Advertising on Las Vegas radio stations is processed by the brain five-times faster than visual advertising. This is awesome news for local business owners who depend on radio to market their goods and services.
Las Vegas consumers will recognize the first few notes of Jingle Bells five times faster than they can identify a picture of Santa Claus. That's because it takes the human brain 5/100th of a second to process sound. On the other hand, it takes a full quarter of a second to process visual stimuli.
This difference in processing time may seem inconsequential. But, for Las Vegas small business owners who is fighting to inject their advertising messages into the mind of consumers, that .20-second gap can be the difference between success and failure.
During that chasm between sound and sight processing, consumers will be inundated with by 2,200,000 other pieces of data that will compete for the brain's attention. Because brains are only capable of dealing with about ten pieces of data every quarter second, the last one is, as they say, a rotten egg.
For a small business owner to win the battle of the brain, then, it must first seize a consumer's ear. By any, measure, advertising on Las Vegas radio dominates the ear.
Last week, according to Nielsen, significantly more consumers tuned-in to Las Vegas radio stations than watched local TV, read a local newspaper, or logged-on to a streaming audio site like Pandora or Spotify.
Most impressively, among audio-only platforms, radio, by far, command the largest share of a consumer's ear.
There's another scientific reason for Las Vegas small business owners to put their money where the ears are. It's called encoding.
Last year, Brainsights, a research company that uses neurological, bio-metric and non-conscious data to learn how consumers make decisions, set out to compare the advertising efficacy of different media. The study was commissioned by Canadian Broadcast Sales.
Researchers used EEG technology, that records the electrical activity of the brain, to track individual reactions to radio content. Respondents were exposed to 32 commercials across various categories ranging from automotive and finance to entertainment and personal care. The electrodes measured subconscious engagement across three key variables: awareness, connection, and encoding.
These three areas of engagement measured are the states of mind that influence advertising results.
The study found that radio, TV, and digital ads performed comparably in awareness and connection. When it comes to encoding, however, radio commercials proved far more effective than other media.
What is encoding? It's the process our brains use to store and recall information. For the information in ads to influence a sale, it must be properly encoded.
Advertising on Las Vegas Radio Rules The Brain
According to the study, radio's ability to affect encoding was 8% greater than all general advertising; 21% greater than television advertising; and 4% greater than digital advertising.
Radio's encoding advantage is even more evident when individual product categories are considered.
For financial services, for instance, radio produced 30% more encoding than the general advertising benchmark for the study. For e-commerce categories, radio's encoding results were 35% higher.
Local Ad Recall, a research company that measures the effectiveness of advertising, found that brand recall was five times higher for companies that advertised on radio versus the companies that did not.
Consequently, Las Vegas small business owners who advertise on radio have a much better chance of being recalled and, therefore, frequented by prospective customers than companies that do not advertise on radio.
Las Vegas Business Owners Know The Value of Radio Advertising
"When we advertise on Las Vegas radio, we sell cars. Period. End of story," says Anthony Woods. He is a partner and General Manager of Centennial Toyota.
Last year was a huge year for Centennial. According to Mr. Woods, his team sold 6281 new and used cars setting a new record. "This volume makes us this 64th largest Toyota dealership in America out of 1,238.
"Las Vegas radio is our primary source of advertising, " says Mr. Woods. "We do a bit of digital and direct mail. Our television advertising is limited to the Hispanic market. And, we never use newspaper advertising. But, we have been advertising consistently on Las Vegas radio stations since I came to the dealership 12 years ago."
"Advertising on Las Vegas radio stations is a staple of what we do. It contributes to our year-over-year growth. As long as we are profitable, I am sticking with it. I am a firm believer that the more we spend in advertising, the more cars we will sell."
"The key to being successful with radio advertising," says Mr. Woods, "is consistency. You can't just jump in-and-out and then blame the medium when it doesn't work. It takes time and patience. And it will pay off."
Radio Advertising Returns $5.00 For Every $1.00 Invested
If you were one of the 1,502,898 adult consumers who tuned-in to a Las Vegas radio station last week, then you, no doubt, heard Aaron Taylor. You know, 'The Real Estate Guy'.
"Radio, by far, is my biggest source of advertising," says Mr. Taylor. "We have sold more homes and made more money since I started advertising on the radio than I have at any other time before then."
Today, out of 16,000 agents in the Las Vegas area, The Real Estate guy ranks sixth with home sales exceeding $80,000,000 per year.
"We are on 24 different radio stations, 52 weeks every year. "I know that every $1.00 I invest in radio advertising will pay back $5.00 in sales," he says.
In addition to the thousands of radio commercials Mr. Taylor purchases every year, he also pays for and hosts a two-hour radio talk show every Saturday. "I generate almost 20% of my sales from this show," he says.
Mr. Taylor believes any Las Vegas small businesses and entrepreneurs can benefit from advertising on Las Vegas radio stations. He offers the following advice base on his success:
- Use the 30/30/30/10 rule. For every $100 you sell, set aside 30% for taxes. Pay yourself 30%. Invest 30% in advertising. The last 10% is for 'mamma'.
- Be patient. Radio won't work in 30, 60, or 90 days. You need to stick with it. People need to hear your message repeatedly before they will trust you enough to call. New customers tell me all the time that they've heard my commercials for years, and they feel like they know me.
- Be different. Make sure your commercials have a hook. Something that sets you apart from your competition
- Never stop advertising. If you do, a competitor will be happy to take your place.
It used to be said that the fastest way to man's heart was through his stomach. But, for Las Vegas small business owners, the fastest way to the is through their ears.
