According to Arbitron, radio reaches 241 million people in the US each week. That’s 93% of the population twelve and older. Obviously, you don’t want to reach all those people. But, by choosing the right radio stations, and the right days and times to advertise, you can really pinpoint your target market.

Does your company have an identity? A brand? Can you explain it in a few sentences? Let’s put it another way; if someone gave you thirty seconds to stand in front of thousands of people and explain why you’re the best at what you do or offer, what would you say? If you don’t know the answer, or haven’t thought about it in those terms, you should. Once you do, you will understand the power of radio to help you tell your story, and build your brand.

Radio even makes your other advertising more effective. According to research compiled by the Radio Advertising Bureau, “When used synergistically with other media, it increases brand awareness, brand recall, and an advertiser’s return on investment.” Radio advertising can increase brand recall by 34% when used in conjunction with television advertising, as compared to television advertising alone. Radio advertising, along with print advertising, made branding three times more successful than newspaper and other print media alone.

Even with all the modern contraptions and distractions, there is still nothing is as strong and effective as the familiarity and comfort of the human voice.

Building your brand requires repetition and consistency. There are multiple opportunities to create impressions on your customers or potential customers during various interactions, not just in your traditional advertising. By incorporating some of the same elements of sound you’ve used on radio or television – familiar music and voices – you can continue to reinforce your brand during every phase of client interaction.

 

10 Habits of Highly Effective Radio Ads

 

1. Capture Someone’s Attention – Radio ads have to start off strong to get the attention of the listener. Radio is a background medium, which means most people play it while their attention is directed somewhere else: driving, working, cleaning, etc. You can use this to your advantage (read the study about the benefits of passive advertising here), but the thing is it’s easy to grab attention the wrong way. Throw in some air horns and you’re sure to break their concentration – and also annoy them, which creates a negative brand impression. Grabbing attention tactfully is difficult. Start off with a creative scene or maybe something unusual, because their fingers are only inches away from the dial.
2. Hit the target – Your radio spots should be carefully targeted to your specific audience. The creative scene in the ad should reflect the character and personality of your audience. Likewise, wording of the script should talk to your audience in a way that they would talk to each other.
3. Stay on brand – Your messaging should always match your brand. You need to have a consistent voice, tone, and feel. This makes you more distinguishable and memorable among the mix of clutter and competition. One way to do this is to use the same (or similar) music and voice talent in your spots. Your brand is a living and breathing entity with a personality of its own. Is it quirky? Humorous? Built on values of trust and honesty? Let it shine through in the ads.
4. Production – You need to have skilled producers and editors that can give you high quality audio, find the best voice talent, the perfect sound effects, the right music, and make sure everything seamlessly flows together. They should work with you and incorporate your ideas as well as give you suggestions on how to make things better.
5. Creativity We’ve all heard ads that are boring, cheesy, and cliché. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to you. Here’s a tip about being creative—anything new is just a conglomeration of the already existing things around us. Stealing a single quote is plagiarism. Stealing the ideas from several quotes and combining them all into one new phrase is not. Inspiration can be found in anything, anywhere. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You just have to redesign it.
6. Writing style – As stated previously, the writing style should fit your target audience in the way that they speak. But overall, this is one of the most important tips for writing in general—write how people speak. Written language and spoken language have very different sounds and structures. You want the spot to sound natural, not scripted. Also focus on positive wording instead of negative. The language used in the spot reflects your brand, so you want to make sure it is an accurate representation of who your brand is. And don’t waste words on things you don’t need to. Radio is limited to 30 or 60 seconds, and sometimes only 15. Keep the language as tight and concise as possible to avoid wasting air time.
7. Theatre of the mind – Radio is called “theatre of the mind” because it paints a mental picture—which is arguably stronger than something that’s already been painted for you in TV or print. The sound effects, music and character voices help the consumer to envision the message you’re trying to send. This is special because radio is the only advertising medium to really achieve this. You almost always like the book better than the movie, and it’s because you envision the book and interpret it how you want.
8. Call to action – Your call to action is typically what you end the spot with. It instructs the customer on what you want them to do. It needs to be focused and simple. Only ask one thing of the consumer and give them one or two outlets to reach you, such as a phone number and/or a website URL. It’s a good idea to restate your benefits right before the call to action.
9. Memorability – A good ad is worthless if it isn’t memorable. To make it something the consumer won’t forget, try to use catchy taglines, rhyming words, repetition, humor, emotional appeals and easy to remember phone numbers and URLs. It’s good to repeat a key point and a call to action more than just once, so the listener catches everything the announcer says.
10. Simplicity – I know you want to list all the great specials and perks about your brand in one spot, but it’s best to stick with a single idea or promotion. One benefit, one call to action, one main point—this keeps it simple for consumers. If you mention several different promotions, they might get confused. Keeping it simple makes it memorable and easy to follow.

 

What Makes Radio Ad Successful? A Question From a Thoughtful Admirer

We often get adoring fan mail. Sometimes they come bearing questions about audio efficacy. This is one such letter:

Dear Push Button Productions,

What is it that makes a radio ad successful? How can I develop content that makes people recognize and remember MY radio ads? Please help…I lay awake at night with worry that my advertising messages aren’t being received!

Sincerely,

Miss Undastood

Dear ‘Undastood’,

Since radio relies heavily on only one of your five senses, it’s only natural that we at Push Button spend a lot of time making sure that your ad says the right thing. Here are a couple of the key components that we look into when creating a message that will captivate your target audience.

 

• Selecting the right words. Since we can’t see the juicy burger (or car, or decorative-wall-mounted-singing-fish) you’re selling, the verbiage really needs to paint the picture.
• Draw them in quickly. You’ve only got a short window of time to capture the audience before they tune you out. You don’t have to have explosions at the beginning of EVERY ad, just something enticing.
• Make the audio compelling. Since a lot of radio listening occurs in the car when people are alone, radio is in a unique position to really appeal to their emotions. Use this to your advantage by setting the right tone for your ad.
• Consistent audio branding. Do your ads have the same elements from one to the next? Maintaining consistency with who is writing your commercials, establishing a voice actor as your brand’s voice, and adding elements like audio logos all increase the effectiveness of your ads.

 

That’s about as quick as we can sum this up…hope you can sleep better now!

 

What Do We Love to See in Radio Ads?

What makes it stick and makes you tick? Which radio spots and jingles do you remember, whether from this morning’s commute or from driving back from baseball practice in elementary school? No one goes into radio advertising hoping for a dud – everyone wants their brand’s spot to be the talk of the town or the jingle stuck in everyone’s head. So what do the ideal radio ads sound like?

They’re Smart: A little wit goes a long way. Anything worth saying should be said well, so invest in quality copy for your radio ad. This is where many radio station-produced ads falter: copy produced for free will generally lack the attention to detail needed and feel a bit (or a lot) mass-produced.

They’re Special: How many radio ads do you think you’ve heard this week? Tens? Hundreds? If the soundtrack to your commute to and from work is your favorite radio station, you’ve probably heard too many to count. That’s why a radio ad’s ability to stand out is one of its greatest assets. Unsuccessful ads often sound like all the other radio ads in that commercial break, which sound like the other radio ads aired on that station, which sound like all of the radio ads you’ve heard on your way home this week…which isn’t good. A successful radio ad, on the other hand, will stick out like a sore thumb (in the best way). Sound effects, catchy background music, and creative slogans will make your radio ads the star of their commercial breaks.

They’re Engaging: A catchy jingle is great and all, but…what does your customer get out of it in the end? If all they have at the end of your radio ads is a new tune stuck in their head, you’re a little off-track. Give them something more tangible to remember: namely, your phone number, website, or local location(s). They should be humming your jingle right into your storefront.

With all of the radio ads that clutter the airwaves, it’s important to make sure that yours are as smart, special, and engaging as can be. Invest in radio ads that set you up for success.

 

10 Tips to Make Radio Advertising Work for You

If you want to generate leads, look no further. Radio advertising is a fun and effective strategy with a lower cost per impression compared to other mediums. But likе all mаrkеting tactics, ѕuссеѕѕ or failure depends on how you use it. Here are 10 radio hacks tо make your rаdiо more efficient:

 

1. Match thе ѕtаtiоn to your intеndеd target mаrkеt. If mоѕt of уоur products аrе ѕоld to аn аffluеnt middlе-аgеd сliеntеlе, it’ѕ bеѕt tо advertise оn a ѕtаtiоn whose audience iѕ made up оf the same dеmоgrарhiс. To рiсk thе right rаdiо stations, ask a media strategist to conduct some research and find out what your target audience is jamming out to. As a secondary method, you can poll your bеѕt сliеntѕ аnd ask thеm whаt station(s) thеу liѕtеn tо. If уоu begin tо ѕее a соnѕiѕtеnt ѕtаtiоn pop uр in уоur ѕurvеу, there’s a good сhаnсе thаt уоu’ll find mоrе сliеntѕ аmоngѕt thаt ѕtаtiоn’ѕ
2. Grab thе listener’s attention early on. You can lead in bу introducing a benefit, asking a curiosity-provoking question, or creating a unique character/situation.
3. Mаkе уоur spot еаѕу tо undеrѕtаnd. Bе straightforward, concise and simple. Don’t overwhelm the listener with too many products, deals or calls to action. Simplicity equals memorability.
4. Uѕе a соmреlling voice. An audio production company can help you find a voice actor for the spot that matches the personality of your brand.
5. Whether you want people to call you, visit your website, or stop by, you need to make sure people understand the next step. One thing to note is that you should have confidence in your google search terms as well. If someone were to google your call to action (or slogan, or name), then they should easily be able to find you.
6. Let your unique selling point shine. Include ѕресifiс and соmреlling reasons whу уоur соmраnу iѕ thе bеѕt сhоiсе. If уоu have a gооd company story, use it.
7. Restate the benefits right before your call to action to remind listeners why they should call/visit the website. You can also have other CTA’s like “Download our app in the app store,” “Stop by a branch,” etc. It all depends on the goal of your campaign.
8. Don’t try to rеасh too many реорlе аll аt оnсе. It iѕ bеttеr tо rеасh 10% оf уоur рrоѕресtѕ 100% оf thе wау thаn tо rеасh 100% оf уоur рrоѕресtѕ оnlу 10% of thе wау.
9. Dоn’t ѕеlесt radio programs or formats fоr уоur own personal likes оr diѕlikеѕ, but rаthеr fоr thе аudiеnсе you wаnt to reach.
10. Brand diѕtinсtiоn is an effective tool fоr аttrасting consumers and setting yourself apart from the competition. Consistent brand muѕiс, a consistent voice actor and/or an audio logo will hеlр your ads mаkе a memorable

 

Radio ads are great for reaching your consumers on a large scale. We’d love to get you started with some ear turning audio, so contact Push Button Productions for any of your creative audio needs!