Whether you’ve advertised on the radio in the past or are new to the idea, knowing how to advertise on the radio and what to expect from your radio advertising is what this post is all about.
The Question:
Dear Advertising Dr.
I own a small cleaning business in up-state NY, the population of our area is around 700k. I’ve currently doing radio on the local “Top 40 station” (also the highest rated station in my area) with limited success. I’ve been running 15 second ads as weather and traffic sponsorships a few days a week. I’m not sure if its really working though. My business is not increasing, and my sales rep at the station doesn’t seem to have any other suggestions (I’m now on my 3rd rep in 9 months). My budget is around 3k per month. What do I do to make this work, or should I just give up on radio advertising?
The Advertising Doctor’s Response:
Thanks for writing in! You can find my complete response to this issue by pressing play on video box below.
Some of the points I will cover to help you get back on track include:
- Know your audience (This is likely not the best station for you to be on, even if it is the highest rated)
- Understand what your potential customers need to hear in order to take action and WANT to use your services.
- Drop your local rep and use an agency for your media buying (You will likely save money and the expertiece is going to be much greater than the never ending door or radio reps)
- Understand how frequently you need to be on the air in order to be “Top of mind” with your customer base through radio advertising.
Too often business people pick the stations they want to advertise on based on all the wrong reasons! Some of these reasons include price, music they like, pushy sales person, friend who works there, what a customer told them they like, what another biz did, the list goes on and on…
Pick the station based on ONE THING – The station that holds the most potential qualified customers that you can afford to advertise on frequently. Base your decision on this and this alone. Notice I said – “That you can afford to advertise on frequently”.
There may be more than one station in the market that holds a your potential customer base. If you can afford to bombard the airwaves of the higher rated more expensive station frequently – THEN DO IT! If it’s out of your budget, you can still make an impact on the #2 or #3 station in the market! Frequency is king, no matter what you are selling. This leads me to my next point.
Understand that people need to hear your ad often. The same people.
In order for this to happen, you need to advertise where and when these people have a chance to hear you… frequently. Determine what station and time of day you can afford to advertise on, and hit that area frequently. Don’t advertise in an area or station that will deplete your budget too quickly. You won’t see results, even if there is a large audience there.
Your better off reaching a small audience frequently vs reaching a larger audience infrequently. The bigger station is not always better, unless you can afford it.
Keep your message on target.
Don’t try to sell the consumer every little point of your biz. Get to the point, one or two main points per ad – and use that point to get them to contact you.
Expand on the point once you have them in the store, on the phone or on your website. The ad is designed as a hook, bring them in with the right bait. Mixing in “a little of this and a little of that” to cover EVERYTHING when you advertise on the radio is a recipe for failure.
If you’re out fishing and simply dump all the bait in the water with no hooks, you’re not going to catch any fish. You may attract many fish with passive interest, but that passive interest never went beyond the bait floating to the bottom. Put the best, most juicy and delicious worm on that hook and cast it out there trying to attract the best fish you can get. Do this time and time again, and you will have a bucket full of fresh catches.
