You probably already realize that the larger the audience a radio station has, the higher the cost of radio advertising on that station.

That's certainly true but almost as important is to realize that the cost of a radio  ad has a lot to do with the time of the day that its played.

The time of the day affects the cost of radio advertising

The most expensive time of day is...you guessed it - the morning. Morning is the highest listening time of the day - driving to work, getting ready, catching up on important news, and also of course to help us all getting into the “groove”.

Costs for radio advertising is highest from 6 am to 10 am. Likewise, costs tend to be higher for the evening commute - roughly 4 pm to 6pm.

The most affordable times of day to advertise on the radio is in the overnight. Rates will typically drop starting around 8 pm.

Media buying professionals refer to time periods as "dayparts". There are typically 6 dayparts over the course of a week:

  1. AM drive: Mon-Fri 6am-10am
  2. Midday: Mon-Fri 10am-3pm
  3. PM drive: Mon-Fri 3pm - 7pm
  4. Evening:Mon - Sun 7pm - 12midnight
  5. Overnight:Mon - Sun 12midnight - 6am
  6. Weekend:Sat - Sun 6am - 7pm

Be careful of low cost available spot rates

Sometimes you will hear radio sales people talk about their “available” spot rates.  BE CAREFUL when you hear these words because while they may be low rates, what they may not tell you is that your ad will ONLY run in the available time slots after all other non-available ads have been scheduled.  This typically means that your ads will run in the evenings. So, remember the old saying, “You get what you pay for”.

If that’s all you can afford then it’s a good place to start.  However, don’t be fooled by an unscrupulous sales person telling you that their rates are the best in the market only to find out later your ads ran in the overnight when you thought they would be played in the daytime.

Choosing the times of day to advertise

If you have a small budget, then you should look to use non-prime times of the day including evenings, overnights and weekends. By using these times of the day correctly, your campaign can be heard by 80% of primetime listeners for about 30% of the cost.

To achieve that, you need inside information and that's where I can help. As an independent radio advertising consultant with 25 years experience I know all the tricks of the trade and also what deals each of the radio stations are doing at any one time.

If you're on a tight budget and you want your radio advertising campaign to make you more sales (and who doesn't???) then I think it's vital you contact me NOW for genuinely independentradioadvertisingadvice.