy more.  Even if you can’t afford to raise the budget, find out about rate deals that may stretch your buying power.  Ask your station representative or your media buyer about first quarter discounts, or “one-day sales”, that are prevalent in the industry.

This advice is true every year, but it applies even more so now.  The radio industry is suffering advertising revenue losses, even though radio stations are still adding listeners.   See the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/business/media/26adco.html?partner=rss&emc=rss   Radio’s biggest clients, car dealers and retail have been stung especially hard by the current economy, and many have cut back ad budgets. Their loss is your gain. 

When stations lose advertisers they have more inventory available.  That’s when they are in the mood for making deals and dropping rates.  Combine that with the typical January advertising climate, and you have the perfect storm of a buying opportunity.