In today’s world of Instagram influencers and YouTube stars, the power of a personality has never been stronger. But these social influencers can come with risk for brands. After Logan Paul posted some questionable content on YouTube, consumers not only turned on him but on the brands that supported him.

That leaves marketers in a tough spot, trying to leverage the credibility of influencer marketing without putting their hard won brand reputation at risk. But social influencers aren’t brands’ only option. More and more are turning to the original influencer, the radio personality. Let’s look at a few reasons the radio personality is a brands’ best influencer.

According to Katz Media’s recent study, radio listeners have been loyal to their favorite personality for over eight years. Listeners know how old the personality’s kids are, what their favorite morning drink is, and what shows they can’t help but binge watch. That’s a lot of trust to build up. That’s why when this trusted friend chooses to partner with a brand, listeners give that endorsement more weight than they would a generic ad.

Brand safety is something all marketers, large or small, need to be worried about every day. Working with radio personalities is a safe place for brands to get that personal touch without worry about what video will go up next week or what post might offend their target audience tomorrow.

Radio personalities connect with listeners across channels, on-air, online and in person. They amplify their on-air connections on a daily basis with social media engaging listeners with fun content, questions about life and getting their options on the on-air content. They bring the listener who follows them on social into the inner circle. This multi-channel approach allows brands to work with personalities to amplify their endorsements.

With all this relationship building, listeners not only trust the recommendations of their favorite radio personalities, they buy based off those recommendations with 77% of radio listeners saying they would try a brand recommended by their favorite radio personality.

Wondering what a radio personality’s endorsement looks like in action? Click here to see how Williamsburg Winery brought in over 1,500 new visitors by working with their local radio personalities.