An RSC member shares this dilemma and asks for your advice:
We are a small community station. We are nestled in-between a large radio company I won't name. The issue I'm finding is our coverage map is the same, if not they cover more area. They have I believe 5-7 stations in different counties. When I'm planning or going over rates, I'm finding out from friends who are business owners that they are roughly 80% cheaper per commercial than we are. We need to be at our rate to still keep running. It's been a thorn in my side because they offer the same quality, more coverage, cheaper rates, and I just can't think of anything to overcome that.
They are offering digital as well; they seem to have an answer for everything we offer.
The only thing I absolutely know that we have a leg up on them is our promotions are more interactive [e.g., listeners are required to visit locations and/or spend money with our customers to vote]. But getting businesses to commit to sponsor is a struggle.
It feels like I'm surrounded by a powerhouse of stuff to overcome. I even lost a long-time customer because they got a deal that we couldn't even sniff. So I'm down in the dumps about it, but still going up to the plate to bat.
If you have any ideas, tips, pointers, I am all ears! I really want our station to be successful and I'm willing to do anything to do so!
at April 22, 2022 4:02 PM PDT
Just now saw this post. If the unnamed member would like to message (or email) me directly, I'd be glad to offer whatever ideas or insights I can, based on my own experience, which includes many years working at the "underdog" stations in a market that used to be dominated by the other guys.
If, in fact, your competitors are offering advertisers a) better coverage; b) more favorable ad rates (80% cheaper? really??); and c) digital options you can't provide, you have some very large and very real obstacles to overcome. Are they insurmountable? Quite possibly, unless you're able to level the playing field by bringing your advertisers a value-proposition that justifies the investment you're asking them to make.
Can you quantify how your "more interactive" promotions deliver greater value than the advertising they're buying with your competitors? Are you able to demonstrate how and why what you're giving them results in better customers, greater income, larger profits? Because that's what advertisers are looking for - a return on their investment. If you can show them how by spending $1.00 with you, they'll earn $1.10 in income, that's a 10% profit (all other factors being equal) -- a better return than banks are paying these days. Figuring out HOW to do that is the challenge you face.
at February 15, 2024 3:31 PM PST
From John Glavin:
