¡Mi Gente!

January 28, 2016

A couple of years ago, I started studying Spanish. At that time, I started listening to the local Spanish radio station to help me learn a bit more of the language. One of my favorite songs was “Mi gente” (My people) as recorded by Marc Anthony.

The irony is that I am not exactly “mi gente.” In fact, I am so far out of the typical demographic for this station (falling outside of the station’s core audience both ethnically and age-wise), that, statistically speaking, I’m not even a blip on the Nielsen radar.

And yet my “outsider” status provided me with an interesting perspective. Because my goal is to better understand Spanish, I suspect I pay far more attention to commercials than most radio listeners do. And that’s when I noticed how well this station and its advertisers did in appealing to their audience.

There was, predictably, advertising for immigration law attorneys. But there were also many national and local advertisers that had created ads to address the particular needs of this station’s audience. For example, Xfinity offers low prices on Mexican channels as well as many other countries; Sprint draws attention to its unlimited texting and calling to South American nations; and Rosetta Stone offers its program free to help you learn English (hey, no fair – I had to pay for mine!).

The point is that this station has done an excellent job of knowing who their target audience is, what those people want and need, and have solicited advertisers that offer products and services that will fulfill those wants and needs.

And while it might be a little easier to figure out those needs if you’re appealing to a specific ethnic market, the bottom line is this: Radio stations make money when they can demonstrate two things to advertisers: 1) The station effectively reaches the advertiser’s target market, and 2) The station’s target market buys the advertiser’s products/services.

So how do you do that if your station has a broader appeal? How do you find your niche, and more importantly, how do you convince prospective advertisers (and keep current ones) that your station can reach and influence the consumers they are targeting?

The answer is simple: with compelling facts that demonstrate specifically who your station’s target audience is, what they buy, who they buy it from, and how often they buy it. With data like this in hand, your station can clearly prove its worth.

And this is exactly the type of detailed research that we love producing here at Research Director, Inc. We love finding the compelling stories and creating fact-filled presentations that can help your station stand out from the crowd. If you’d like us to help you find your niche and show advertisers why you’re the best buy, please feel free to contact one of our Ratings Experts with your questions.

Oh, and mi español? It’s gradually improving.

-Barbara Krebs, Quality Assurance

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