Here’s the problem faced by most small businesses today: they feel like they need to advertise everywhere. Online, trade shows, sponsorships, special events, social media, SEO, blogs… the list grows every year it seems. Most small businesses, which we define as companies from $1 million to $100 million in revenue, don’t have the marketing budgets to do all these tactics well. Plus, ask any business and they’ll tell you that they’re largely disappointed in the ROI from their spends.
An opportunity for businesses is to eliminate or reduce spends in other areas and add Sirius XM to the mix, especially if they have high-growth or national scaling goals, or both. Restated, what if the business did not have to grow the ad budget to incorporate Sirius XM. RaptorUSA is not just a media boutique for Sirius XM. Its principals have many years of experience in advertising and online marketing. A benefit from working with RaptorUSA is that these principals work directly with principals and their executives in not only crafting an attractive broadcast campaign but also in assessing their current brand, marketing and online spends to optimize it all.
Here are several reasons why Sirius XM is a proven growth and scaling option.
1. Understanding the Cost-Effectiveness of SiriusXM
You can scale nationally unless you start reaching a national audience. It’s more expensive to do this through online ad spends through Google and Facebook, each of which is about 8 times more expensive on a cost-per-thousand basis than SiriusXM.
- Nationwide Reach at a Fraction of Traditional Costs: SiriusXM provides access to a vast audience across the U.S.,Canada and Mexico, often at a lower cost compared to traditional radio advertising and, frankly, all other advertising tactics except for flyers and sales presentations! It’s helpful to use the cost-per-thousand metric as a way to gage the comparative cost effectiveness of your tactics. Cost isn’t everything, especially compared to ROI. However, if you’re spending money on higher CPM channels and you’re not happy with the ROI, you need to consider a change in your mix.
- Targeted Advertising: With its various channels and programs, SiriusXM enables precise targeting of audiences based on interests and demographics. This means you can focus your advertising budget on specific listener segments that are more likely to be interested in your products or services.
- Response & ROI: SiriusXM considers itself a direct-response marketing channel and their results prove this. Their audience is more affluent, educated and they are buyers. This audience tends to be innovators, early adopters and early majority. Advertisers enjoy these demographics and psychographics in B2B and B2C prospecting and buying behaviors they are unaccustomed to.
2. Integrating Sirius XM with what you’re already doing
In the old days you didn’t use a charcoal grill without applying lighter fluid. In fact, if you didn’t use lighter fluid, your coals probably wouldn’t catch fire. And isn’t that what every business owner wants from their marketing? “I want my marketing to catch fire!” Say it. It’s okay.
- Sirius XM is lighter fluid for your charcoal: Here’s what happens. Let’s say you’re spending, oh, $50,000 to $100,000 or more on online media spends with Google, Facebook, X, all of them. Run a campaign with Sirius XM. A two week campaign will cost $20,000 to $30,000. See what happens to your paid campaigns. See what happens to your SEO when thousands of new visitors hit your web site. See what happens to the ROI of your existing online spends when lighter fluid is applied. Why? Because you have a more interested inbound audience. They have more purchase intent. Your other online tactics will surround these prospects in a cocoon that supports buying.
- Stop reaching thousands and start reaching millions: It’s just true. With online tactics you’re reaching hundreds or perhaps thousands at most. If you are trying to scale nationally, using online tactics is like throwing a stone into the ocean. Will anyone see the splash. Sirius XM creates a splash. First, you’re now reaching about 10 to 15 million listeners with the average campaign. Think big, act big. Sirius XM is big.
- Easy to think differently: What’s the difference between, let’s say, two HR outsourcing firms who are trying to grow and scale. Well, one hires sales people to beat the street locally. That’s about a $100k commitment. Ask yourself how that will end. Not saying it’s wrong. We are just firm believers that sales is an excuse for failed marketing. You should read our book The Great Marketing Lie: Six Truths for Biz Owners and C-Suiters available on Amazon and Audible. Now, the other company commits to thinking and acting nationally, if they’re prepared for national leads. They take the same spend and create easily hundreds of millions of connections with the B2B and executive audience on Sirius XM. It … does … work.
3. Ignite brand affinity through a new leadership strategy
We’ve seen this a lot. Advertise in the local newspaper or online. Yawn. Have your existing clients and prospects hear you on Sirius XM. Remarkable! We mean, they will literally seek you out to say they heard you on Sirius and to ask about your campaign. Why? Compared to your competitive set, no one else is doing this.
- Leadership strategy: Regular advertising on Sirius XM when none of your competitors are doing it will be perceived as a leadership position. Now, you’ll have to own this and have “things to talk about” in your advertising that are truly differentiated. RaptorUSA can help with that!
- Engage client testimonials: Share the joy and excitement. Engage a creative strategy that includes your customers. In fact, if you have customers that sell nationally, you’re helping grow and scale their businesses. You can even include them over years to… wait for it… help ensure customer retention AND pricing power. They’re not going to want to leave, all things being equal, for a slightly lower price elsewhere. You may also want to co-op on the campaign, paying equal shares or such.
- Help support employee retention: You can also use Sirius XM to create or support your “employer brand.” Don’t have one. We can help you. You do this by including employees in your ads. Remember, if you make Sirius XM even a small but routine spend using a tool we call flighting, you can have a pod of ads that rotate. You can now take those key employees and put them into your ad campaign. This will make them more reluctant to leave, all things being equal. Who else of their friends and peers are being branded through Sirius XM?
4. Start slow and grow from there
To ensure that your advertising dollars are well-spent, employ these strategic planning tips:
- Start with a Test Campaign: Begin with a smaller, test campaign to gauge the effectiveness of SiriusXM advertising. Monitor the performance and gather data on how well your message resonates with the audience before scaling up your investment.
- Negotiate Ad Packages: Our team will explore different ad packages and pricing options. Sirius XM may offer flexible packages or special promotions that fit your budget, especially if you are a regular advertiser. “Regular” can mean monthly or quarterly and can be as little as just two week flights. When you become regular, Sirius XM typically offers a lot of free stuff. In the industry we call this “value-add.” This value-add means a lot and will further turbo your results at no additional cost.
- Monitor and Adjust: Continuously track the performance of your ads using metrics such as website traffic, customer inquiries, and overall engagement. Use this data to make informed decisions about your advertising strategy and make adjustments as needed.
5. Evaluating and Refining Your Campaign
Once your campaign is underway, it’s important to evaluate its success and refine your approach:
- Analyze Results: Review the performance data from your campaign to understand what’s working and what needs improvement. Look at metrics such as listener engagement, website traffic, and conversion rates. See how all your tactics are working together. Adjust as appropriate.
- Gather Feedback: Solicit feedback from customers and prospects to gain insights into their perceptions of your ads. This feedback can help you fine-tune your messaging and approach. Consider migrating your messaging over some time to add depth to your brand.
- Adjust Your Strategy: Use the insights gained from performance data and feedback to make necessary adjustments to your advertising strategy. This might include refining your message, changing ad formats, or targeting different channels.
Conclusion
In so many cases we’ve seen small business advertisers create the budget for their new campaign by reducing wasting spends elsewhere. Might this apply to you? What can you reduce or eliminate? Yes, maybe this year you DON’T go to that trade show. Or you defer hiring another salesperson. Make your existing one really busy!
And here’s really the kicker. We’ve seen business fortunes change by actual scaling using Sirius XM as a real marketing strategy. We like to say, “Don’t wonder for the rest of your life what might have happened if you HAD done that Sirius XM campaign. You owe yourself the benefit of the doubt.”
Think about all the stupid marketing stuff you’ve spent money on that you kick yourself for. This is not and will not be one of those.
