Stand Out.
We tell your story. You make all the difference.
Click here to find articles that may interest you regarding the latest in advertising with Blue Wave Radio…
What radio does best!
I’ve been a business owner. And as a business owner, I don’t want to spend a dime that isn’t going to move my business forward…
So this part of the website is here to help answer questions that are asked of me… and one of those which usually comes through via WhatsApp is :
“I’m going to be opening “xxxxx business”… and I’m interested in seeing your packages…”
Here’s the thing… I’m happy to send out our “packages” but that’s not what my job is at Blue Wave Radio.
My job is to tell as many people as possible the reason they should contact you when they are in need of what you are selling…
We’ve found that our clients are best served by detailed custom plans that begin with the Advertising copy, the frequency of a schedule, and telling a strong and compelling story. You and your business are very different than your competition and we work on customization because each case is different. This uniqueness is your strength.
Listeners listen for our music, information, and our shows. They want to know that what we talk about is relevant to them. And each listener is important to us.
We are experts at writing to tell short stories that are repeatable and that provide the correct contact information. And we tell these stories with enough frequency that our listeners remember you when they decide they are interested in your business.
Breaking that down…
Everyday, listeners are driving and they need something… Each listener has different needs.
Some need gas… Or they need groceries… or they need any something for their home from the hardware store…
Another listener might need a doctor for eye problems… they are in a different category altogether… and if they are in need of a cataract surgeon, that is even more specific…
A home owner looking for an upgrade on their furniture is very different than a renter who has a furnished apartment.
And someone looking for a builder is different than someone who is buying a property that already exists…
With so many potential clients on the island we are a fast way to achieve word of mouth. We don’t reach everyone and no medium does… We do reach people who have friends and who share their knowledge about what they know with others… So we don’t have to reach everyone. We need to reach enough people who can share what they have heard about you.
The vast majority of North Americans are exposed to radio everyday. It’s a simple technology. More than 100 years ago, around 1906, experiments began to target audiences with News and Music. By the 1920s, the first “commercial” radio stations began their broadcasts with sponsors.
Radio is still popular because most people just want something simple. They turn on their car and 101.1 Blue Wave Radio is ON. It probably is the simplest tech there is.
We like to keep it simple and tell your story over and over. The listeners of Blue Wave Radio are smart. They trust us. They will find out more about you when they are ready. But first, they need to know you are there.
Radio is a medium that requires an investment in time... Our programs are designed to continually keep your message out there during all times of day. Roatan being an island with small roads and only two main arteries, means that people are always driving. The commute times to shop, visit friends, etc., average 20-30 minutes... in that time the average person is exposed to two spot sets (groups of 6-7 ads of 30-60 seconds...)
For listeners to find more details about your business, we can drive listeners to your web or Facebook page. The key is to get their attention combining testimonials from your customers with well written ads and the repetition Rule of 7. You’ve probably heard of the “Rule of 7”, a proven axiom in advertising. It takes about 7 exposures for a person to become aware of a company. And more for them to take action.
Our base ad campaigns use this rule. Over a month, the average person will hear your ads and within two months, they will have heard them enough to become aware of your business.
At that point in time, with the correct type of ad, you should see responses... Over three months, people will begin to feel confident enough to have researched you to make contact. Facebook page is a good contact point as is a website. I find people are reluctant to engage immediately without a referral and it's like going to a department store where the clerk asks if they can help you and are told... "Thanks.. just looking." They really are shopping but want to feel confortable before they ask for help. That’s why we like testimonial ads here on 101.1. Your happy customers can tell your story and they aren’t “Artificial Intelligence or an actor…” They know you and they are happy to share their experiences.
The following approach has a proven track record and we recommend it depending on how fast you want results...
First two months, package A... followed by 4 months of package B... We will contact your clients (you and I) and Blue Wave Radio will produce "testimonial ads"... production is free... (In the US an agency will charge you a minimum of $1000 for this service if they are a good agency.) I do professional voice work for many US companies and I'm a voiceover artist for a several national companies .
Plus, I have more than 40 years in this industry. During that time, I’ve found what works and what doesn’t… I believe we can help you achieve reasonable sales goals. email me at BlueWaveRadio@outlook.com or WhatsApp me at +504 9867-9871…
We are happy to send you a package… But we’ll be much happier to send you more business.
Who Listens to Radio?
I'll start this with a preface. Every day I wake up wondering if I people will stop listening to the radio.
I've been in radio my entire life. And there are always naysayers. XM Radio and Sirius Radio were going to "kill" radio. The newspapers said so, the tv stations said so, the magazines said so. But it didn't happen. As a matter of fact, the satellite stations that began "commercial free and subscriber based" did so poorly they were forced to merge and play commercials.
Radio streams popped up in the late 1990s. None have been able to replace radio as it requires technology and bandwidth. Bandwidth must be paid for and must be fast enough to prevent dropouts. So streams are not as used as radio which is truly simple technology for the end user. And when they were free to use, the companies providing them were losing their asses financially and had to introduce ads to help them try and break even. (Think Spotify and Pandora.)
Spotify has 600 million users worldwide but pays $7 billion dollars in royalties and it's founder Daniel Ek said after laying off 17% of it's workforce "we need to take substantial action to right-size our costs."
And with interruptions after every other song, it's frustrating to listen to (have you tried it without a subscription?)
But the numbers are in... Radio still wins around the US and by a large majority...
According to Edison Research, one of the largest media research companies in the US-
Combined radio listenership is about 68% of adults over 18 years daily.
Compare that to Spotify ad supported streams which only have 5%.
95% of North Americans "never" tune into these platforms.
Part of that is because a good radio station sounds like the area it's from. A good radio station feels like home.
We hope we do that for you. Blue Wave Radio has 1.3k listeners on Tune-In Radio... 40% from the US, 38% from Canada... and the rest from countries around the world. On the island we can only say that we can't measure that number but we get results for our advertisers... and we get great feedback from our listeners... and we love that. We estimate that we average 12,000 listeners on a daily basis which is about 20% of the English language market daily and reach 50% of the population on a weekly basis... Our audience is bilingual. People have told us they listen to us so they can help learn. English Pretty cool...
Finally, every telephone has an FM chip built-in. The bandwidth providers and media providers insisted that phones in North America be sold with the chip deactivated. That's right. So they could profit by selling you "bandwidth." Think about how you might listen to radio if you could do it from your phone for FREE.
Thanks for listening... Talk to you on the radio soon.
Does my business need to advertise?
The best marketing experts in the world consistently say that a marketing budget is a large component of every successful business. Most industries have specific figures related to what % of gross revenues is (or should be) devoted to advertising expenses.
Based on successful businesses, a Business to Business advertiser should spend 2-5% of their gross sales in marketing. A Business to Consumer Advertiser is going to be higher with 5-10%.
Advertising is a PART of marketing. You'll almost never hear a professional marketing director call their advertising "MARKETING"... because it's only a piece of the puzzle... Signage, menu design, website, logos, the design of your bottle or container... are all marketing... but ADVERTISING is the creation of messages designed to tell your story.
McDonalds is the largest advertiser in the US... They account for almost 18% of all "advertising"... And they spend about 1.5% of their gross sales toward radio, television, outdoor and other electronic media.
And everyone world wide knows McDonalds... According to a recent study McDonalds reaches an estimated 97% of the US Market annual...
So do you need to advertise?
That depends. If you are profitable, growing your base well enough to make you happy, using referrals of current customers and turning away business probably not. And there are a few businesses on Roatan that can say that.
Every day on Roatan, there is more and more competition in just about every sector, all drawing on the same market. Any business that is not growing is in danger of shrinking. If you need an edge, Blue Wave Radio can help. .
We cover the island. We have experienced business people who understand the process. We add to your credibility- after all, a business that advertises is a serious business willing to invest in getting their name out there and telling their story.
I have several clients broadcasting with us now that didn't need to before. They were the only game in town for years. And now they have 25 competitors within a half mile of their location.
They have great staff and super customer service. They are friendly, easy to enjoy, high quality and heads above their competition. They once relied solely on Facebook. And about three years ago, it stopped being effective because there are 25 other businesses in the same business space.
They realized they couldn’t wait on luck for new residents and new visitors to find them by trial and error. They took controls of their destiny by putting their name on the radio.
Without the right advertising approach, being found becomes a matter of luck. All a business can do is hope – we all know that hope is not a sales tool, and we think your business deserves a “not so secret” weapon that will take that dice-throw out of your business’s financial future.
With radio in car and in home via streaming through our website, we are consistently telling the story of this business and the audience is finding them.
One great success story is an insurance company who had never advertised using radio... In three months, they had 50 new clients. And because they are great at what they do in serving their customers, they will turn that number into 500 within the year. All for about 8 dollars a day. Think about that...
We'd love to be part of your team... We deliver your message... Professionally and with command of our product. Thanks for listening... Talk to you on the radio.