Talker's Magazine with input from industry leaders has published their 2008 "Heavy Hundred List"- some of the leading talk show hosts in the country and is derived from from what Talker's calls the "250 most important talk show hosts in America".  Not surprisingly, this list is once again dominated mostly by radio personalities who are more conservative politically and morally.

Talker's Magazine estimates that there are roughly 5,000 radio talk shows in the US today ranging from the well known icons of radio to those who are relatively obscure. The criteria for Talker's Heavy Hundred List is not solely a function of total listenership although reach is an important factor.  As Talker's Magazine puts it, "Talker's Magazine editors painstakingly compile this super-list (from) a combination of hard and soft factors including: courage, effort, impact, longevity, potential, ratings, recognition, revenue, service, talent and uniqueness."

Not surprisingly Rush Limbaugh is still number one with Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Glenn Beck rounding out the top five. 

According to the Strategy Research Corporation, 96% of Hispanics prefer to receive their information in their first language.  What's more, Hispanics are big radio consumers.  The same study found that 92% of Hispanics listen to the radio every day and 9 out of 10 Hispanics listen to Spanish language radio.

The Christian population among Hispanics is influential and is a viable advertising target for political campaigns looking to gain an edge in the upcoming election. Yuri Mantilla, director for International Governmental Relations for Focus on the Family, calls 2008 the "Year of the Hispanic". Said Mantilla, "We are the nation's largest minority and we are poised to make a difference in some of the tightest races because of our concern for family, for life, and for faith.  Hispanics are not a monolithic bloc, but a thriving family community, and our values are the values on which this nation was founded."

Look for advertising dollars to be available to Spanish speaking Christian radio stations as we elect a new president this year and more and more astute marketers recognize the power of the Hispanic Christian community and the ability to target them with Christian radio.

With the growth of the Hispanic market in America, radio has seen a shift in formats with many new all Spanish or at least partly Spanish formatted stations rising as well. The Hispanic consumer represents a huge opportunity. According to the American Marketing Association, by the year 2010, Hispanics will be spending over $800 billion in the United States. A big part of that spending coming from financial services. 

Though a large part of the Hispanic population is bilingual, targeting Hispanics on Spanish speaking radio may make the most sense as the message itself can be adapted and fashioned to reach the Spanish consumer in the most culturally relevant way possible.  Many bilingual Hispanic radio stations are working with businesses of all types to translate their  advertising message and produce it in Spanish. Look for a continued rise in Hispanic radio in most if not all radio markets representing the top 200 population centers in the US over the next two to three years.

A comprehensive list of Hispanic radio stations is available at: http://www.hispanicyearbook.com/files2007/07AHHY_pg277-288.pdf 

A recent article in AdAge magazine cited the challenges of attribution when offline media such as radio motivates shoppers to begin to gather information about a product or service using a search engine.  Said AdAge,  "After a consumer's curiosity has been piqued by watching (or hearing) a broadcast branding ad, they head straight to the Internet to uncover more information." 

It is true that a growing percentage of consumer's will go online after they hear your ad on the radio but when it comes to determining what sent them to search, be careful that you don't erroneously assume that the shopper would have found you without your radio campaign to motivate them to take action in the first place.

"41% of Web users find brands through search rather than just typing a URL in their browser...People are using search engines as browsers", says Brian Wiener, president at agency 360i, in New York.  Can you see how this factoid has great potential to mislead you as you seek to justify the investment of your radio advertising campaign?  If people are using search engines as browsers (and I must confess that I do this all the time)  then when determining where a shopper came from, search engines will get the credit when it was actually the radio campaign that created the business. 

Don't make the mistake of making a search engine "bigger" in your mind than it really is.  Think of a search engine like the "world wide yellow pages". It is a catalog of services organized and digitally driven so you can find what you're looking for. Understand the dynamics of your media mix so you'll know what is really happening and then you can give advertising credit where credit is due.

Sometimes it's possible for your radio advertising to be just as effective with shorter radio commercials.  Though most radio spots being broadcast today are sixty seconds in length,  shorter commercials remain a viable option.  Astute radio marketers realize that by testing the effectiveness of a radio schedule using sixties for a few weeks and then running the exact same schedule using thirties for at few weeks, that it's possible to learn whether the product being advertised can be sold just as effectvely with a shorter commercial. 

Since thirty second spots usually sell for about half of a sixty, you can "double your budget" if you find that thirty second commercials can generate the same result as a sixty. With the money you have saved, you can then increase the weekly frequency on the same radio station to find the number of commercials that get the best return on investment for you or take that money and add a second radio station to the radio buy.  It's all about taking the extra time to test the best approach for your product before you roll out your campaign at "full speed".

In direct response advertising, it is rare that a thirty second commercial will work as well as a sixty. That's because as we've discussed before a direct response ad is one that asks the listener to take action by calling a toll free number and unfortunately, it takes twelve to fourteen precious seconds to repeat a toll free number at least three times in a radio spot. However, if the radio ad's "call to action" can be stated in just a few seconds, thirties and sometimes even ten or fifteen second ads can work just as well as the traditional sixty second spot.

The operative word in this message is "test".  Test your campaign before you roll it out. Take a scientific approach to your radio advertising. Keep accurate records of everything you do both in the testing phase and on an ongoing basis so you can learn the right length of commercial to advertise your product or service. And once you find the best approach, you'll be ready to launch your campaign knowing that you've made the most effective use of your budget.

It's a good idea at the beginning of any new radio advertising campaign to ask yourself this question. "What will success look like to me after my radio advertising campaign is over?"  Be specific in your asking and have a reasonable goal in mind as your answer. 

However one caution. We need to remember that success today looks different than just a few short years ago.  If you're not getting the call volume that you once did, it doesn't necessarily mean that your radio advertising has lost its' power! Truly, success has a "different look" today than it once did.  Here are three reasons why I believe that this is the case: 

1. Radio advertising marketers want better answers today.  That means that direct response radio advertising is becoming more popular and a necessity for many.  No longer is it acceptable for a marketer to just "get the name out there in front of the public".  Advertising is expensive. It should be treated as an investment that will generate some sort of measurable gain so it needs to produce real, tangible results for a serious marketer. 
2. The internet has changed the face of success because the volume of online fulfillment is increasing each year at a rapid rate.  It was recently suggested in a meeting of Christian radio executives that a phone room or call center to handle sales fulfillment may soon become obsolete.  Whether this is so or not, it is true that fulfillment costs less on the internet, and as the internet becomes more and more secure, it remains the most viable option for almost every conceivable business.  If you are noticing a drop in your call volume at your call center, it's probably not be because the radio advertising is not working. Most likely, it's because of a shift in the way the buyer is buying. 
3. Buyers are more informed. This is truly why the internet is so popular from an e-commerce point of view. Think about it.  There is truly no end to the amount of information that a buyer can obtain if he truly is willing to hunt for it online.  Buyers who "want to think about it" may be in fact doing just that as there is more to think about than ever before!

What this all means is that radio advertising success doesn't look the same anymore. It's still there for the asking but it should be measured in clicks and page views, not just in calls and store traffic.

We have become familiar with the concept of community on the Internet. Kids find community on chat sites such as "AOL Instant Messenger" and community specific sites like "My Space" and "Facebook".  Then there are business sites like "Linkedin" for example,  that allow business associates to create community and effectively promote commerce through similar values and interests.  Community is a place where trust is reached by our need to connect.

Radio formats can generate community too. If you go to a NASCAR event, it is unlikely that the radio station blaring from the pickup truck within earshot is playing anything but country music. What else would a NASCAR lover listen to...right?   However, when it comes to radio community, there is unlikely any target audience quite as connected as the Christian radio community.  Connected by values that reflect the meaning of life itself, yet separated by distinct sub-formats that meet the needs of different ages and programming preferences, Christian radio can "connect the dots" like no other radio format.  This results in a radio listener who believes and trusts in the programming that they hear.  When a radio marketer understands the ramifications of this trust, specifically how it can impact a radio advertising schedule, it makes for an easy choice for them to include Christian radio in their marketing strategy to attract new customers.

According to Simmons research, 72% of Christian radio listeners prefer to buy from a business that advertises on Christian radio.  No other radio format can command this loyalty and respect from their listeners!  It's that simple. What this translates into is a growing list of businesses who believe in Christian radio as a viable way to advertise cost effectively.  Demographic targeting, proper frequency and reach, and effective radio copy are still essential of course, but while other radio formats have struggled financially over the past decade, Christian radio has done quite well. Thus, the picture becomes clear. Trust and loyalty = satisfied advertisers.  This "halo effect" is what sets Christian radio apart from other radio formats.

One of America's most well known Christian radio broadcasting companies Salem Communications has adopted the phrase "Safe for the Whole Family" as a slogan to describe their programming.  With the crude presentation offered by so many announcers seeking to boost Arbitron ratings with a "shock jock" strategy, it's not surprising. One person described Christian radio as a "safe haven for radio listeners looking for programming that can have a positive influence rather than a cynical negative one."

Look for more and more Christian radio broadcasters to adopt broad slogans to describe their programming. Phrases like "family life" or "radio you can believe in" are broad in scope and reach. They may have a hidden meaning in some cases to the avid Christian radio listener but always have the potential to build a bridge of trust especially to those potential listeners who don't consider themselves to be "religious" yet are looking for more wholesome listening alternatives. 

Christian Internet radio is also providing alternatives for many looking for better listening choices.   Internet radio has become more competitive and that means better programming. Look for this radio sector to grow in the days ahead. If you've never listened to Internet radio, give it a shot.  You'll find our comprehensive listing of Internet radio stations at www.christianradioadvertising.com/broadcast_partners .

Many radio stations that play primarily Christian-themed music especially are noticing a "new listener" as a target for their programming. This new listener is likely not even a church goer but is appreciative of the fact that he won't have to explain the definition of a word like "homophobic" or "condom" to his innocent yet inquisitive seven year old riding in the car who doesn't miss anything.  These "mature audience" words are not likely to be a topic of a radio morning show host on Christian radio unless there is some instructive reason for using them. Not every "non-religious listener" appreciates the crude humor and off color comments of today's misguided, immature radio announcer.