Radio Advertising, and The Best Placement For Your School’s Commercials

I need to credit Shalom Christian Academy in Chambersburg, PA with this excellent suggestion. But, like all excellent ideas, it was considered as something “we’ve always done,” and not considered to be anything remarkable.

If you’ve been a reader of SchoolAdvancement’s Marketing Matters, you know that the most remarkable things about your school may not be what you, as a school administrator, consider to be remarkable. Truthfully, what you think is remarkable about your school really doesn’t matter. However, what parents who are currently part of your school’s community think is remarkable about your school, and what parents who are investigating educational environments for their children think is remarkable about your school is what really matters!

Conversely, what you may perceive to be “tradition,” or sometimes, “no big deal,” may be the very thing that makes the difference between a parent enrolling their child in your school or in the school that’s down the street from their home.

I was driving to Shalom Christian Academy a few years ago during the winter which just wouldn’t quit. Temperatures were below freezing, and while snow covered the fields, the road was clear, and the sun was shining in a bright blue sky. I turned on the radio to hear the local weather forecast, and after a song finished playing, I heard the announcer say, “This forecast is brought to you by Shalom Christian Academy.” It was followed by the weather forecast, and then a commercial for the school!

While media advertising can be expensive, the expenditure can, at times, be justified, if the message reaches the intended target audience. I’ve always been a proponent of radio commercials over television commercials, which was one of the reasons I enjoyed my time in the radio business. With today’s technology, one needs a great microphone, a computer or iPad with an audio recording and mixing program, and some royalty-free production music, and you have the basics of a recording studio. You may need to work with a copywriter so that your message is a compelling one, and perhaps hire a vocal talent to record it for you (and then you don’t even need the microphone), but audio production is significantly less expensive than video, and today’s audio production costs are significantly lower than they were 25 years ago.

Further, even though you may think that all you need is a iPhone or other mobile device to produce compelling video messaging, you still need all the audio stuff, plus lighting and video editing programs if you want your videos to be quality videos.

Even though there is more interest in podcasting and streaming stations rather than tuning into the radio today, there are still situations where radio is still a viable media, and there are certain times when it’s necessary.

So rather than sponsoring weather forecasts at this point in history, consider sponsoring traffic reports.

Now that employers are asking employees to return to the office, travelling in a car or truck may now be necessary at times. Weather forecasts are now available through apps on your mobile device, but traffic issues are communicated through live traffic reports, and can prepare you for or alert you to issues before the GPS on your phone turns your route to red.

It is a good strategy for all schools? No. Each school is unique. You need to create a marketing plan based on your resources and your marketing goals. Remember that the goal of marketing isn’t to increase enrollment; it’s to increase inquiries to your school. Someone needs to be interested in something before they’ll commit to it!

Radio commercials shouldn’t just be dismissed because they’re assumed to be expensive or ineffective. They’re a tool, and like any good carpenter or architect knows, there isn’t just one tool in the toolbox.

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