still doing radio?

[MDKing]

I think people are too quick to dump radio, it's still the best place for us right now, internet being a close second. Satellite has few listeners overall, people just prefer to listen to the personalities they have grown used to hearing and you don't get that on Satellite, not to mention local weather and traffic info. Radio still has several strong years and should be taken advantage of. We all know it will soon diminish by a lot, so use that in your negotiating when you appoach them. Just be sure they really get behind your event and do plenty of fun and creative promos and web advertisng. There are other things that come with dealing with radio like all the promos, ticket giveaways, that really give you more bang for your buck and creates a buzz by DJs and station personalities your patrons already trust!

Allan

[Darkangel]

What do you guys usually spend on a typical radio campaign?

Darkangel

[The13thHour]

I think radio is still valid. We are in a mid-size market and use radio quite well. One thing that helped our last marketing campaign was to use a professional service to produce the commercial instead of using the radio station. Our numbers really jumped because the ad sounded alot better than anything the radio stations had given us in the past. In fact, I wish I could remember the guys name...I got it from Ben. Ben, who was that guy?

Cody Minor
UCP Fright Factory

[Jim Warfield]

My house and show here so impressed the two most popular DJs in this area that they paid me the first time they brought a group here.
They would talk about my house all on their own as part of their normal show, I never paid them or their station anything.
I discovered how incredibly popular they are though, everybody listens to their show!! They are very clever and creative guys doing almost anything imaginable on the air. the once prank-called Evil Knieval and got him swearing at them and saying really strange insults, ex ctera. their website used to be 2dorks.com, maybe it still is? Dwire & Micheals.

[gotwilt]

Check with the stations that you advertise with to try to agree on a dollar for dollar trade. Some will allow you to provide xx amount of tickets for xx number of spots. Does anyone do this?

I know on our station Kennywood, gravely mentioned them, trade us dollar for dollar for I think 300 tickets and you and Undead can relate to how often you hear their ads.

Just my 2 cents

[Randy Bates]

Radio is still effective, as long as you make your rep work hard for you. I always insist that they bring me a 3rd party sponsor such as Wendy's, Burger King, Blockbuster, etc. I've had pretty good luck in this area. You also want to insist on e-mail blasts, and a web presence on their site.

I know one of my competitors decided to spend less on radio, and concentrate on other avenues, and he later told me it was a mistake. Buy radio, but do it wisely.