Why Women Love Radio

If you’re target demographic is female, on a local or national scale, radio is the marketing medium for you. Women listen to radio to elevate their mood, learn about local and national news and events, and find new music. This creates major advantages for advertisers on the radio.

As John Candelaria, OM and brand manager of Beasley Media Group’s Las Vegas stations, explains, “Women listen [to radio] primarily to address mood, offer up fun and to hear favorite songs and artists.”

Radio’s most important element has always been the local connection and information uniquely provided by radio stations. However, when women listen to radio, they find fun and funny entertainment that is both enjoyable and informative: a “winning” combination.

According to results from Alan Burns & Associate’s 2017 “What Women Want” study, “Radio provides escape and distraction, relieves stress, and produces energy…with ‘fun’ being a top mood enhancer, it’s understandable why women show their love for the airwaves.”

The Results Are Clear

94% of women 15-54 listen to radio every week. 18% regard their favorite stations a a “best friend” and 19% “feel well acquainted.”

Furthermore, 78% of women feel radio best “understands respondents needs and wants” and only 73% of women feel the same of their significant other(s). These results suggest women feel radio understands them better than their significant others.  As Burns explains, “As far more women feeling they are understood more by their favorite radio station than their significant other, generally what works in interpersonal relationships works exactly the same between the radio station and its target. Now ask a woman which one of the two people she connects best with: Is it her significant other, who sometimes generates dirty laundry, arguments and misunderstanding? Or will she name a good friend who she has fun with, who shares her values, never adds problems or workload to her life, and always makes her feel better? That friend is her favorite radio station.”

Doug Hamand, VP of Programming Operations at Cumulus, adds that radio maintains it’s unique connection with listeners via personalities, “You want a release and escape and there’s no better way than radio. Your iPod, iPhone, iPad and streaming services can’t provide that. It’s your talent, content, and uniqueness that brings them back day after day.”

What does this mean for advertisers?

Alan Burns, founder and CEO of the radio consultancy, explains that the 2017 study “demonstrates that radio is really undervalued by the advertising community.”

Women tune in because they trust their local radio stations to bring them joy, entertainment, and information. As a result, brands advertising on the radio are also viewed in the same light: a reliable, helpful, and fun resource. When advertising on the radio, brands are able to leverage this effect and create the same associations with their product or services.

Please contact us to get you started on your next radio advertising campaign.