Paying for advertising on any broadcast medium, including radio, might not be in the budget for every organization. There are some techniques for obtaining free radio advertising. Although no upfront financial commitment might be required, there might be other costs, such as a subsequent charge based on audience reception or an investment of time rather than money. Some of the different types of free radio advertising include public service announcements (PSAs), per-inquiry (PI) advertising and the publicity that comes from talk shows or news programs.
An expert in a particular field might be able to obtain free radio advertising for an organization. Radio hosts who provide talk commentary frequently have guests on their programs. It might be possible for an expert to become a guest to offer information on a topic of interest. When the host identifies the guest, the name of the organization might be mentioned, giving it a bit of free radio advertising. Certain experts receive some type of financial compensation for keeping their radio visits exclusive to one program.
This also is a popular way for authors to obtain publicity for a new book. By agreeing to be a guest on a program and talk about the content in the book, an author might receive free radio advertising for the book. This can bring awareness not only to the book but also to a particular topic that might be of importance.
One way to essentially receive free radio advertising is through per-inquiry (PI) advertising. In this method, a client is not charged for an ad until it triggers some type of response from the audience. After those queries begin to come in, the advertiser is charged based on that level of interest. In the event that the ad translates into sales or some other form of business, the commercial could end up paying for itself.
Public service announcements (PSAs) are another form of free radio advertising. These messages might be sponsored by a government entity and might promote beneficial behaviors or offer warnings about disruptive activities. For instance, the dangers of drugs might be heralded in a radio ad followed by information on whom to contact for support. Positive dietary habits might be another message promoted in a PSA as part of free radio advertising. Certain fruits and vegetables might be mentioned as providing proper nutrition, although an individual supermarket or farmer's market is not likely to be publicized.
