Reach your customers through the power of radio - Outdoor Marketplace

Shooting Industry, Dec, 2003 by Mark Diss

If you can't afford a lot of ads for a promotion, don't dismiss radio advertising. Ask some of your suppliers if they have co-op advertising money available.

"Many of the major manufactures in the shooting sports have some sort of co-op advertising program," Brill said. "They also have very professional voice-over spots that can be integrated into a dealer's local ads. This is a very important and cost-efficient resource that's available to local dealers."

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RELATED ARTICLE: Ad Placement is the Key Success

Working with the account executive at the station can give you a clear picture of when your particular market demographic is listening.

"Drive time may not be the best time for a retailer in the shooting sports to advertise," Brill said. "The average outdoorsman isn't necessarily going to be a 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. or 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. radio listener. They tend to be busy, successful people who may plan their workdays so they can get enough done during the week to justify getting into the woods on the weekends."

Johnson agrees.

"I normally don't recommend that any of my outdoor product companies or outdoor retailers advertise during drive time for two reasons," Johnson said. "First, the expense doesn't justify the actual contacts being made to that demographic at those times. Second, there are better times, say between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., and on weekends, when that market is listening."

Today's hunter and angler are taking the radios into hunting camp and into the field. Since hunting season coincides with football season in many states, a lot of outdoorsmen and women don't want to miss anything.

"The 21st century outdoorsman is bringing cell phones, Mp3 players and high-tech stereos with them," Brill said. "They want information, and they're not shy about calling friends and family to brag about their morning hunt. It makes sense for advertisers to take advantage of that marketing reality. By 10 or 11 a.m., the morning hunt is over, and hunters turn on their radios to get in on the pre-game show, or tune in to the local hunting show to find out how the hunting is going and who's seeing what."

Johnson agrees.

"It's not uncommon for our weekend hunting and fishing shows to get calls from listeners who are in the field or on the water," Johnson said. "In fact, during the various seasons, our host will encourage hunters to call and talk about their morning. It makes for very interactive radio and that makes it valuable to our advertisers."

Promotional Events

Radio stations are still king at promoting and producing their own high-visibility events as well as doing remote broadcast. They offer instant credibility to a retailer who hosts a two-hour remote. Those two hours may represent your entire month's ad budget, but they're going to draw customers to your store. That's radio at its best.