Radio - National Network

If your product is national in scope and your budget allows, you may consider using national radio commercial spots.

An example would be CBS Radio. Just like local radio, you can have a commercial produced that will air in specific commercial spots on a national scale.

A good radio ad will grab a listener's attention, perhaps with a catchy jingle or a talented radio personality. Radio ads engage listeners by contructing a 30- or 60-second story,

Do not just dive into this level of advertising without professional help from an experienced marketing/PR company. They have developed the contacts and understand the fee structure to ensure you are getting the value and return on you advertising dollars. There are formulas established to determine ad rates based on cost structures for each market and station ratings. Professionals already understand this system.

Advantages

Radio is media enjoyed by people at one time or another during the day, at home, at work, on the internet and even in the car.
The vast array of radio program formats offers to efficiently target your advertising dollars to narrowly defined segments of consumers most likely to respond to your offer.
Gives your business personality through the creation of campaigns using sounds and voices
Free creative help is often available thur the radio stations you market on
Rates can generally be negotiated and dead space picked up cheap
During the past ten years, radio rates have seen less inflation than those for other media

Disadvantages

Because radio listeners are spread over many stations, it may be smart to advertise on several stations at the same time to reach your target audience
Listeners cannot go back to your ads to go over important points
Ads are an interruption in the entertainment. Because of this, a radio ad may require multiple exposure to break through the listener's "tune-out" factor and ensure message retention or be broadcast on talk only stations
Radio is a background medium. Most listeners are doing something else while listening, which means that your ad has to work hard to get their attention

Internet radio shows are to take off fast. That means advertising and sponsorship opportunities are also taking off. In addition, "offline" methods have been shown to be pretty effective at driving traffic online. If increasing Web traffic is your goal, using traditional media outlets to increase traffic should be a part of your marketing plans.

Keep in mind that there are 4 basic time slots for ads:

AM (6am - 10am)

Day (10am - 3pm)

PM (3pm - 7pm)

Evening (7pm - 12am)

Who is your target audience and when are they listening?

Budget: Expect to spend 10 to 20% of your revenue or even more at a minimum for a national ad campaign. Hence, proceed carefully with the help of professionals before embarking.