How Do I Run a Successful Radio Advertising Campaign?

21 Jul How Do I Run a Successful Radio Advertising Campaign?

Once you’ve made the decision to advertise your business on the radio it’s a good idea to take the extra steps to make sure that you are getting a good return on your investment by doing everything you can to ensure a successful advertising campaign.

There are 6 key points that you should focus on to get the biggest ROI on your radio advertising campaign.

1. Research the audience each station reaches. The radio station is really just a way for you to reach a lot of people with your advertising message.Different stations will reach different groups of people. Think about their programming and the types of people that generally enjoy that programming. Does that group of people match your ideal customer?Ask the stations for data on the demographics of their audience. Many stations will have third party research from Nielsen Audio or other research companies.You also want to make sure that the station’s overall positioning fits well with the positioning that you want to project. For example, if the local talk station has a lot of controversial or political based programing, you may not want your business associated with that content. Regardless of your personal political leanings, you don’t want to lose business because of an assumed association with any one position politically. It’s a no win situation

   Always try to match the radio station’s largest audience to your most likely customer’s demographic profile. That’s a recipe for success.

2. Make sure your commercial has enough frequency. As with most advertising, running an ad once or twice is a waste. You might as well drive down the road tossing your money out of your car window if this is your plan.Advertising needs repetition to be effective. You want your commercial to be heard multiple times in a week. 10-20 times per week is really the minimum frequency that you want to shoot for. Most radio station sales reps will likely suggest a plan that gives you this level of frequency.You can focus your commercial’s distribution into a couple of time slots like morning drive and afternoon drive. That will give you great coverage during the prime commuting times each day. More people are in their cars during those times and will hear your commercial.

3. Create a commercial that’s written well. For the creative of your commercial you have several options. Usually a radio station will have a commercial copywriter who will write your commercial for free. You could write it yourself. Or you could hire an ad agency to write the commercial for you.Each of these routes has its plusses and minuses.Unless you are an experienced marketer or writer I recommend throwing option 2 out the window right from the start. You’re more likely to shoot your campaign in the foot than come up with something brilliant if you’ve never done it before.Working with an ad agency for one commercial will be rather expensive if you can find an agency that will do just that one project. Agencies generally prefer ongoing business to project work. But feel free to contact a few and ask about it.

   Ideally you should work with the station’s copywriter. While these people are generally junior (pretty young) they have a lot of experience because they are generally writing 5-15 commercials a week. You can give them some guidance in terms of points you want to make and then let them do the creative part.

   You want your commercial to have enough information but not too much. The station’s copywriter is an expert at getting this crucial balance just right.

4. Ensure that your commercial is memorable. If your commercial contains your phone number or website address or just your business name, you want to make sure that people remember them. Otherwise, what’s the point, right?Commercials with jingles are much more memorable. The music activates a part of the brain that stimulates memory. Just think about how many jingles you could sing right now. I bet there are even some from way back when you were a kid that you know all the words to even to this day.The bonus with a jingle is that the jingle company will assign you a producer who will work very closely with you to create a musical representation of your business that will have your customers and prospective customers humming along and tapping their foot.

5. Take advantage of any specials the radio station has to offer. Radio stations almost always have special deals and packages that they offer to entice advertisers. They’re kind of like coupons at the grocery store. They may not always be for the same items, but they’ve always got a few going on and they will change over time.Ask your sales rep if there are any specials on now or if they have any coming up in the near future. Sometimes the best deal is the next one and it might be worth waiting for.

6. Look into sponsorships for popular programming. You could sponsor the traffic or the weather. Every station has those, although sometimes they’re hard to get because they’re already sold.You could even come up with an idea for a custom sponsorship. If you’re a skateboard shop and advertising on the local rock station you could put together a list of local punk concerts and skate events. Ask the station to broadcast this “Skate Calendar” and you can sponsor it. The kids will love it and your shop sounds like it’s really involved in the local scene.Don’t be afraid to get creative and pitch some ideas. The station will love your enthusiasm and might even get into the brainstorming to help come up with a top-notch idea.

Use these ideas to ensure that you are maximizing the return you are getting on your radio advertising.