Using radio is a popular advertising choice for organisations within the healthcare or medical industry, and for good reason!

Hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical centres and dental clinics have proven success in taking advantage of the unique benefits of radio for their healthcare advertising campaigns, such as:

  • Using radio ratings data to target a specific audience or geographical area
  • Running advertorial campaigns to help educate listeners on a new product or service
  • Incorporating live read or personality endorsement to enhance listener engagement
  • Running regular sponsorship campaigns (such as sponsoring the news, weather or traffic report) to promote brand awareness

Using radio ratings research data to target specific audiences

A good example of using radio for healthcare advertising success is with clinical trials. These trials generally require large participation groups of a very specific age or demographics.

By professionally analysing radio ratings research data, these organisations can ascertain which radio station is going to best reach their unique target audience – remembering that the “No 1” radio station is not necessarily going to best reach your specific audience.

Similarly, a new dental clinic or dental procedure can use radio data to choose a station that is most popular in their catchment area.

Educational messaging & advertorial radio advertising

When the purpose of a healthcare advertising campaign is to educate people on a new product or service, radio offers the most effective option to reach a large audience. For educational radio messaging, running a slightly longer (45 – 60 second) advertorial campaign gives greater opportunity to provide all the key information to the listener.

When running these advertorial radio campaigns, healthcare businesses should consider utilising live reads or personality endorsements. This is when the radio hosts or known personalities read out your message, generally adding some of the creative flare that popularises their character or show. This radio advertising technique has been proven to increase engagement and help your message resonate with listeners.

Brand awareness & radio sponsorship campaigns

When a new product, service or procedure needs to get their name out there and boost brand awareness, radio advertising offers the option to run frequent and effective messaging through a sponsorship campaign.

This is when the regular news, weather or traffic report comes with a one-liner such as “this traffic report was bought to you by {insert brand here} – {insert tagline here}.”

This type of radio advertising generally comes with a heavier price tag, but for established pharmaceutical companies, hospitals or healthcare businesses launching a new product or location, a more effective investment in brand awareness is hard to come by.

Getting the most out of your advertising budget

Typically, organisations in the health care industry have an advertising budget – Radio Results will advise on how to use it wisely. Diving headfirst into the world of radio advertising without consulting an expert is a quick way to gobble up your healthcare advertising budget without maximising a return on investment.

Taking advantage of the benefits of radio advertising by analysing ratings data as well as understanding the most effective types of campaign to suit your unique goals requires expert assistance.

Sue from Radio Results offers independent radio advertising advice drawn from 30 years experience in the industry. Get in touch today by filling out an enquiry form

See what Sue's clients say:

"It went exceptionally well, thanks Sue! We had over 30 people call who heard the radio advertisement. The Saturday and Sunday advertising was the most successful by far!" - Linda Critchley, Scientist, Pain Management and Research Centre

Learn more about the importance of consulting a radio advertising expert here.

Read up on the “critical first steps” when considering radio advertising here.