In our last blog post we covered the top 10 ways to attract new listeners to your internet radio station. So, if you tried out some of our tips and everything went as planned, there will be a point where you will have a listenership which is steadily growing. Awesome!
But, can your internet radio station be profitable? In this post we will show you the question is not if you can make money with your station but how.
How do internet radio stations make money?
Mimicking the same monetisation model as traditional terrestrial radio stations, internet radio stations make money mostly from ads as well as sponsors.
These ads can be everything from on-air commercials, to Google ads placed on their site. Your marketing options and revenue increase as your listeners increase. What do I mean by that? The more listeners you have, the more the options you have to monetise your internet radio station. If you manage to hit a certain number of listeners and traffic to your station, then it will be easier to attract advertisers and brands who will want to advertise their offerings on your station. And remember this: The more popular your station becomes, the more they will pay for advertising.
What you need to get advertisers
Before jumping to all the various ways you can monetise your internet radio station, we first need to talk about your station’s media kit. That’s the document you will use for reaching to advertisers and asking them to sponsor your station or to advertise their services and products through your station. The media/press kit should be appealing to the eye of the advertiser and convincing.
This media kit will mention key information about your station, your radio hosts, your programme. It will also feature all potential advertisement options you offer, the exposure that they will get with each option and how much it will cost them. You will also need to include stats and demographics about your audience, such as number of listeners per day or month, listeners’ genre and age range as well as other useful information about the average type of listener.
So, without further ado, here are 14 great ways to make money with your internet radio station.
1. Sell on-air ad spots
As we mentioned above, on-air commercials are the most common revenue stream. You can sell ad spots to local businesses like: concert halls, bars, pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, car dealers, private colleges, lawyers. You can reach out to local businesses offering services or products that might appeal to your listeners and sell them ad spots.
Just be sure to have everything you need in order to convince them. That includes important data about your listeners, as these metrics can be vital for closing the deal. Look for demographics, time spent on your radio, social media followers, and other data that can be important for advertisers. We have recently written a very useful article about how to understand and analyse your listenership. Be sure to check it out.
2. Host sponsored shows
This can be a good option in case you host a show that gets a good amount of listeners. You could ask a brand or business to sponsor the whole show. That would mean that during the show you would have to mention their brand a certain amount of times (according to the deal you make).
“This show has been brought to you by blah blah blah”
You have definitely heard this phrase a million times right? That’s a classic monetisation strategy for plenty of FM radio shows out there.
Alternatively, if you are not in that stage yet to have a stable amount of traffic that would make an advertiser pay for sponsoring a show for a whole year then you may consider a single – one-off sponsorship. That could be the option in case you plan an exclusive show and interview with a special-famous guest. If the guest is famous enough and his/her personal brand resonates with the company you try to get to sponsor the show you will have good chances to close a deal.
Key point here to remember: As mentioned above, as your listenership increases, the amount of money for such a deal increases as well 😉
3. Offer endorsements
You can sell endorsements during live shows. These endorsements can be everything from products and services to restaurants and bars. Keep in mind that Political endorsements are quite tricky and you should be careful before deciding to move towards that direction. For example, community or nonprofit radio stations in the US are forbidden to make any kind of political statements and if they cover political topics they are required to give equal time to other candidates or parties.
Each mention would cost X amount of money. Just be sure to think of and respect your listeners and not to overdo it. Afterall, one of the reasons why internet radio enthusiasts love internet radio is that compared to traditional FM radios, they don’t get bombarded by commercials and brand endorsements every minute. So, keep that part in mind before offering endorsements!
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