Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get started?

When you have answered your basic questions on our website and you’re ready to take the next step, contact us to set up an appointment with a Marketing Consultant who will connect with you to learn more about your business, your marketing challenges, your marketing goals, your current marketing strategy and advertising mix, your most profitable customers, your brand messaging, your business’ unique competitive advantage in the marketplace, and of course your budget. Once they have a clear understanding of your business, objectives, and budget they will develop a customized radio and / or online advertising recommendation to deliver the desired results. Your recommendation will be a turn-key solution including an advertising schedule, and a radio ready commercial announcement.

What does Cape Cod Broadcasting offer?

Cape Cod Broadcasting is a locally owned and operated media company that works with over 500 Cape Cod businesses to help them grow through custom designed radio and online advertising campaigns on its properties 99.9 WQRC, Ocean 104.7, 107.5 WFCC the Classical station, Cape Country 104, and CapeCod.com.

When you choose Cape Cod Broadcasting you’ll benefit from working with a team of advertising professionals who care so much about delivering results for your business you’d think we were spending our own money on your campaign.

Your Cape Cod Broadcasting team:

– Marketing Consultant – When you call or email us a Radio or CapeCod.com Marketing Consultant will connect with you to learn more about your business, your marketing challenges, your marketing goals, your current marketing strategy and advertising mix, your most profitable customers, your brand messaging, your business’ unique competitive advantage in the marketplace, and of course your budget. Once they have a clear understanding of your business, objectives, and budget they will develop a customized radio and / or online advertising recommendation to deliver the desired results. We use the title Marketing Consultant instead of Sales Rep or Account Executive because we are truly marketing professionals.

– Creative Team – Behind your Marketing Consultant is a team of creative professionals including copywriting, production, and professional announcers that will ensure your message is crafted and delivered in a way that will cut through the clutter and effectively sell your business to our listeners and site visitors. Development of your script and creation of a radio ready commercial or web ready display ad that will deliver the desired results is a service that we provide so when you advertise with Cape Cod Broadcasting you will never pay a fee for creative services or in house production.

– Promotions – Behind your Marketing Consultant is a Promotions Director focused on enhancing our advertising partners’ campaigns through contests, community partnerships, and events. Promotions are designed to help advertisers leverage our on-air, online, email marketing, and social media platforms to increase their exposure to our listeners and website visitors.

When you add your team of Cape Cod Broadcasting experts to Cape Cod’s most desirable website address CapeCod.com, four exclusive, locally programmed stations designed to create loyalty with the market’s most desirable consumers, an enterprising news team, personalities who specialize in companionship-driven radio, local ownership and management dedicated to your business success and your business can’t lose with Cape Cod Broadcasting.

Is radio advertising right for my business?

Radio advertising is a powerful part of your advertising strategy if you want to:

– Introduce your business to thousands of potential customers in the entire market area of Cape Cod, the Islands, and the South Shore
– Influence the buying decisions of thousands of potential customers
– Speak to people who will make a decision to buy your product or service this week
– Create a consistent flow of new customer opportunities via foot traffic, phone calls, website traffic, e-newsletter sign ups, social media engagement
– Tell “the story” of your business
– Differentiate your business from your competitors
– Encourage customer loyalty
– Educate past customers on why they should come back and do business with you again
– Grow your market share
– Make your business a household name and create top of mind awareness
– Build the credibility of your business
– Control the public’s perception of your business

Radio advertising is not right for every business and here are some reasons why it might not be the best choice for yours:

• Your customers are not in the market area of Cape Cod, the Islands, the South Shore
• You are a sole proprietor in the organic growth phase of your business
• Your business will max out with a small number of new customers
• Your customers only come from a finite area

How much does advertising cost?

For $1,500 per year your business can have a robust presence on CapeCod.com. The average radio advertising campaign is between $1,000 and $5,000 per month. There are creative ways that we can work with a budget under $1000 per month, but investing a minimal budget will result in a minimal return.

The difference between investing $1000/month campaign and investing $5000/month is reach and repetition.

Reach

– The larger the advertising budget the more people your advertising campaign will reach. A radio station may have 30,000 total listeners every week, so you’ll likely be reaching between 1,000 – 2,000 listeners each time your commercial airs. Therefore, the more times your commercial airs, the more listeners you will reach.

– When you’re advertising on the radio you’re buying access to that radio stations’ audience. Each one of our four radio stations has a unique, targeted audience. A larger budget will allow you to advertise on two, three, or even all four of our stations. The key to multiple stations is to be doing each station well. You will have much better results if you saturate one station with an optimum schedule than if you advertise on multiple stations with a mediocre schedule on each one. In doing this you will essentially dilute your results altogether. Your Marketing Consultant will work with you on the best recommendations for your business.

Repetition – Also Known as Frequency

– With radio advertising you are trying to speak to a moving target. Each time your commercial airs imagine you are casting your net over the Cape, Islands, and South Shore to find buyers who are in the market for your product or service today as well as to influence buyers who will come into the market for your product or service in the next month to a year. The businesses who cast their net over and over and over inevitably find the most buyers because they simply give themselves more opportunities to succeed.

– It is said that the average person is bombarded with over 5,000 advertising messages per day. Plus, people are busier and more stressed than ever with endless to-dos competing for their attention all the time. To cut through this clutter, rise above the competition, and actually start to influence the buying decisions of the audience you need repetition, repetition, repetition.

– The most successful campaigns have the kind of repetition that positions their business to be thought of immediately when someone needs their product or service. The marketing term for this is top of mind awareness.

Simply put…

Allocating more to your radio budget = more reach + more repetition = more opportunities for your business to win customers.

Think you can’t afford radio? Remember, the average advertising budget starts around $1,000 per month. We have dozens of advertisers spending around this level whose campaigns are extremely successful year after year.

At Cape Cod Broadcasting we are committed to making recommendations that work for your business and for your budget so we’ll always be advising you with that in mind. It is much more important to us that you have an advertising budget that is realistic and sustainable in good months and bad months all year long than to over commit to a campaign that has you in a panic about your return on investment from day one.

How long do I have to advertise to get results?

Have you ever thought to ask your doctor how long you have to exercise in order to be healthy? Of course not, because you already know that if you want to be healthy exercise must be a consistent part of your life. Similarly, advertising is an investment in a healthy bottom line for your business and the same logic applies. Advertising is successful when it’s consistent.

With consistent advertising your business will always reach people in the market who are in the process of buying your product or service. No matter what is going on in the economy there are hundreds of people in the market right now who are – going out to dinner tonight – going to buy a TV this week – going to hire a lawyer this week. You get the idea. They are going to make a decision to buy this week from you or someone else. With consistent advertising you’ll always be top of mind.

Think back to the last major purchase you made. Let’s say it was a mattress. Most likely, while you were considering that purchase you were paying attention to every furniture commercial on the radio, on television, and in the newspaper. In fact, it probably seemed like furniture commercials and mattress offers were everywhere!! Radio advertising expert Paul Weyland describes this as being “ON” for mattresses. Your awareness was up and you were looking for every relevant advertisement to help you with your purchasing decision.

But what about for the people who are not “ON” for your product or service? Why should you care about reaching them? Going back to the mattress example let’s assume you are not in the market for a mattress this week. Can you remember all of the furniture commercials that you have heard and seen this week? Probably not. But can you name 5 retailers that you would shop if you all of a sudden you find yourself in the market for a mattress tomorrow? Of course you can. These businesses advertise consistently and put themselves in the fortunate position to be on the list for consideration when their potential customer moves into the buying mode. They have built “top of mind” or “top of mind awareness” or “share of mind.”

With consistent advertising positions your business to be considered by people who will buy your product or service in one month to one year.

At Cape Cod Broadcasting we are always going to make recommendations to put your business in the best position for success. Before we make campaign recommendations we take the time to learn about your business cycle, your sales process, and the purchasing decision making process. Additionally, we study this market and the unique nuances that affect your best opportunities for success, as we work with hundreds of businesses across dozens of industries. Our objective is always to align your campaign with the times that customers are most likely to be ON for your product or service.

What’s a minimum commitment to test how radio will work for my business?

Unless you are advertising a one time event, we will always recommend that you make a minimum commitment of three months.

When you advertise on the radio, your goal is to influence the buying decisions for people who are listening. Your campaign needs time to rise above the competition, cut through the clutter, influence the buying decisions of your potential customers and get them to take action. Persistence and consistency pays dividends.

In addition to creating a consistent flow of new customer opportunities, advertisers who commit to six months or twelve months are also rewarded with more advantageous rates.

How can I guarantee success?

Advertising will deliver new opportunities to your business and it is up to your business to make them a customer. Because of this, the first step is to make sure your business is in great operating order.

Next, stick to a well-constructed advertising message month after month. If you deliver your message consistently to the right people your advertising will yield rewarding results.

I tried radio once and it didn’t work

There is a formula to a successful radio campaign. At Cape Cod Broadcasting we get the formula right so that your advertising dollars work for your business.

The formula for radio’s success is:

– The right station
– The right schedule
– The right message
– The right commitment

If you have advertised in the past and your radio campaign didn’t generate the results you were looking for then one of two things happened

– One of these four elements was off
– There weren’t clear and realistic expectations

How will I know that my campaign is working?

At Cape Cod Broadcasting we love to help our advertisers track the success of their campaigns and your Marketing Consultant can work with you to develop a campaign that will yield specific measurable results.

That being said some of radio’s greatest strengths are difficult to quantify. These include:

Elevating your brand to a household name
Changing the image or public’s perception of my business
Introduce a new business, new location, or a new product or service
Positioning your business to be thought of first when someone has a need for your product or service

The first step is to determine WHAT you want to measure. The key here is to determine the way you want to receive customer opportunities.

Increase foot traffic
Increase phone calls
Increase website traffic
Increase social media community
Increase e-newsletter subscribers
Increase coupon redemptions
Increase the success of an event or sale

From the list above what is the one singular objective of this advertising campaign? When we know your objectives we can deliver the new leads to your business through the one specific location in your sales funnel that your business has determined will be prepared to receive them.

The next step is to determine HOW you will measure those results.

– If you want to increase website traffic you can easily measure your campaign success with Google Analytics. We’ll discuss the specifics of what success looks like. What is your website traffic right now? What is the increase that we are aiming to create?

– If you want to increase your e-newsletter subscribers then let’s look at our starting point and end goal. Do you currently have 100, 1,000, or 10,000 subscribers? And what are we offering to the listener? Unfortunately it’s not enough to say come sign up for our e-newsletter; you have to sell them on the benefit – “Sign up for our e-newsletter and we’ll send you the top 10 financial mistakes retired millionaires make.”

– If you want to increase the success of an event or sale, we’ll be comparing your success to the previous sale you had when you didn’t use radio advertising.

– If you want to increase foot traffic you have to determine how you will measure your success. How much foot traffic do you have right now? Do you have 10 customers per day or 100 people per day? How will we know that this campaign has been successful?

Make sense?

Once we have determined one, singular measurable objective for the campaign and the metrics for measuring the success of the campaign, we will build your advertising campaign around delivering results. We will build your commercial around giving the listener one clear, direct call to action.

How soon can I start advertising?

Developing a campaign strategy and creative strategy from scratch takes about one week from your initial meeting with a Cape Cod Broadcasting Marketing Consultant. The average length of the process from initial inquiry to starting on the air is three weeks to one month. At Cape Cod Broadcasting we are committed to making sure your campaign strategy and messaging are right before you start on the air. We are invested in creating long term partnerships so we take the time to make sure your campaign is right before we launch it.

Can I voice my own commercial?

Yes absolutely. If you or a spokesperson for your business would like to voice your commercial this is something you should discuss with your Marketing Consultant during your initial consultation. We can create your messaging in first person and we hold studio time for advertising partners every weekday. You can book a recording appointment through your Marketing Consultant.

Who writes my commercial?

One of the most important components to a successful campaign is a compelling message. We are committed to helping our advertisers stand out with messages that deliver results.

Your Marketing Consultant will work with you and our Creative Team to create your commercial. They will ask you questions like “Why should someone do business with you? What truly makes you a better choice than your competition? Our goal is to get beyond ad speak like- good customer service, family owned, established for 30 years, quality, and truly differentiate your business with a message that really matters to our listeners.

Development of your script is a service that we provide so when you advertise with Cape Cod Broadcasting you will never pay a fee for creative services or in house production.

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