AM/FM Radio Planning Guide: How Often To Run Commercials, Promos, Or Songs
How often should I run commercials, promos, or songs on my station? This is a question that anyone buying or working in audio must grapple with regularly. The answer is easy with the right information to reference.
How often should I run commercials, promos, or songs on my station?
For AM/FM radio a simple scheduling equation exists. It can be used to determine how often anything from station promos, commercials, or even songs should be played on AM/FM radio broadcasts. There are three sorts of schedules that can created:
- Light/image awareness
- Medium/high impact
- Heavy/grand opening
Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Determine station turnover
Station turnover is defined as the number of different groups that make up a station’s audience.
To calculate turnover, first identify the station Cume, or the number of different, unique people listening to a station. Divide the Cume by the average quarter-hour persons, or the station’s audience in an average 15-minute period. Cume divided by AQH persons is the turnover ratio of a station.
Step 2: Determine the type of campaign being run
Station turnover is used in different ways depending on the goal of the campaign.
- Image awareness campaigns: Image awareness campaigns are light campaigns. They require lower frequency. These campaigns reach half the audience an average of two times. The station turnover is the number of ads per week that will run Monday through Sunday, 6AM-midnight. If the station turnover is 22, you run 22 ads across the entire week.
- High impact campaigns: To generate a high impact campaign, double the station turnover to determine the number of ads to run. This type of campaign reaches two-thirds of the station audience an average of three times. If the station turnover is 22, you run 44 ads across the week.
- Grand opening campaigns: These are also called “optimum effective schedules.” This campaign was invented by legendary sales consultant Steve Marx and reaches 78% of the audience an average of 4.3 times. OES schedules are calculated by multiplying 3.3 times the station turnover. If the station turnover is 22, you run 73 ads across the week.
- If station turnover cannot be determined, use general format turnovers from diary markets as a guide (slide 2)
Station turnover in practice: An example of how to use the equation to calculate a schedule
Here’s a real example for how to use station turnover to dictate how many ads should run. Using the Diary market averages, turnover is 22.
- For a light, or image awareness, campaign, a turnover of 22 translates into 22 AM/FM radio ads per week. Image awareness campaigns reach half the station audience an average of 2 times.
- For a medium, or high impact, campaign, station turnover is multiplied by 2 for 44 ads per week. This is a higher frequency campaign with two-thirds of the AM/FM radio station audience being reached an average of 3 times.
- For a heavy, or grand opening, campaign, the 22 station turnover is multiplied by 3.3. 73 ads should run per week, reaching 78% of the audience an average of 4.3 times.
Attached is a station schedule worksheet (slide 3). It can be used on a case by case basis. Plug in station turnover and easily calculate the investment level per week based on the goal of the campaign.
Understating how best to use AM/FM radio is the key to optimizing AM/FM radio campaigns
Planning properly based on desired outcome is essential in using AM/FM radio to its maximum effectiveness. By understanding the correct number of ads to run for impact, advertisers can be sure that their AM/FM radio campaigns are hitting the mark.