Cayuga Radio Group Q4 Newsletter

Planning 2022 Advertising:

As we come out of Covid, many businesses have unfortunately operated understandably in the “wait and see” mindset.??There’s no question the last 18 months have favored the “big box store” and online retailers.?But as consumers start returning to work, and more “normal” activities- this includes shopping and purchase patterns.?One of our important guide recommendations is to scrap the “wait and see” strategy in favor of planning and implementing an effective advertising program for the new year.?This new plan should include the simple concept of “consistency”.?Don’t overreach in trying to time consumer purchase cycles…focus on rebuilding your brand name and image.?Secondly, focus on being the LOCAL expert.?Big box stores will run generic campaigns in the hopes of creating a message to resonate with all people.?YOUR creative should reflect a true understanding of consumers HERE and ads that reflect optimism, excitement, and an eagerness to have them back in your place of business.?Let’s go!

Supply and Demand issues continue:

Chip shortage, cargo ships backed up, lacking full labor staffing, inflation, covid recovery…I am sure there are even more challenges out there.?I see opportunity.?For every category that is challenged, we see high growth in consumer options.?So, while new car dealers are short inventory, it has been great for used cars, car rentals, parts stores (new and used), repair places, oil change places, tire stores, etc.?A business in growth phase should think beyond the current boom and ask, “how can I build this to sustain itself?”.?Advertising is a big part of making consumer change into long term habits.?For businesses struggling to overcome these slowing periods, maintaining share of mind is valuable.?Don’t think “going dark” with your advertising will work. ?It doesn’t.?Find ways to creatively generate revenue and compete.?We have helped hundreds of businesses navigate this successfully in 2021.

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Recruitment continues to be a massive priority:

We recently held our second live job fair recruitment event of 2021.?Over 50 area companies participated in the 5-hour event.?Incredibly successful.?The reason is we are able to dedicate a massive amount of advertising to the region to drive attendees.?These candidates are seeking work, seeking BETTER jobs, and checking their value in today’s competitive marketplace.?We promote the event across 10 radio stations, print, social media, posters and signs, and digital campaigns.?And while it would be great to see employers have the opportunity to reach tens of thousands of people in a day…the reality is this:?qualified candidates showed up, many were hired, and our clients find the event to offer the LOWEST COST PER HIRE of all their recruitment efforts!?Our next job fair is being planned for January 2022.?Call your Cayuga Radio Account Executive to book your spot!?(Hint:?#1 New Year’s Resolution is “new job!”)

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Finger Lakes Favorites Magazine:

We distributed over 7,000 Fingerlakes Favorites magazines into the region over the past 60 days.?We’ve also had over 4,000 people access the online version of the magazine.?The launch of this annual awards magazine was a great success- with over 25,000 votes that selected over 250 businesses from around the Fingerlakes region.?Businesses recognized as being the very best.?We will be bringing the program back in 2022 and project it to be even larger than this past year.?Stay tuned for more info and check out the online magazine at:?Home Page | Finger Lakes Favorites

Importance of Power Numbers:

Starting October 24th, people will need to include the 607-area code when dialing local numbers.?It’s 3 more digits to include- and likely means more businesses will need to promote the numbers in their advertising.?Interesting with our region as we work with many businesses in both 315 and 607 area codes.?And while most consumers will “figure it out”, adding ease to customer capture is still very important.?We still have great success with our POWER NUMBER program.?It’s connecting your number to a four-digit word in order to make the number easier for consumers to retain.?BOAT, CARS, WOOD, TOOL, ROOF, PETS, DOOR, BANK.??If “owning” a word is important to your business – let’s talk about making a POWER NUMBER work for you

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Transit for your visual advertising:

2021 was?strong year for transit ads.?We sell 55 buses that cover Ithaca, downtown, the Cornell and Ithaca College campuses, and the popular roads and routes.?Transit offers EXCELLENT reinforcement of branded positions.?Iconic images are easily reinforced to consumers.?Slogans and positioning statements from radio are easily converted to the bus displays.?Downside??Inventory is limited and renewals are very high.?Our clients like to purchase their campaigns annually.?Don’t wait.?If you need to grow your business…”get on the bus!”

Radio shows strong:

I am continuously impressed how well traditional radio fares in today’s fragmented and explosive media environment.?Radio has not been crushed by Pandora and Spotify…in fact, it is the recording industry including (vinyl, CD, and downloads) that have been decimated.?Think about it…when did you last buy a CD or download a song??The reality is audio content purchases have now become equivalent to an ‘all you can eat buffet”.?But radio is FREE, LOCAL., does not track you, and offers great local personalities that deliver smiles, information, contests, news, weather, and traffic.?Traditional radio was never the “dominant” medium, but it continues to be a strong player.?But here’s the thing…is your business LOCAL??Do you RELY on local and regional customers??Does your business COMPETE against some online entity??If so, I can pretty much say with certainty that local radio is your partner.?Like you, we are here.?Real people in your community that understand our collective success is predicated on keeping our community healthy with local purchases and local employment.??Your local radio group puts its assets right back into the community.?Consumers and businesses need to think about that.?Think about it…Tik Tok…their money goes back to China.?That’s not a good thing for our local economies or our country.

Football is HOT.

Nice to see football back!?We are so excited to have made a big off-season trade.?We put the New York Giants on our Fox Sports station 96.3 the Buzzer and put the Buffalo Bills on 99.9 WIII.?Radio is unique in that we carry play by play and color analyst broadcasts of our teams!?So, they know the players, the coaches, the “ins and outs”.?This is what core fans want…plus awesome pre-game and post-game recaps.?We are 95% sold out with our 2021 football packages- so if you are interested in seeing the power of the NFL work for your business- call me.

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New radio Show on WHCU:

On September 2nd, we launched the "Markley, van Camp and Robbins Show," weekdays from 12-3pm on WHCU. The syndicated show consists of David Van Camp, Jamie Markley, and Scott Robbins, who are three hosts representing three different generations of listeners. MVR covers politics and pop culture while mixing in commentary into everyday news topics.?Their radio show is dynamic, energetic, intelligent, and adds elements of contemporary humor which people are clamoring for.?This show is one of several competing for leadership position in midday talk radio following the death of Rush Limbaugh.?Limbaugh was about 37 years old when he started his syndicated show- and was the undisputed leader for over 30 years.?Give it a listen!

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