Traditional Radio Relevancy in 2024 & 2025

by Scott Howard | Dec 30, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

It’s the week between Christmas and New Year and for this weeks update, I found an article that caught my attention back in July. You can read it here.
In the meantime, I’m just going to share a couple of thoughts from that story and what really matters as we move to a new year.

Between ad-supported Spotify or ad-supported Pandora and AM/FM radio, what do most people only listen to? New data courtesy of Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” quarterly study, examined by Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer of the Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group, shares that it is broadcast radio that is the definitive answer to that question.

There are tons of research being done on an ongoing basis that show the power of traditional radio and this is one of them.

With 4,000 Americans surveyed by Edison Research, ad-supported audio was put under the magnifying glass. And, six key findings from the Q1 2024 “Share of Ear” study caught Bouvard’s eye:

In a typical day, ad-supported digital audio reaches a third of America; AM/FM radio reaches two-thirds of America; Combined, digital audio and AM/FM radio reach 75% of the U.S. daily

Those numbers are referring to daily listening habits which is different from the way Nielsen Research measures listenership for radio stations. Nielsen gives us the number of weekly listeners which has consistently been over 90% of adults.

Items two and three:

Between ad-supported Spotify and AM/FM radio, most people only listen to AM/FM radio
Between ad-supported Pandora and AM/FM radio, most people only listen to AM/FM radio

Often times, we make the assumption that our own habits and preferences are a reflection of everyone else. So when someone discovers a streaming music platform like Spotify or Pandora and that replaces radio as their music source, they sometimes jump to the conclusion that everyone is abandoning traditional media. But when you add up the numbers, it’s not really true. The company I work for, Federated Media operates 5 different stations, and three of 5 are music stations, the other two I work with are talk radio. The 3 music stations have an impressive number of listeners, many times larger than the local listeners to Pandora and Spotify combined.

Number 4 on his list:

The U.S. ad-supported audio clock: Podcasts and AM/FM radio represent nearly 90% of tuning minutes

I would like to see the data behind that statement, but it’s not surprising. Podcasts have been surging in listenership in the past several years.

Number 5:

With a towering in-car share of 86%, AM/FM radio is the primary way to reach consumers on the path to purchase; The proportion of AM/FM radio in-car listening has surged, returning to pre-pandemic norms.

I just turned 65 this month. I bought my first car when I was 16 and the car was my mobile music machine. Before we had the ability to consume media on demand, we would listen to radio in our cars during what’s called traditional drivetime in the morning and afternoon. That was radio primetime. TV primetime was in the evening. I’ve got some data I’ll share next year about local listening habits but for now, let’s keep going.

The 6th Key Finding:

Among registered voters across the political spectrum, AM/FM radio is the dominant ad-supported audio platform.

This article was published before our most recent national election. Donald Trump won and I can see how the power of talk radio beat the power of Political TV. Conservative media includes most of the News Talk Broadcast radio stations along with the Fox News TV Network. Liberal media sources don’t include radio for the most part unless you want to classify public radio as liberal. Even if you were to do that, the total radio listenership of political talk across the country is heavily conservative. A few decades ago there was an attempt to create a left-leaning talk radio network but it fell apart because it didn’t have the on-going financial support. I can’t give all the credit to radio because the viewership of MSNBC and CNN combined are dwarfed by the Fox News TV network, so a combination of conservative talk radio and TV overwhelming beat the liberal progressive media in this years election.

Listenership and viewership are important however what really matters for the businesses I work with are the results we create from the advertising campaigns we run on the radio and our social media channels.

My station, WOWO turns 100 in 2025. Sister music stations, WMEE, K105 and 98.9 the Bear each have been on the air successfully for decades. I define success as successfully connecting listeners to advertisers and being profitable for all. More on that in the year to come.

Radio Works for Retailers

by Scott Howard | Dec 23, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

The email headline in my inbox last month read:

AM/FM Radio Delivers Results For Retailers This Holiday Season

I’ve got the highlights and insight from this report from WestwoodOne.com.

The data comes from multiple credible research companies like Nielsen, Edison and others.

The celebration of Thanksgiving and Black Friday marked the start of one of the biggest shopping seasons of the year.

With money on the table, both brick and mortar and e-commerce retailers need to capture consumer attention.

AM/FM radio advertising drives retail results

AM/FM radio is highly effective at reaching these potential customers during the holidays with a massive 77% adult 18+ average weekly reach regardless of the season, according to Nielsen.

In the week leading up to Thanksgiving, 77% of adults 18+ are reached by AM/FM radio. 78% of adults 18+ are reached the week of Christmas, making AM/FM radio the prime advertising vehicle for reaching shoppers trying to find last minute gifts.

First off, despite the perception of radio dying, it’s not. Typically 77% of adults listen to the radio every week, year-around. In my 21 years of working in the advertising side of radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana with insider access to rating data, I’ve seen radio listenership remain pretty steady the past two decades. Meanwhile other traditional media like Broadcast and Cable TV have had major disruptions and the local newspaper business is nearly dead compared to even a decade ago.

What about all the alternatives to listening to traditional AM/FM radio? And what about all the online shopping?

Yes, people are also listening to podcasts and buying from Amazon. However, the impact is minimal for local businesses. Here’s more data:

AM/FM radio is an on-the-go medium, reaching consumers close to the point of purchase. 65% of all AM/FM radio listening occurs away from home, according to Nielsen. Advertisers who invest in AM/FM radio are reaching consumers at a critical time when purchase decisions are made.When consumers are in their cars, 86% of ad-supported audio time spent goes to AM/FM radio.

Podcast listening clocks in at just 7%.

Finally let’s connect radio listener habits with advertising results:

AM/FM radio has a proven track record for retail

According to multiple Nielsen return on advertising investment studies, AM/FM radio generates an average of $16 of retail sales for every $1 of radio advertising.

The report has all kinds of stats but instead of boring you with numbers, I have a couple of stories from businesses I’ve worked with this year.

There’s the financial planner who just kicked off his 30th consecutive year on WOWO.

The furniture upholstery shop that has been on WOWO for more than 25 years.

The glass shop that has been on WOWO for almost 5 decades.

And then the newer advertising partners like my dentist who began on WOWO in 2020 when we were in the midst of a pandemic and within 4 year has increased their ad by a multiple of 5. The sandwich shop that is using WOWO and our sister stations to invite hungry listeners to visit them at their new location.

All of these business advertising partners are only using WOWO radio and our sister stations because of the results. Not just during the holidays, but year round. Want to know more? Contact me: Scott@WOWO.com

Planning Your Marketing Success in 2025

by Scott Howard | Dec 16, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Today, I have planning tips for the new year ahead taken from a recent Sound ADvice newsletter subscribers received this month:

From running a business, we all know that even the most well-thought-out plans don’t always play out as expected. However, relying on the ole adages of “winging it” or “flying by the seat of my pants” are never good options and rarely end with positive results.

2024 is coming to an end and you have made it through another year in an increasingly competitive and complex environment! Congratulations!

But how is your future looking? 2025 doesn’t appear to be any less challenging than the previous 2 or 3 years and with the new administration, there is even more uncertainty in the air.

Every business owner who invests in marketing and advertising asks themselves this question probably several times a year, “Am I getting the most out of my advertising buck?”.

The other question they ask themselves is, “How can I make my business run better or be more successful?”. Both are great questions!

So, do you have a marketing and advertising plan for next year?

If you don’t or haven’t yet thought about your marketing and advertising plan, this quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower may give you some inspiration… “In preparing for battle, I always found plans were useless, but planning is indispensable”.

All too often, with the day-to-day issues of dealing with staffing, product availability, and new competition, marketing goes to the bottom of the pile to be looked after “tomorrow”. The problem with tomorrow is that we often end up doing last-minute knee-jerk promotions or doing the same ole thing rather than strategically holding the course to build our brand.

Your challenge for 2025 is not so much to predict what kind of year you will have as it is to plan and implement the actions necessary to create the outcome you want.

Respected American author, Alan Lakein, a John Hopkins and Harvard Business School graduate and an authority on time management, said this… “Planning is bringing the future to the present so we can do something about it now”.

One of the cornerstones of any successful business plan is a well-thought-out marketing and advertising plan. Click here to see the 12 Annual Marketing and Advertising Planning Questions you need to answer to prepare your successful 2025 plan.

As a free gift to you, you can be receiving my sound ADvice email nearly every Wednesday in your inbox. It’s free, just request it by sending me an email to Scott@WOWO.com

Building Momentum

by Scott Howard | Dec 9, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Some business people get it, others don’t. I’m talking about the building and growing process for your business and how advertising fits in.

I can’t tell you how many times people had unrealistic expectations and were either disappointed or they were too afraid to pull the trigger and start.

A couple months ago, I was talking with a business owner that’s coming back to WOWO radio after being off our station for well over a decade.

I didn’t work with him previously but this time he was telling me all the things that I would have told him. Instead, he’s learned the lessons about how some things take time.

More than time, there’s also consistency and patience.

For all the parents out there, if you want a child, how long does it take?

Typically 9 months from conception to birth.

Despite the advances in medicine, health care and technology, it takes 9 months for that baby to grow inside a mother’s womb before that baby is ready to debut.

Here’s another example I was sharing with someone in the farming world the other day.

If you want to eat a fresh ear of corn on the cob tonight, you can’t plan the corn seed kernel this morning and expect it to happen. There’s a certain amount of time needed to get the results. And similar to the growing human embryo, at first, there’s nothing visible going on.

Eventually, we see beginning signs that something is going on, but there’s limited ways to change the timeline.

This same principle applies to your advertising.

When I worked with music radio stations, I would tell new advertising partners that the first month or two were investments into the future. In other words, don’t expect people to respond the first week, and certainly don’t expect to break even in the first month.

However there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that aren’t visible that are positive. People are hearing or seeing your company name and the stuff you do, sell and can help them with. Most of those people have no use for what you offer when they first start learning about your business, but over time, more and more will be in the market to buy what you sell.

This is why most of the advertising contracts I create are for a full 12 months. Sometimes even longer.

Let’s say your business is going to spend $52,000 with me over the next 12 months. You would need an average of $1000 dollars in business generated from that ad campaign every week to break even. It’s not going to happen the first week.

It might be 10 weeks before you start earning back anything and by then you’re 10 grand in the hole.

That’s when inexperienced rookies get nervous and pull the plug and stop. It’s also why I look at the long term. That $10,000 is like the first 10 weeks in the womb. Something special is going on even if you can’t see it yet.

When someone sticks it out with me, you’re going to get results and that initial money you paid will come back to you in the future as the momentum builds.

Just like I shared the story last week about the Space Shuttle from my Sound ADvice newsletter, this stuff works when you understand how to make it work.

Want to know more? Contact me and we’ll see how this could apply to your business. Scott@WOWO.com

Random Birthday Week Thoughts

by Scott Howard | Dec 8, 2024 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo, Uncategorized

Time to share a few personal thoughts and reflections.

(When I started writing online, it was a blog called ScLoHo’s Really? . It was a personal blog that a few years later combined with a business oriented blog and created this website.)

It’s Sunday morning December 8th, 2024 and on the 11th I turn 65 years old.

Most days I don’t feel like I’m that old, but I’m not sure what I expected to feel like at this age.

Health wise, I’m doing fine. Nothing seriously wrong that I’m aware of that has crept up on me as I age.

A few years ago, a friend of mine, Larry Merino, who served as one of the pastors at our church gave me some advice about getting older.

Larry is 6 years older than me.

I was leading an outreach group of volunteers from our church to participate in the Great American Clean-up in the Frances Slocum Neighborhood in Ft. Wayne. I’d been participating in this event for a few years and this particular year I was suffering from allergies. We had around 30+ volunteers this day and we gathered at Klug Park. I grew up across the street from Klug Park and now Larry lived across the street from the same park.

After giving everyone instructions including addresses that could use our help, Larry prayed for the volunteers and then called me to join him on his porch while the rest went to work. Larry told me to look and see all the younger people who were there and they could do the physical labor. As we get older, our roles in life change to that of mentoring, teaching and leading. I mostly took his advice that day, and enjoyed his fellowship, friendship and the couple cups of coffee. I also did stay involved as I drove around to the various addresses to make sure everyone had what they needed and assisted in that manner.

That was over ten years ago, I was just 54 at the time, but there have been a couple of times that I’ve realized my age compared to others.

Back in 2001, I was working as a thermoformer operator for a local plastics company and started noticing that the new people they were hiring were closer to my kids age than my age. The job was fast-paced and demanding and each day I had a crew of 2 to 6 material handlers that were responsible for correctly inspecting and packing what we produced. When it was break time, we didn’t shut the production line down, I simply would take over, usually doing the work of two or three for 20 minutes. I used my ability to to the work of two or three as a reason for not slowing the line down when they complained it was too fast. If I can keep up, you can too were the words they heard from me often.

Later in life, as I reflected on some of the differences between myself and others, I noticed a certain drive and ambition that others pointed out was part of my make-up. Others have it too, but there are plenty of people who don’t.

Another time I noticed my age was one of the first times I was invited to speak to a university class and I realized that the examples I was using in my presentation were people that the college students never heard of because they were 25 years younger than me. Oops. I’ve learned that lesson. I still speak to college and university classes about once or twice a year, but refrain from being the really old guy!

What are some things I would tell my younger self if I could go back in time?

Some of the same things I tell people now.

Encourage people.

Appreciate people.

Tell them that you notice their effort.

You don’t have it have life figured out yet. Some of the best people on this planet are the ones that continue to be curious and explore.

Don’t waste your time, but also slow down and enjoy life and the things and people around you.

Instead of living in fear, chart your course and be willing to take some calculated chances.

Listen more, talk less.

Not everything will last, Some only last for a season and that’s okay.

Seek advice from both the old and the young.

You can start over.

Here’s how I know this.

At age 22 I met a woman that was just 21 and in less than 6 months we were married. That marriage produced 3 great kids. While that marriage ended after 13 years, we decided to keep the friendship going as both of us remarried and our family circle grew. Admittedly, being friends at first wasn’t easy, but for the love of our kids, we learned.

At age 42, I married again and we’ve grown from being parents and step-parents to having grandkids too in the mix.

I’ve changed jobs and careers a few times. Currently I just completed my 11th year at Federated Media doing what I started doing in 2013 as an advertising sales and marketing consultant. However I also spent nearly 4 years in management overseeing the sales team at WOWO and a couple of our other radio stations. Last year I returned to doing the sales instead of managing the sales team again and it’s good to be back in this role.

It’s fun to see how my kids and step-kids lives have evolved too. The youngest is married and Mom to four boys, the oldest lives near us and his two sons are exemplary. Those are my step-kids and they are both married to exceptional people.

In-between are my three kids who are also driven but balanced. Work, Family, Personal, it all comes together if you allow it. Actually you have to do more than allow it, you have to seek it and pursue it.

I’m extremely proud of Tiffany, Josh and Rachael. Two of three have reached 40 and I’m blessed to have good and growing relationships with them, their partners and kids.

My wife and I have been together for nearly 25 years now and have created a life that is supportive and in-sync despite having some very different interests, we also have a lot in common. BTW, it helps to have different interests, otherwise you might be boring to your partner.

One last thought ran through my mind before I hit the publish button.

15 years ago, my wife threw a surprise birthday party for my 50th. It was at our home and in attendance were friends and family including my son Josh who had just turned 25 the month before. I had a moment of reflection that evening too.

I mentioned how here I was 50, Josh was half my age and I was amazed at how the past 25 years had been since he was born, not just my life but everyone’s life. I also mentioned how I was enthusiastically anticipating how the next 25 years would turn out. We’re not there yet, and perhaps I’ve got another 25 years on this planet.

We shall see…

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