As we shared on Tuesday, clients have been requesting more radio as a part of their integrated marketing mix. Our first five tips were focused on the planning of a radio campaign. Today, we are focused on executing the ad with our next five tips.
6. Don’t bury the lead
“Burying the lead” is a journalism expression that means postponing the main point of the story until much further down in an article. In radio, if you bury the lead, listeners may simply change the station before you get to the main point of the ad. An example of not burying the lead is from Duluth Trading. They start off the ad by saying, “we, at Duluth Trading need to come up with a name for jeans that have more room in the crotch.” You know immediately, this is for Duluth Trading and the specific feature of the blue jeans that they consider a benefit. The rest is entertainment…Gooseberry Surprise?
7. Unique, uncomplicated offer
The offer must be easy to understand. I recently met with a company that was offering three months of free service. The catch was the free months were the 1st, 9th and 20th month. So, to get three free months, you needed to keep the service for nearly two years. Try explaining that in 30 seconds.
8. Must be able to answer WIIFM
This acknowledges that as an advertiser, you are an unwelcome interruption. From the point of view of the listener, you must explain ‘What’s In It For Me (WIIFM)
9. Minimum mentions
We use a simple formula for minimum mentions. The name of the advertiser and the response vehicle (phone or website.) One mention for every 15 seconds of airtime. A 30 second spot receives 2 mentions, a 60 receives 4 mentions.
10. Voice talent and articulation
This may seem obvious, but it is often overlooked. Here is an example of a radio ad for a collocation data provider currently running in Denver. For weeks, I heard ‘Fortress’ premium data center. I could not find them, even Google didn’t know Fortress. Then, in subsequent ads, the voice talent still said ‘Fortress’, but spelled out the website and that’s when I learned the company was called ‘For Trust’ – props to whoever pointed out that spelling the website would resolve that issue.
Do you have any keys to effective radio advertising you would like to share? Did we miss anything? Share your thoughts here or on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow us on Twitter at @Weise_Ideas.
