One or two times a week, someone calls and says they heard us on the radio. Those leads convert at a higher rate. We even found our newest salesperson through a radio ad.

JD Chapman

Agency Principal, JD Chapman Insurance

Industry

Insurance

Location

Finger Lakes, NY

Products

Radio, Digital

JD Chapman Insurance has been part of the Finger Lakes community long enough to know that trust isn’t built in a single transaction. It’s built over time, through repetition, through recognition — the kind that happens when someone hears a familiar voice on the radio during their morning commute and thinks, I know them.

That familiarity is exactly what drew JD Chapman to advertising with FLX Local Media, and it’s what keeps them coming back. The agency runs both radio and digital, treating the two as a single, reinforcing system rather than separate line items on a budget. The thinking is straightforward: radio plants the name, and digital is there when someone goes looking.

“Once people hear you on the radio and then maybe they see you on the web while they’re searching — that consistency,” the agency’s representative explained. “Those leads convert at a higher rate just because I think they have a familiarity with us.”

Those leads convert at a higher rate just because I think they have a familiarity with us.

One or two times a week, the phone rings and someone on the other end says they heard JD Chapman on the radio. Those calls aren’t just leads — they’re warm ones, arriving pre-sold on the idea that this is an agency worth trusting. It’s a dynamic that national platforms struggle to replicate, and one that JD Chapman leans into deliberately.

“Advertising is nice because it’s local and I think our community especially likes that local touch,” they said. “It helps us compete with some of the bigger players.”

The agency also records its own radio spots, which means the owner’s voice — unhurried, recognizable, local — is what people actually hear. That personal quality travels. People stop to mention they recognized the voice. It registers in a way that a generic produced ad simply doesn’t.

The results have surprised even those who expected them. A recent radio campaign did something the agency hadn’t anticipated: it surfaced a job candidate. Someone heard the ad, liked what they heard, and reached out. That person is now on the JD Chapman team.

It reached the right ears.

The working relationship has been uncomplicated — responsive, low-friction, easy to sustain. And sustainability matters, because the medium rewards patience. Radio isn’t a switch you flip for a quarter and abandon. The agency learned this early.

“It’s tough to only do it for a short amount of time,” they acknowledged.

Some advertisers hesitate at radio, treating it as a relic. JD Chapman disagrees with that instinct plainly and without qualification.

Advertising on the radio is — some people think it’s dead. I don’t think that’s true at all. It reaches so many different people and so many different years.

For an insurance agency built on relationships and local reputation, that reach isn’t just a media metric. It’s the whole point.

Interviewer: Tell me how you got involved with advertising — both on the radio and doing digital.

JD Chapman: Our good friend Mr. Mayor Dan Kandala stopped down and gave us a little rundown of exactly what it would entail, and we jumped at the opportunity.

Interviewer: Tell me what kind of advertising you do — both radio and digital.

JD Chapman: We do both radio and digital. We do a lot of advertising for special events and things like that that we're hosting, because we have two platforms — the main dining room up here and the Tunnel Bar. So we have a lot of opportunities for events.

Interviewer: How does it work for you?

JD Chapman: It works really well. I shouldn't say one works better than the other because they're both really impressive platforms. We're noticing with the digital side that it is reaching more people on a broader spectrum.

Interviewer: How would you say they work together?

JD Chapman: I think if you have a radio ad that says "go check the website," and then things on the digital side that say "check out the radio spot at such and such a time," that gets people more engaged across both platforms. They feed each other.

Interviewer: Do you have any stories of people who heard the ads and came in because of them?

JD Chapman: Yeah. I went into a local store and one of my friend's moms works there, and she was asking about our event FrostFest, which happens in February. She said, "That's this weekend, right? I heard it on the radio." It was kind of cool to hear that she had actually heard it on that platform.

Interviewer: What has it meant for the business?

JD Chapman: Because we are still growing — we're on our third season — it has definitely, in my opinion, opened up a lot of people's eyes to what we're doing here. I think all the way out to Rochester, Syracuse, and even further, it is definitely reaching more of a demographic for us.

Interviewer: A lot of people advertise just for a week here and there, but you're pretty consistent. Why is that important?

JD Chapman: Because so many people — we're in such a digital era right now — people get on their phones to look up things. I think it's really important to stay relevant and keep up with current trends.

Interviewer: If a friend was opening a business and said, hey, you're on the radio, I see you doing digital ads — what recommendation would you give them?

JD Chapman: I would definitely say digital, for sure — definitely lead with that. Like I said, we're in such a digital era right now that everybody's on their phones or tablets. I would definitely say that's where to start.

Interviewer: Tell me about working with the team — both Dans. How has that gone?

JD Chapman: Not only are they great guys and very personable, but they're very thorough. Everything is open for interpretation, and they do a great job of telling you what each thing does and what to expect — they give you a kind of forecast of what they expect something to do. And they're always in touch. They'll say, hey, this seems like it's working, or hey, this isn't working, let's focus more here and pull back from that. They're very organized and they communicate really well.

Interviewer: How do you know it's working?

JD Chapman: That's another thing — they come to us every couple of weeks and show us exactly what data they've collected, what's working and what's not. So we always have a clear picture.

Interviewer: What kind of growth have you seen over the last couple of seasons?

JD Chapman: We've definitely seen a significant amount of growth, in a good way. People are coming in and giving us great feedback on the menu because our chef does a really great job. And I think just the atmosphere we have — people are seeing the photos and things like that. Being present on digital as well as on the radio has definitely been beneficial for us.

Interviewer: Why do you think you'll continue? Is it working?

JD Chapman: It is working.