"What about return on investment?"

People ask us all the time about the results they will see from advertising.  Return on investment is important to all of us—whether it’s getting 5% back from a Money Market account, investing in employee training or buying advertising.  There are many factors that influence when and how well your advertising will work.     First, the message.  It’s the most important factor.  Regardless of the medium that you use, the message is the most important part of advertising.  Does it speak to the heart and minds of your customers and potential customers?  Does it grab attention?  Is it about them and their lives?  Does it answer their unspoken questions and address their fears, aspirations or misconceptions?  Is it about them and their needs?   Second, the schedule.  The message must reach enough people enough to make them aware, make them understand, and motivate their conviction and action.  We don’t want to reach everyone once.  We want to reach a group (whatever size your budget will allow) with enough frequency and repetition that they understand and like your business on the day that they need it.     We can help with both of these.  We’re happy to share all the information that we have in those areas, as it pertains to your situation.     Also, there are many other factors that we can’t control that influence the results of your advertising.  For example: The reputation of your industry and your specific business. The convenience of your location. The cleanliness of your bathrooms. The appearance and selling skills of your staff (not just your current staff—but that guy who rubbed everyone the wrong way five years ago). The value you provide in relation to prices you charge. How your service/selling system fits with the customers’ needs and time-frame. Buying cycles, like if someone bought a new mattress last month, there is no way they’re thinking about another this week. Your competitive environment.

"Isn't everyone listening to iPod's and Satellite radio?"

As a group, fans of digital radio do not listen to traditional radio less than everyone else.  In fact, they tend to listen slightly more, accordingly to a new study recently released by Arbitron and Edison Media Research.  The study was conducted through random telephone interviews with 1,925 (people), and it lumped together satellite subscribers,…Internet-radio listeners and anyone who had downloaded a podcast.  The data suggest that, generally speaking, fans of digital radio are seeking to supplement, not replace, traditional radio.  - NY Times, April 23, 2007 Satellite radio has about 9 million subscribers across the US, and that includes radios in cars sitting on dealers’ lots, not yet sold. Satellite radio’s cancellation rate is about 20% per year. XM and Sirius combined lost over $1 billion dollars in 2006. Howard Stern only brought about 8% of his listeners to satellite. Satellite radio does run commercials—they’re on the talk stations now and they’re starting to add them to music stations.  A recent survey said that 1 in 4 subscribers are there because of the lack of commercials. MP3 players are essentially the same as the Walkman was to Gen X… or the record player to boomers.  When they hear a song that they like, they can own it and hear it on demand.  They still go to radio to find what they like.  In fact, 50% of all MP3 player owners listen to the same amount of radio, and about 25% listen to more radio.   Sources:  Arbitron, New York Times

"How does billing work? Timing, credit cards, prepayment or Net 30 after establishing credit with us. What will my invoice look like?"

You'll get proof of performance/invoice by the 10th of the month after your ads run that will list the time each ad ran. We ask for prepayment from new customers until we can establish credit (usually six months to a year). For our clients that we do extend credit to, our terms are Net 10. We accept checks, cash, Visa(c), MasterCard(c), Discover(c) and American Express(c).

"Shouldn't a 30 second ad be half the price of a 60 second ad? Since it's not-why would I buy a 30 second ad when I can get a 60 second ad for not that much more?"

Our research shows that listeners are willing to listen to a certain number of commercials in a row. We limit both the number of commercials we play in a row and number of stopsets. The length of your commercial should be determined from your prospects' perspective. If there is enough information to hold their attention for just 30 seconds, then that's what is right for you. If 60 seconds is what you need to tell a compelling story, that's the way to go. This isn't about you, it's about the end-user of your advertising-your prospect.

"What do I need for my co-op advertising?"

We'll provide a notarized script with your invoice. Usually those are the only things you'll need from us, although you might need to send in a claim form from the company providing the co-op support.

"How much does radio advertising cost?"

We have advertisers who spend $500 each month and advertisers who spend $8000 each month. We're happy to put together a custom schedule for you based on your budget.

"Do you have any sales this month? Or a special package?"

On Z102.9, we only have a few packages to offer each year - the Bridal Show Package and the Direct Broadcast Package.  We occasionally have a promotional package also, but most of our clients appreciate that we create custom packages for them. On 1600 ESPN, we have many packages for different sports that we air, like the Bears, the White Sox, Hawkeye Downs Racing, High School Sports, Cyclone Sports and others.  Some advertisers are interested in some of those specific packages, and some want something customized for them.  We're happy to provide either.

"All these other reps are calling me from other stations-they say they'll give me a better deal."

If it's only about rate, we'll probably lose. But is it about price or profit for you? We'll help you create an effective long-term message that will persuade your prospects to act. We're not the cheapest-and we doubt we ever will be. But we have a lot of loyal advertisers on with us month after month and year after year who would say that it's worth it. What does it cost if you buy the cheapest - and it doesn't work? Shouldn't we work together to make sure that it does?

"Shouldn't I just buy a live broadcast/remote?" (Event-based advertising)

Those can be quite effective. However, be sure to evaluate your own life-what would make you stop what you're doing and go to an event? Probably not free hot dogs. Probably not 15% off of some product or service about which you're not sure. What percentage of the population is in the market for what you offer TODAY? You might be spreading a message of a special event that they put into a special folder in their brain that flashes "expires soon!"  They won't remember you in the long-term, and isn't that where the battle is really fought? Offering a discount can increase sales, but do it too often and you train customers to wait for a sale. They'll never come in on a Tuesday when you have the extra staff to help them. They'll only come during the monthly special. The best and highest use of your advertising dollar is to talk to everyone-tell them why they should use you. Not just today, but any day.

"How do your live broadcasts work?" (Event-based advertising)

Our live broadcasts are for a set three-hour time period. Within those three hours, we are actually live on the air at three different points each hour-at approximately :15, the :35, and the :45 past the hour for a total of nine ads during the entire broadcast. Our personality is there to be both on-the-air and greet your guests. Prior to the live broadcast, your commercial and live liner schedule will run to promote the date, time, location, and other specifics for the event.

"What is branding vs. event-based advertising?"

Branding is implanting a favorable image of your business in the prospect's brain. Event-based advertising is usually a limited time sale. We work with both, but we know that branding works best long term. Like Roy Williams, author of several awesome advertising books (wizardofads.com), says, event-based advertising is like morphine-it's for when you need a quick fix. The effect doesn't last though, and each time you reach for it, it works less and less well. Branding is more like exercise. You get steadily stronger over the long-term, until you're incredibly fit, better known as well-known and profitable in the business world.

"Why would I advertise at a time when my business isn't open?"

Our goal is to tell people WHY to come to you, then wait for WHEN they need you. It's almost impossible to predict the moment of need. We want to persuade them to think of you first and like you best. And we can do that at any time of day.

"I only want to buy "Schulte and Swann"-don't they have the most listeners?"

We love "Schulte and Swann," too! They're handsome and funny.. .and they'll carry heavy things for us. And at the same time, we have pretty close to the same number of listeners throughout the daylight hours. Weekends are also good-a good variety of people out doing their errands. We have quite a few advertisers who have only run on weekends, but people report hearing them "everyday." Nights provide a hip, younger audience who most likely are ripe for the picking. They don't usually have established patterns-they're still looking to build lifetime relationships with banks, stores, insurance agents, car dealers...and on and on.

"Can't I just give away some prizes on-the-air?"

We are in the business of marketing our clients to our listeners. If the listeners don't know who you are and what you do, we fail. Simply giving away some prizes on-the-air limits the listeners' experience of hearing a message they will be able to store in their long-term memory. We also have a policy to only give things away on the air from our clients.

"I don't listen to your station...who does?"

More women than men-about 60%. Since we play new music (Top 40 or Contemporary Hit Radio is all about current hits), our listeners are usually young-thinking, hip people. Most of them range in age from 49 years down to six. We see a lot of people who have two kids and an SUV, women just starting their families and planning weddings, along with prom-goers and the like. It's hard to put them all into a specific demographic category-but psycho graphically, we know that they're usually well-educated, open-minded and very active, busy people. There is more information on the listener profile page.

"Isn't Z102.9 the 'kid' station?"

We do have kids that listen. In the early days of the station, we were grateful to them, because they were evangelists for us, spreading the word to their parents. Kids are the most open to change, and noticed us first. But now, years later, we have enough adult listeners to compete with any other radio station. Our competitors like to say that we're the "kid" station. But we're also the Adults 18-49 station or the Women 25-49 station. We have been able to maintain both the kids and the adults. Schulte and Swann are both, um...not so young. We find that the people we see at events who are passionate listeners come from a variety of age groups. The common thread is that they're usually hip and young-THINKING. They want to know what's new-in music, fashion, things relevant to their lifestyle. If you're nervous about it, ask for some Arbitron stuff. It's boring to look at. We have large national advertisers like New York Life and Mercedes-they certainly aren't targeting kids. :)

"Who owns you?"

We're lucky to be owned by two guys who work in station every day. Eliot Keller (eliot@kzia.com) is the General Manager, and Rob Norton (rob@kzia.com) is king of operations-everything for programming and engineering. It's a rare and special thing to have majority owners who work in the building in this age of corporate consolidation. We think that's why, even as a stand-alone station, we're so dominant.

"Where is your station located?"

We're on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids. Our tower is in Hiawatha. The listening area is at least a 70 mile radius around that. We're careful to make sure everything along the 1-380 corridor is covered well by our signal. We have advertisers who target residents of Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo and areas in between.

"How do you decide when my commercials should play on the air?"

We are committed to figuring out what schedule will be the most effective for your business. The happier you are, the happier we are! That's why our process is a little more involved than a lot of our competitors. We sit down with you to figure out who you want to talk to and when they are listening. From that, we discuss the budget you are willing to commit to advertising. Your sales consultant will then create a unique proposal for you that makes sense for your target and your budget.

"What happens when I decide to meet with a sales consultant?"

First, we'll plan a time to get together to talk about your business, your customers, your goals. That usually takes about 45 minutes. Then a week or so later, we'll bring you a schedule that we think would work best for you, along with some general concepts for a script. After we get agreement from you about those, we'll write a script for you to approve. After we get agreement on that, we'll produce it and let you hear it. If it meets the goals established, we start on-the-air.

"Does it cost extra to write and produce my commercial?"

Most of the time, production is included in the cost of the commercials. There are some things that cost extra-like hiring an outside voice to be in the commercial or wanting to sit in on production. We can let you know the specific costs for those things when they come up.

"Who will write my commercial? Will I get to hear it before it airs?"

Mo Holland, our Commercial Services Director, or Karol Kelly, Assistant Commercial Services Director, will write your script from information that you share with your Sales Representative. We can also bring one of them to your business if we think that will help create a better script.

"Why do you keep talking about focus? I have five cool reasons for people to come into my store and I want them all in my ad!"

In any commercial, whether it's branding or event-based, the message is the single most important ingredient in effective radio advertising. The reason we stress focus so much is that it is absolutely necessary to make sure your ads aren't just about you-the ads should be focused on one single idea¬why it would benefit listeners to use your product or service and not your competition. By rattling off a laundry list of why you are so great, the listener writes you off as just another "we're #1" scam. The message has got to be thoughtful and concise but most important, relevant to them. Period.

"Can't you just use the wording in my print ad?"

You can't just hold a print ad up to the microphone. Our goal, with an intrusive medium like radio, is to engage the customers. It's important to put together a message that speaks to each listener individually and appeals to his/her emotions. That's different from print.

"Doesn't network TV work better than radio?"

TV works-don't get us wrong. But studies have shown that one radio ad has 65% of recall of one network (CBS, ABC, NBC or FOX) TV ad when you consider the price difference, we know radio is a better deal. You can get frequency on radio-and you'll be reaching the same people again and again, convincing them 100% of what your business can do for them. We often hear that cable prices are low in this market too, but even if you combine the audience of the top four cable channels, they still only have a 4 share. We usually have at least a 12 share, even in demographics that aren't our core.