Insights: Radio Makes Facebook Ads Better

This week’s Westwood One blog looks at one of the findings from a MARU/Matchbox survey that was conducted among AM/FM radio station owners, general managers, and sales managers to understand which competitive media they face the most. Facebook topped all media options, followed by social media.

With Facebook’s size, the platform isn’t going away. Fortunately, AM/FM radio makes Facebook ads work better:

• AM/FM radio adds new, different audiences of people that Facebook cannot reach: According to Edison Research’s 2019 Infinite Dial study, there has been a -9% loss of Facebook users since 2017 among persons 12+ (67% in 2017 to 61% in 2019). With an estimated decline of 15 million users, Facebook ads are reaching fewer people. AM/FM radio reaches 30% more 18-34 Millennials than Facebook. Among 25-54s, AM/FM radio outreaches Facebook by 39%.
• AM/FM radio ads are noticed more than Facebook ads: According to MARU/Matchbox study commissioned by the IAB, spoken word content like news and weather generate the highest levels of concentration among respondents. Concentration with news and weather is 1.5X greater than concentration with social media. Listening to music, a major AM/FM radio activity, also sees higher levels of concentration (51%) than when checking social media (44%). Ads running on AM/FM radio are noticed more because people concentrate more on the AM/FM radio content.
• AM/FM radio ads resonate more since AM/FM radio content is more engaging than social media: According to the IAB study, news and weather are the most engaging types of content, each at 79%. Music and podcasts follow, each with 76%. Checking social media generated the lowest levels of engagement at 39%. AM/FM radio works better because the audience is more engaged with the content.
• AM/FM radio ads work better because they are exposed more frequently: Americans spend nearly twice as much time listening to AM/FM radio than they do on social media, exposing themselves to AM/FM radio ads more frequently than Facebook. According to Nielsen’s Total Audience Report, persons 25-54 spend an average of 1 hour and 41 minutes with AM/FM radio daily, 1.7X more time than they spend with social media on a smartphone.