In our previous article, we analyzed a $2 million investment across audio, TV, and OTT highlights channel-specific strengths—and found that radio was the top performer.
As promised, now we're digging into the specifics: a detailed breakdown of $1.3M in Q4 radio spend – starting with a Daypart analysis.
The key metrics being analyzed are media cost, sign-ups, cost per sign-up, conversions, and customer acquisition cost (CAC). Using historical modeling, the number of conversions at 6 weeks can be reasonably projected, factoring in those who sign up and may later become an app subscriber/considered a conversion within 6 weeks.
Here’s the TL;DR
- Highest Sign-Ups: Morning Drive (6-10 AM) *important to note that Morning Drive also had the highest investment.
- Most Efficient (Lowest Cost Per Sign-Up): Overnight (12-6 AM) *Important to note that Overnight also had the smallest investment.
- Best Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Overnight (12-6 AM)
- Highest Conversion Rate: Morning Drive (6-10 AM) at 27.4%.
- Steadiest Performance: Midday (10 AM - 3 PM), balancing volume, cost, and conversion rates.
- Highest Cost Periods: Afternoon (3-7 PM) and Evening (7 PM - 12 AM), both showing elevated CPSU and CAC.
- Media Costs and Signups are pretty well-aligned, as expected
- Midday and afternoon had fairly high CPSUs, despite lower signups
Here’s a closer look at the trends from each segment:
Overnight (12-6 AM)
- Media Cost: $48,100.85
- Sign Ups: 1563
- CPSU (Cost Per Sign Up): $28.20
- Conversions: 629
- CVR: 40%
- CAC 6WK (Customer Acquisition Cost over 6 weeks): $68.70
This is category-leading performance on efficiency and minimal spend. Overnight brings added value. We think of them as bonus spots that should be a part of your marketing mix…I mean, why not have them if they’re only $1/spot? That said, overnight is not scalable for radio. This is just for radio – TV is a different story (more on this later).
Morning Drive (6-10 AM)
- Media Cost: $649,225.07
- Sign Ups: 19488
- CPSU: $33.00
- Conversions: 8173
- CVR: 42%
- CAC 6WK: $78.68
Morning drive wins by far in terms of volume and CVR. This makes sense—commuters are a captive audience, and morning radio is habit-driven.
Midday Performance (10 AM - 3 PM)
Midday shows pretty balanced performance metrics:
- Media Cost: $197,642.89
- Sign Ups: 6068
- CPSU: $33.91
- Conversions: 2471
- CVR: 41%
- CAC 6WK: $82.20
These numbers position midday as a steady performer, offering a reliable balance between Morning Drive's volume and Overnight's efficiency.
Afternoon (3 PM - 7 PM)
A bit of an efficiency gap here. Afternoon performance was the least efficient:
- Media Cost: $329,403.79
- Sign Ups: 9804
- CPSU: $38.61
- Conversions: 3991
- CVR: 41%
- CAC 6WK: $96.13
Despite significant investment, afternoon shows the highest cost metrics across all dayparts.
Evening (7 PM - 12 AM)
- Media Cost: $110,473.85
- Sign Ups: 3225
- CPSU: $36.63
- Conversions: 1305
- CVR: 40%
- CAC 6WK: $89.31
And a summary of performance by metric:
- Media Cost – Morning Drive had the highest media cost by a significant margin, followed by Afternoon and Midday.
- Sign Ups & Conversions – Morning Drive attracted the highest number of sign-ups, followed by Afternoon and Midday. Overnight and Evening had substantially fewer sign-ups.
- CPSU – Overnight had the lowest CPSU at $28.20, indicating it was the most cost-effective in terms of acquiring sign-ups. Midday and Morning Drive also showed competitive CPSU values.
- CAC 6WK – Overnight again showed the lowest CAC 6WK, indicating it was the most cost-effective over the longer term. Morning Drive had the highest CAC 6WK.
Analyzing the data from our recent radio campaign reveals clear insights into optimal timing for maximizing ROI. Morning Drive emerged as the leader in both sign-ups and conversions, albeit with higher associated costs per sign-up over the six-week period.
Conversely, Afternoon, despite strong sign-up numbers, saw its cost per sign-up climb significantly. For cost-efficient strategies, Evening and Overnight slots present compelling opportunities with lower media costs, especially Overnight, which delivered the lowest cost per sign-up.
These findings highlight the potential to strategically allocate resources, focusing on Morning and Overnight for optimal ROI while considering scale and cost-effectiveness across all dayparts.
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