Profit From Radio Advertising With These 7 Keys

Radio advertising is an often-overlooked “magic marketing bullet”. Done correctly, it can increase your profits like magic. Done wrong, you can burn money at stunning speeds.

Key 1: Use Direct Response Copy

Most radio ads use ineffective copy — they try to be funny, cute, or clever.

Don’t use these tactics, because they almost never work. Instead, use a direct response ad. A good basic template for such an ad looks like this:

1. Attention-grabbing headline.
2. Associate the listener to the main benefit of your product or service.
3. Describe the offer in vivid language.
4. Re-associate the listener to the benefit.
5. Make a direct call to action (repeat at least three times).

I recommend the call to action, whenever possible, be either a website address or a telephone number.

Once you have convinced the prospect to take one of those two actions, you can place them into your marketing system to make the sale.

Let’s look at two example ads.

First, the “wrong way”…

Wrong Way (i.e., the “Usual” Way)

“Craft Master Jewelers is proud to announce our 20th annual Valentine Sale! Come browse the enormous selection of the finest diamond and gold jewelry available anywhere. Come on in to our store at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, and see for yourself as our friendly courteous staff helps you make the right decision about what jewelry to buy. We have tennis bracelets, solitaires, and even custom pieces available. We have over 75 years experience and are eager to serve you. Call us at 555-1212, visit our website at Craft Master Jewelers dot com, or stop by the store at 1313 Mockingbird Lane today.”

The problems with the ad copy above:

• It uses a lot of cliché language that listeners will instantly “tune out.”
• The ad is not about the listener, it’s about the advertiser: for example, it uses phrases like “our store”, “our staff”, “we have”, etc.
• Too many options: tennis bracelets, solitaires, custom pieces, etc.
• Too many conflicting calls to action: call the phone number, check out the web address, visit the street address.

Now let’s look at an ad for the same company, but this time done using a different approach…

Right Way: “Direct Response” Style

“Attention — men who still haven’t bought that Valentine’s gift. It’s not too late to make her glow with love for you. Imagine… a jewelry craftsperson asks you a few simple questions, and then creates the perfect gift of diamonds or gold. All without the frustrating shopping experience, in a minimum of time, and at the price you choose. Enjoy her surprise and delight… call Craft Master Jewelers now at 555-1212… 555-1212 Don’t disappoint her — delight her instead. 555-1212.”

What’s right about the second ad?

• The focus is entirely where it should be; on the harried, busy, clueless man who hasn’t bought his wife or sweetheart a Valentine’s gift.
• The headline speaks directly to the intended target: specifically, “men who still haven’t bought that Valentine’s gift.”
• The body copy talks about benefits that are important to the men who are most likely to buy jewelry: their concern over budgets, time efficiency, and the fact that they hate shopping,
• The single call to action (in this case, the phone number) is direct, simple, and repeated three times.

Key 2: Any Station Works, If You Buy Enough Ads

While it certainly doesn’t hurt to be on top-rated stations, it’s not necessary. The top-rated station is usually has the most expensive ad rates.

You don’t have to be on the #1 station — there’s no reason you can’t advertise on any of the stations in the Top 10 (as determined by the Arbitron Ratings company — find them at www.Arbitron.com).

When it comes to negotiating rates, here’s a handy trick: listen to the station and make note of what businesses advertise on that station. Then simply call those businesses and ask how much they’re paying. While many will not share their rates, some will.

It might sound simple, but this is a seldom-used tactic can get you the best deals with very little effort.

Key 3: Make Each Ad Contain Only One Most Wanted Result

Many radio advertisers will try to do too many things in a single commercial: get a mention in for their street address, their phone number, their website, and their “special of the week”, and more.

That’s confusing for the listener.

You must decide in advance: what is the purpose for your ad? What is the Most Wanted Result you need to get from your ad?

You need to choose: you can ask consumers to visit a website, or to call a phone number, or to visit your physical store… but if you try and ask for all those results in a single ad, you’ll likely get none of them.

There can be only one Most Wanted Result for each ad you run.

Key 4: Don’t Let the Radio People Write Your Copy

Here’s a dirty little secret of the radio business: over 95% of the ads are written by the salesperson or by a DJ! In fact, the majority of stations do not employ full-time copywriters.

Do you really want a salesperson or DJ writing your copy?

(The answer is, “NO”.)

Even if the radio station (or ad agency) has a full-time writer, chances are the writer will be more interested in writing “cute” or “award-winning” copy, which almost never equals “sales-making” copy.

Don’t let the radio people write your copy. Write it yourself, or hire a copywriter who is well-versed in writing direct response-style radio copy.

Key 5: Never Work With Children or Comedians

For some reason, many radio advertisers feel compelled to try making their commercials “cute” or “funny”. It almost never works.

Using a cute kid voice almost always means the listener will focus only on how cute the voice is… and they will be distracted from listening to the ad’s intended message.

Using humor in your ads is a bad idea because: it’s hard to be funny. It’s even harder to be funny in a way that creates a benefit picture in the listener’s mind.

Bottom line: when you decide to eliminate the cute and the funny ads, your ad might sound a bit “boring”, but will be much more likely to bring you the customers, leads, and profits you desire.

Key 6: Buy Everything But “Drive Time”

Radio sales people love to sell commercials in what’s called “drive-time” (i.e., the hours each day most people are driving to and from work, usually 6am to 10am, and 3pm to 7pm).

That’s because (a) they’re easy to sell, and (b) drive-time spots are the most expensive spots on the radio station — so the commissions for the salesperson are bigger.

When your budget is tight — or when you are testing a new commercial to see how effective it is (the response it gets) — I suggest a different strategy.

Buy commercials every hour outside of morning and afternoon drive times (morning drive is the single most expensive advertising real estate on almost every radio station; afternoon drive is next).

You can normally get these commercials at a great discount. In fact, ask for the commercials from midnight-6am as a “free bonus” for buying the others.

Quite often you’ll get them free — or at least for dirt cheap rates.

If you have a bit more money, or if you tested your ad and it seems to be working well, try buying one commercial in each drive time (morning and afternoon), at the same time every day (so the same people hear the same ad day in and day out).

If that works, you can expand your buying into other drive time hours.

Key 7: Use This Secret Tactic Ignite Your Ad Response

The most popular time-slot on most radio stations is the morning show, which is usually on the air Monday-Friday, 6am-10am.

These are the hours during which the station almost always has its biggest audience.

Listeners tend to be most loyal to a station’s morning personalities and DJs.

If you can get interviewed on the morning show in a favorable light, it can put the rest of your advertising on steroids. If the audience thinks the morning show likes you and your product, it’s as if you’ve been endorsed by the show. This can be an enormous boost for your sales.

You can often make a morning show interview a condition of your advertising contract. One caution: make sure you are not being “forced” on the morning show’s host(s).

Being interviewed in a sarcastic or unfavorable light can be worse than no interview at all.

Win the host(s) over to your cause, make them like you, and you’ll enjoy the halo effect of a true endorsement by the radio personality.

What to Do Now

You now know more than 93% of business owners about the right way to advertise on the radio. Put the power of what you know into action!

Radio can build your business quickly, increasing sales and profits literally overnight.

Put these 7 Keys to work for in your radio advertising campaigns, and start enjoying increased sales and profits.

Written by Ray Edwards