It’s midnight. Cartoon zzzzzzz’s dance above your head as you recharge for another day. Yet, while you do, tens of millions of Americans are already getting a head start, living the Third Shift life that greets each new day first ahead of us 9-to-5ers. Those of us who live a “normal” life rarely think about the world that bustles in the wee hours of the morning. And that holds true for media buyers, as daytime-biased supply-and-demand plays the primary role in fixing the cost of advertising time.
Morning Drive is the most highly-coveted with rates artificially high, compared to proportionate delivery. Conversely, the relatively low demand for late night radio keeps the rates not only affordable, but downright sexy.
That’s one of radio’s least-whispered secrets. Direct marketers who’ve mined the overnight hours on television account for a disproportionate share of late night radio ad spend. The products they market may be different from TV given radio’s dynamics, but the calls to action are the same as few “branders” populate the airwaves between midnight and sunrise.
And therein lies your opportunity.
If you’re branding a product or service and need to change the public’s perception or awareness of your brand, late night radio could be your new, affordable friend.
If you’re driving calls to a call center or a website, radio can be your pied piper of leads and sales, working 24/7 just like your order-taking and fulfillment operations.
If you’re seeking a low cost way to test new creative – or pit one programming format against another for results – late night radio’s got the cheapest ticket in town.
You’ve also go the power of late night radio personalities, willing and able to speak your words and lend their implied (or actual) endorsement to your brand. And they’ll do it at a fraction of the cost of the premiums you’ll pay for Rick Dees, Don Imus and Howard Stern in AM Drive.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating that you pull your dollars from daytime advertising and throw it all into the overnight hours. I’m simply suggesting that if you’re not currently leveraging success on late night radio, that there’s an incremental source of powerful ROI just waiting for you to step up and start the wheels in motion.
There’s also something richly satisfying about starting your day at sunrise, knowing that you just made money while you were asleep.
Mark Lipsky is the President and CEO of The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the email or RSS links above.Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com