Hey, Marketing Director! Yeah, you over there waiting for your “800” number to start ringing or your website to be overwhelmed with visitors; did you cover all the bases? Did you forget anything? I know you sent out a million direct mail pieces. I know you’re airing a television campaign. I know you bought ads in the newspaper and in magazines, but you forgot to buy radio, didn’t you?

What, you don’t think you need radio? You did enough? You think your “in your face” campaign is multi-faceted enough to break through the clutter? You got in the front door and that’s all you need?

Maybe it is, but “in your face” and “in the front door” isn’t always enough. You need to be in their ear, in their car, on their desktop, on their smart phone!  That’s what radio does for you today in a way it never has before.

Those other advertising options have long lead times, big production costs and print has a limited shelf life (if it even makes it to the shelf). Radio has a short lead time, low production costs and a sense of immediacy that allows you to make creative adjustments on the fly the way no other advertising option can. Radio is ultraportable. It is the veritable “bug in your ear.”

Because of radio’s varied platforms—terrestrial, satellite, online streaming, mobile—and quick turnaround from the creative concept to on-air broadcast,  you, as a marketing director, have the ability to tap your target audience on the shoulder daily, hourly or more. You can remind them of the big sale, remind them to look out for that direct mail piece, ask them to “like” you on Facebook,  tell them to tap the screen on their smart phone to call your call center, click the banner on their desk top monitor to visit your website or print a coupon. Being such an interactive medium, it is the closest thing to holding their hands and walking them through checkout.

Radio has an intimate relationship with the listener. It is a one-to-one encounter that communicates unlike print or television or billboards. It is alone with you on your drive to work or in the shower. It sits with you at your desk and it travels wherever you take your smart phone. As a marketer you can capitalize on this intimacy, because no medium is talking to your customer in quite this way or in that many ways.

Monica Caraffa is a Senior Account Manager at 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