To many in the business the local radio ad is the poor cousin of the media world. It may be safe to say that people shy away from local radio ads as they are seen as old fashioned and out of date, but in truth there is more to a local radio ad than just a plug to a select few.

Commercial radio is far from unpopular, and local radio is often the cornerstone of listeners choice; many local issues are taken up by local radio, and these stations tend to put across a more intelligent content than the mainstream channels.

So what are the advantages of a local radio ad?

Advertising is, of course, about informing a target audience, and one of the advantages of a local radio ad is that local companies can advertise knowing their advert will be heard by people in the right area. It is so that local radio, being very location-specific, garners a more select audience, but there is more.

Cost is also a factor in deciding on a marketing campaign, and local radio, by its very nature, offers a relatively cost effective method of getting a point across to a large number of people within a given target area. Depending on the time of day early morning breakfast and rush hour slots are favourable the audience can be surprisingly vast, and the cost is less than opting for a television campaign, and often less than an effective print campaign to.

There is one important aspect of the local radio ad that is not to be overlooked, and that is the captive audience it tends to have. Picture a traffic jam in the morning, on the way to work, and many of those drivers will be listening to the local station. Unlike television, when the adverts are aired they have nowhere to go. They will, in general, listen to the advert as it is what is on offer.

The community aspect

Another favourable part of the appeal of the local radio ad is that it is very much seen as a community enhancement; people do tend to favour local providers over major national chains, and the local advertiser on the local radio will be viewed as a community provider.

This is, indeed, an aspect that is largely overlooked, but it is vital that the role of local radio in the community is enhanced by the provision of ads for local services; it all adds up, and it all brings to the customer something they like to see; the personal touch.

Radio is still very popular, and local radio very much so, and as such is still a viable advertising medium; given that radio is also broadcast across the internet the scope for use of local radio ads is much wider than may at first seem to be the case.

Far from being a dying art, the local radio ad is a thriving medium and shows no signs of becoming anything other than that in the near future.