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          2023 BIMA Gala

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          2023 Fierce Urgency of Now Festival

          The Fierce Urgency of Now Festival brings Boston’s diverse young professionals together with business leaders, organizations and their peers to build connection, advance careers and ignite positive change.

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          Greater Boston

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          Pacesetters
          Doing Business with Boston Planning and Development Agency

          Join us for our installment of the Pacesetters Doing Business series featuring Boston Planning and Development Agency on December 7, 2023.

          12/07/2023

          3:00pm - 4:00pm

          Virtual

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Women's Network
          Women’s Network | Jenny Holaday, Encore Boston Harbor

          Jenny Holaday will share her journey into leadership as President of Encore Boston Harbor and first woman to run a casino in Massachusetts.

          12/13/2023

          2:00pm - 4:00pm

          Encore Boston Harbor

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          BIMA
          2023 BIMA Gala

          Step into Winter Wonderland at our BIMA Holiday Gala. Gather your digital media and marketing peers for a night of networking and entertainment.

          12/14/2023

          6:30pm - 9:30pm

          InterContinental Boston

          arrow-go
          Read More
  • Learning & Development
        • Learning & Development

          • Overview
          • Call for Nominations
          • Resources
        • EQ to Elevate Workplace Well-being

          Designed for mid-level managers and supervisors, this new certificate program addresses workplace well-being through unique, innovative, and actionable methods.

          Read More
          Transformational DEI Certificate

          Join our Transformational DEI Certificate! Our comprehensive learning & development offerings are designed to connect and grow strong leaders who lead both inside and out of the office.

          Read More
          Women’s Leadership Program

          Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.

          Read More
          Boston’s Future Leaders

          Our Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) program provides emerging leaders with a socially conscious and civically engaged leadership toolkit, as well as the opportunity to apply their knowledge through experiential assignments.

          Read More
  • Economic Inclusion
        • Economic Inclusion

          • Overview
          • Economic Inclusion Committee
          • Fierce Urgency of Now Festival
          • Pacesetters
          • Resources
        • ...
          Economic Inclusion
          City Awake

          City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Economic Inclusion
          Pacesetters

          We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Fierce Urgency of Now Festival
          2023 Fierce Urgency of Now Festival

          The Fierce Urgency of Now Festival brings Boston’s diverse young professionals together with business leaders, organizations and their peers to build connection, advance careers and ignite positive change.

          09/12/2023 -

          09/16/2023

          Greater Boston

          arrow-go
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        • OUR NETWORKS

          City Awake

          City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.

          Read More
          BIMA

          BIMA (the Boston Interactive Media Association) serves a vibrant community of like-minded professionals from agencies, brands, publishers, and ad-tech companies with business interests in the New England market.

          Read More
          Women’s Network

          For nearly 30 years, the Chamber’s Women’s Network has connected female professionals of all background and career levels. Today, our Women’s Network is the largest in New England, strengthening the professional networks of women each year.

          Read More
          Massachusetts Apprentice Network

          The Massachusetts Apprentice Network convenes employers, training providers, and talent sources interested in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs in occupations across industries and statewide in fields such as tech, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and more.

          Read More
          Pacesetters

          We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).

          Read More
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          We support small business through public policy initiatives, events designed to connect small businesses in Greater Boston to their peers and established business leaders, professional development offerings, and free small business advising.

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7 Steps for Successful Advertising on Boston Radio Stations

September 27, 2023 Charles Zanazzi, Regional Vice President of Professional Services in partnership with Beasley Media Group

Small businesses play a vital role in our communities, providing innovation, services, revenue, and employment. As a way to support small businesses and their contributions, HarborOne Bank has teamed up with 98.5 The Sports Hub to create the “Small Business, Big Winner Contest,” which will provide one fortunate winner with the power of radio advertising to grow their business. This contest gives local entrepreneurs the opportunity to win a prize of $15,000 in radio advertising and more! Enter here!

On September 21, 1921, WBZ-AM signed-on as the first radio station in Boston. Since then, local business owners have depended on radio advertising to successfully market their goods and services. Despite the many new media options available for advertising, radio remains an effective way for New England business owners to connect with potential customers. These seven steps from Beasley Media Group will help you reach your business goals through radio advertising.

Step 1: Define A Key Marketing Objective for an Advertising Campaign on Boston Radio

  • An effective advertising campaign on Boston radio needs a specific marketing objective. The objective should correspond with an advertiser’s key challenges or opportunities. The objective will influence which radio stations to purchase, the length of the campaign, the timing of the advertising, as well as the length and the content of the commercials. It is possible that over time, a business could have many different marketing objectives, but it is a proven, best practice for each campaign to focus on one.

Step 2: Choose the Right Boston Radio Stations for your Audience

  • The stations selected for advertising a product or service on Boston radio should be determined by the marketing objective. There are 33 radio stations that service the Boston area. Despite numerous listening options, the typical listener tunes-in to between two and three stations each week. So, to create a successful advertising campaign on local radio, a business owner must identify those radio stations that attract the target consumers defined by their marketing objective.

Step 3: Select the Right Time to Advertise on Boston Radio Stations

  • The times of day a small business owner should advertise on Boston radio is determined by the campaign’s marketing objective and the budget for achieving it. Radio stations breakdown the day into segments called dayparts with the greatest concentration of listeners occurring on weekdays between 6:00am and 7:00pm. This is referred to as radio’s “prime time”. Research indicates that the typical person tunes-in at about the same time throughout the week. Achieving a branding objective requires frequency of message among the target consumers. To build effective frequency, a business owner should concentrate commercials during specific dayparts over an extended timeframe

Step 4: Determine How Long an Advertising Campaign on Boston Radio Should Last

  • The US Small Business Administration recommends that every New England area small business advertise consistently. “Think you have a great product?” asks the SBA. “Unfortunately, no one’s going to know about it unless you advertise.” The SBA goes on to say, “Advertising, if done correctly, can do wonders for your product sales, and you know what that means: more revenue and more success for your business.” Henry Ford believed continual advertising was a wise investment. “Saving money by not advertising,” he claimed, “is like stopping a clock to save time.” Rules of Thumb: Branding campaigns require repetition of message (frequency) for an extended period-of-time. Promotional campaigns require delivering a message to as many target consumers as possible during a shorter timeframe.

Step 5: Create an Effective Radio Commercial for Boston Radio

  • The number one job of any radio commercial on Boston radio is to break through and be heard. If it is not heard, then it can’t be remembered. If it is not remembered, then it can’t be acted upon. Breaking through and commanding a listener’s attention is a function of a commercial’s creative content. According to a Nielsen study, the creative content of an ad contributes more to a commercial’s ability to drive sales than any other element of an advertising campaign. Content is more important than brand, reach, and frequency combined. Nielsen’s findings are confirmed by a study from OMD, an advertising agency whose clients include McDonald’s, Apple, Pepsi, and Google. This study found that ad engagement has an 8-time bigger effect on sales than size of audience. Given a well-defined marketing objective, the creative team of local radio stations will be able to apply their professional skills to the development and production of effective radio commercials.

Step 6: Choose the Best Length for a Commercial on Boston Radio

  • Boston radio stations offer different commercial length options to fulfill the marketing objectives and budgets of local small business owners. The most common lengths are :60 seconds; :30 seconds; :15 seconds; and :10 seconds. A guideline to consider: Strive to make the commercials as long as necessary but as short as possible.

Step 7: Determine a Budget for Advertising on Boston Radio Stations

  • Advertising and marketing are crucial to the success of every New England small business. How much should be budgeted is a function of current or projected revenues. The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends that established businesses with more than $5-million in gross revenue should budget 7-8% to advertise. Businesses who have not yet achieved that level of revenue should plan on investing 10-12%. Newer businesses that may not yet be familiar to their target consumers should plan on investing a larger percentage. Once an advertising budget is determined, then station selection, campaign durations, and commercial lengths can be decided in a manner that conforms to the budget.

 

ABOUT HARBORONE BANK

HarborOne Bank serves the financial needs of consumers, businesses, and municipalities throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island through a network of full-service banking centers and commercial loan offices. The Bank also provides a range of educational resources through “HarborOne U,” with free digital content, webinars and recordings for small business and personal financial education. HarborOne Mortgage, LLC, a subsidiary of HarborOne Bank, is a full-service mortgage lender with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island and is licensed in six additional states.

For more information about how HarborOne Bank’s Small Business Team can help your business, contact: [email protected]

ABOUT BEASLEY MEDIA GROUP

Founded in 1961, Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBGI) currently owns or operates 64 radio stations located in fifteen large and midsize markets across the nation. Nearly 41% of Beasley stations are located in the nation’s top 50 markets such as Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Las Vegas, New Jersey, West Palm Beach, and Atlanta. The remaining stations are primarily in vibrant regional centers like Central North Carolina, Northeast Georgia, Delaware, and Southwest Florida. Beasley stations are home to a diverse range of formats, featuring top on-air personalities and programming that appeal to a wide range of audiences and demographic groups. These include Country, Oldies, Adult Contemporary, Sports, Talk, CHR and Rock, among others, reflecting a diversity that translates into a broad revenue base. Beasley also offers local advertisers compelling digital marketing solutions as well as podcasting opportunities.

For more information about advertising opportunities with Beasley Media Group in Boston, contact: [email protected]

  • For more great information and advice about advertising on Boston radio click here: Advice | Advertise In Boston
  • For resources for small businesses from HarborOne, click here: Business Resources – HarborOne Bank

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