Radio advertising
This is a plain guide to how radio advertising works in Leeds, written by the station that sells the airtime. It covers where you can be heard, how a campaign is planned, what you can run, what changes the cost and how to tell whether it worked.
Ready to book? Audience figures and the full offer are on the advertise page. Still weighing it up? Read on, ring 07540725926 or drop us a message.
or email hello@ldcradio.co.uk
Local radio puts your name in the ears of people who live, work and go out in the places you serve, and it does it again and again. Very few listeners act the first time they hear an advert. Hear it through a week of shows, though, and yours is the name that comes to mind when they need what you sell.
LDC is a dance music station, and the people who tune in are looking for things to do in the city: nights out, gigs, food, events and places to spend a weekend. That makes it a natural fit for venues, bars, restaurants, promoters, shops and anyone hiring locally. You also deal with the station itself. The people planning your campaign are the people who put it on air.
Here is where you can be heard:
You can run adverts, sponsor a show or feature, have our presenters host your event, or add online and outdoor display around the airtime. Most campaigns mix two or three of these.
Spots or sponsorship? Adverts are about repetition: your message, in your words, heard many times across the schedule. Sponsorship is about association: your name tied to a show people choose to hear every week. Spots suit an opening, a sale or an event date. Sponsorship suits a business that wants to become a familiar name. The full offer lives on the advertise page.
Recorded adverts played across our FM, DAB, app and online streams, or a promotion built around your business. You decide how often it plays and how long the run lasts.
Your name attached to a show or a regular feature, on some or all of our platforms. We shape the package with you around the show that suits your customers.
LDC presenters can host your event and provide the music, with live broadcasts and interviews going out on air. If you’d like presenters to mention you during their shows, that’s something we can talk through.
Campaigns on ldcradio.co.uk and the station’s social channels, plus out-of-home digital display across West Yorkshire, carry the same message beyond the radio itself.
Tell us what you’re promoting, where your customers are and any dates that matter. A short conversation is usually enough to see whether radio fits.
We suggest the parts of the day to target, how many plays a day, how many days a week, how long it runs and which platforms carry it.
We help write the script and produce the advert. If you already have one, we check it works for the station.
You hear the finished advert and sign off the schedule before anything goes out.
The advert starts on the agreed dates. If it sends listeners to a page, that page is live and tested before the first play.
We look at what came in during the run and talk about what to keep or change for the next one.
Talk it through with LDC on the phone, or send a few lines and we’ll come back to you with a quote.
We don’t print a rate card here, because the price follows a handful of choices you make. These are the ones that move it most.
Some parts of the day are in more demand than others, and that shows in the price.
More plays means more chances to be heard, and a higher cost. We suggest a frequency that fits the goal, not the biggest package.
A short burst before an event is priced differently from a run of months designed to build a name.
FM, DAB, the app and the online stream can be combined, with online, social and outdoor display added around them.
Writing, voicing and producing a new advert is part of the cost. Bringing a finished one keeps it down.
Sponsoring a show is a different package from a run of adverts, shaped around the show and platforms you choose.
If the advert points to a page that doesn’t exist yet, building it and setting up tracking adds to the quote.
Rates are on request. Ask through the advertise page or call 07540725926, describe what you have in mind, and we’ll quote for that campaign.
You tell by giving listeners one clear thing to do, then counting it. Nobody can click a radio advert, so the measuring happens wherever the listener goes next.
Because we build websites as well as sell airtime, we can set up that side ourselves: the page, the form and the tracking behind them. The enquiry form at the foot of this page, for example, records which page it was sent from. We won’t promise a result, but we will make sure you can see what came in. More on LDC Web & Digital.
Four simple ways to measure a campaign:
An advert only earns its keep when a listener acts. These are websites we built, not radio campaign results: each shows the kind of place a listener could land.
Community radio station, Leeds (97.8 FM, DAB, online)
The station’s own site, and where many listeners already are. The live player and the on-now, up-next strip sit on every page, the advertising page sets out the audience and the offer, and a Message the studio button puts listeners in touch with the presenters. Content updates itself from LDC One, the system we built to run the station.
Chimney sweeping and servicing, Yorkshire
A listener who half-remembers an advert arrives with questions. This chimney sweep’s homepage answers them before the call: the services it covers, from sweeping and inspections to bird nest removal, an FAQ section, and a note on the NACS certificate customers receive after a sweep. Each fireplace and stove type has its own page, so an advert that names one has a page that matches.
Civil and structural engineering, Yorkshire
A thirty-second advert can’t carry much detail, so the page it points to has to. Here each engineering service has a page of its own, and one quote form asks for the service, the site postcode and a description of the project, so an engineer can reply properly first time.
Questions
It depends on when it plays, how often, for how long and on which platforms, and on whether we produce the advert for you. We give rates on request rather than one price for everyone, because a week before an event and a season-long sponsorship are very different things. Call 07540725926 or ask through the advertise page, and we’ll quote for what you describe.
No. We can help you write the script and produce the advert, so you don’t need a studio or a voice of your own. If you already have an advert, send it over and we’ll check it suits the station. Either way, you hear the finished version and approve it before it goes on air.
It depends on whether the advert needs writing and producing, how quickly you approve it and which slots are free. A finished advert on a simple schedule moves faster than a new production or a sponsorship built around a show. We’ll give you a start date when we plan the campaign. If you have an event date, tell us early.
Not on air. FM covers the City of Leeds and DAB covers Leeds and Bradford together, so a campaign is heard across both, plus by anyone listening online. If only one part of the area matters, pair the airtime with search or social adverts aimed at those postcodes.
An advert is your own message, played at agreed times across the schedule. Sponsorship links your name to a particular show or feature, with credits around it, so listeners connect you with something they already like. A clear offer or a fixed date usually calls for adverts. Becoming a familiar local name over time suits sponsorship. Plenty of businesses combine both.
Whenever the people you want are listening. A club night wants listeners who are planning their weekend, while a local trade might want people at home deciding on a job. Our schedule shows every show and when it goes out, which is a good place to start. Tell us who your customers are and we’ll suggest the slots that fit.
Yes. As well as running the station, we design and build websites, so we can make a page for the campaign with a clear offer, click-to-call and a short enquiry form, set up so that enquiries are counted. It can sit on your existing site or stand on its own. See websites we’ve built.
Get a quote
A few lines is plenty. Tick what you think you need — or “Not sure” — and we’ll reply by email to talk it through and quote.