We’ve written a lot on how radio is still a viable agricultural dealership advertising option for agricultural dealerships in local markets. Popular radio stations are great for branding and community outreach. With tools like radion-online.com you know your advertising dollars are being spent on the most effective channels possible. And with the negotiation tactics we recently blogged on, you can be sure you’re getting the best deal for your ads. Great deals and great numbers are a strong foundation for smart ad buys – but all of this is pointless if the right people aren’t hearing your ads.
Who are the right people? The people in your audience, the people actually looking to buy farm equipment. If a station has great ratings, they may look good on paper, but if those demographics are composed of suburbanites living on cramped quarter-acres, those listeners aren’t much help to you.
So how do you find out which station your listeners are listening to? Market research.
The term “market research” conjures up negative feelings about anonymous surveys and endless spreadsheets, but when it comes to agricultural dealership advertising and radio buys, market research is actually one of the simplest things you can do.
Consider the Personas in Agricultural Dealership Marketing
The idea of market research is based on the notion of consumer personas. Consumer personas are tools marketers and ad men have used for years. Effectively all consumers are driven by unique combinations of certain instincts. Some shoppers want to save money, some want a quality product, some want to buy whatever is popular – you get the idea.
Marketers have found out that certain types of people purchase certain types of products. Therefore, if we can find out what motivates or speaks to those “personas” we can sell to a wider group of people more effectively.
Our consumer personas aren’t that much different than the marketing research that goes into the programming decisions of your local radio stations. Stations decide on a format – classic rock, modern country, urban, news talk, etc. – based on the idea that they want to reach a certain type of listener, a listener with a certain lifestyle and certain interests.
So if you know what type of persona you want to reach with your radio ads, you just have to find out which stations in your local market people that match that persona are listening to!
But how? How do you know who you’re trying to reach?
Know the Right Audience!
Ideally you’re trying to reach people who have an interest buying agricultural equipment in your local market. Ideally you’re trying to reach people with the same persona and interests as your current customers. How could you find out what stations your current customers are listening to?
Chances are, your parts and service department see a handful of customers each week. Chances are your technicians are in and out of customers’ truck and tractor cabs. While they’re in there, have them surf through the radio presets!
Voila! Compile this research for a month or so, and you’ll have a strong guess which local stations prospective customers are most likely listening to! Now you’re building an agricultural dealership advertising strategy based on data straight from the horse’s mouth!
If you have any questions about your dealerships radio advertising, or marketing in general contact Kirkpatrick Creative today.