04 Apr How To Buy Radio Advertising, Even if You’ve Never Done it Before
How to buy radio advertising, even if you’ve never done it before.
So you have decided to advertise your business with a commercial on the radio. Great! But now you’ve come to realize, you’re not really sure how to go about it since you’ve never bought radio advertising before. Never fear, I’m here to help.
First things first. You’ve made a great decision to buy radio advertising because radio is very targetable. Who is the buyer of your product or service? Try to define your typical buyer in as detailed a manner as possible. Think about their age, their gender, what kind of work they do. Put together as many demographic points as possible.
Then when you talk to the advertising sales reps at each of your local radio stations ask them for the demographic profile of their listeners. Every station has these profiles. You want to make sure that you get as close a match as possible between the two demographic profiles.
Once you’ve made your decision about which radio station you’re going to buy advertising with, you can turn your attention to your actual radio commercial.
There are a lot of options in terms of the length of commercial. 60 and 30 second commercials are the norm. Often a 60 is less than double the cost of a 30 so there is a bit of economy there. Radio stations will also offer sponsorships of popular on air segments like the weather and traffic and contest sponsorships as well.
They often have special deals running where you get bonus ads, so ask if they have any available now or in the near future.
The two factors that affect the cost of your radio ad spots are the size of the audience you’ll be reaching and the time of day that you run your ads. If you run all of your commercials overnight in very small market they will be very inexpensive and very few people will hear them.
Often the best strategy is to get a mix of the various time slots throughout the day. As with any advertising, radio ads work best when they are heard frequently.
Another way to make sure your radio advertising resonates with the audience and they remember your commercial is to add a jingle. You can get a custom musical jingle created for your commercial. A radio commercial jingle really elevates the perception of your business, makes it seem very professional. It really helps you stand out amongst the other advertisers.
When you’re discussing the options for your commercial with your advertising sales rep don’t be afraid to negotiate. Even if the sales rep can’t make a decision on a particular point they can take it back to their sales manager.
Ask that the most popular radio personality do the voice over for your commercial. Most stations will do the production for you. If you can get that popular voice on your commercial, it’s like an unspoken endorsement of your business.
Your business may also be eligible for advertising co-op dollars. This is where a manufacturer pays some of the cost of your advertising. You’d likely have to mention the manufacturer in the ad or run the manufacturer’s professionally created ad and just have your business name tagged on at the end. Since you sell the manufacturer’s products anyway it’s a win win. You get a great commercial and pay a lot less than you normally would.
You can ask your suppliers if they offer co-op advertising dollars or ask your radio sales rep, they often can help you track down co-op dollars.
You also may be able to combine your radio advertising with live events that the radio station is putting on or some sort of involvement on their website or email newsletter. Ask what’s available.
Hopefully this guide will help get you started in your radio advertising campaign. Shop around and don’t be afraid to negotiate. A long term relationship with a local radio station can really help your business in the long run.
This article is by Donald Seckler. Donald is the President of Peak Inbound Marketing and can be found here on Google+
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