LONDON: The £592m spent on radio advertising in the UK in 2015 represented a value of £4.6bn to advertisers, according to a new report.

British advertisers using radio there enjoyed a return on investment (ROI) of ￡7.70 for every ￡1 spent, according to this June 2, 2016 article from media publisher Warc, reporting on a new study by Oxford Economics for Radiocentre, the industry body for commercial radio.

According to their study, entitled The Value of Commercial Radio to the UK Economy (click link for a full copy),

Despite the “explosive” growth of consumers streaming music, the report noted that this has generally been a substitute for music purchase and is becoming the way that people listen to their own music collection; “radio stations still play a fundamental role in driving music sales…”

The Warc article quotes Siobhan Kenny, CEO of Radiocentre: “Commercial radio’s popularity with listeners is not in doubt with an incredible weekly audience of 34.3m. However the economic activity it supports has never been examined in any detail. The results are impressive…”

Oxford Economics’ conclusions regarding commercial radio advertising’s impressive ROI for advertisers mirrors those of Neilsen research in the United States, whose landmark 2014 study confirmed big returns on relatively small outlays by advertisers. In an Advertising Age article, “Which Medium Scores Highest ROI? It May Be Radio,” an average return of $6.21 was reported for each $1 invested in radio advertising in the USA, according to a detailed study of ten different brands.

Local advertisers using radio don’t have sophisticated and expensive research studies to reinforce the wisdom of their decision to invest in local radio. Still, many are able to measure the effectiveness of their advertising through increases in traffic and sales of advertised products and services, along with abundant anecdotal evidence that their messages are reaching and influencing local shoppers.

From time to time, we’ll share some of their success stories with you here.  Stay tuned.

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Rod Schwartz backed into a lifelong career in radio advertising in 1973 in Springfield, Illinois. He became sales manager for the Pullman Radio Group in 1979 and served in that position until 2006. He continues to serve clients in the region as the stations’ senior account executive. Since 1991, Rod and his family have operated Grace Broadcast Sales, providing short-form syndicated radio features to radio and TV stations across the U.S. and Canada. An avid photographer, Rod shares some of his favorite images of the Palouse at PalousePics.com.