Are You Still Listening? Advertising on Internet Radio

Many companies are looking for new and unique ways to reach their audience in 2012. With a landscape that is so inundated with advertising and continually changing technology, it is very hard to become part of the fabric of the consumer’s busy lifestyle and stand out from the competition. While traditional media is certainly still relevant, new mediums are emerging and staking claim in your customer’s time spent.

Advertising on the Internet has been well received by many companies because of its unrivaled measurability. Online radio sites such as Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Slacker can give the advertiser definitive audience numbers and exact dollars spent. Many guessing games of the past are gone with such measurable mediums.

Pandora currently has a listener base of over 100 million. In the San Diego market alone, they reach over 29% of the adult audience and are ranked with online sites such as Facebook, Google, and Yahoo. With 20% of adults now getting their radio from non-terrestrial stations, reaching your customer through an online radio platform seems impossible to leave out of a marketing plan. Pandora offers audio spots similar to what is heard on the terrestrial radio (:30s and :60s) but it is closely targeted demographically and geographically. Because it is an online-based system, the marketer is able to target known users instead of projections. The unique selling point of display ads on the Pandora site is that you are guaranteed user interaction rather than static banner ads that might go unnoticed. Users are constantly revisiting this platform on an average of 8 times per hour to give feedback on what they are listening to. And if you don’t reach the consumer on their computers, Pandora also captures their listeners on mobile platforms where 50% of users are listening these days.

Pandora radio and other similar online radio platforms are truly changing the scope of advertising on radio. This platform is holding media accountable and providing constant access to customers, whether they’re in their cars, at home or at work.

If you need help incorporating some of these ideas into your 2012 plans please give Oster and Associates a call at 619-906-5540 or email us at info@osterads.com.