In a largely digital age of online reach, the value of radio advertising remains a powerful tool in an organisation's marketing armoury.
We had the benefit of going through just such a process for ourselves recently and are delighted with the result
Here are the 5 key lessons we learned in the process:-
1. Try to be specific about the offering rather than listing a multitude of services - see our post entitled "Break Time Quickie: "Niche" versus "Generic" business offerings".
Identify the key message you intend to relay or objective you wish to achieve, then tailor both ad content and tone accordingly, referring back to them as a reference point wherever necessary.
If there are to be follow up campaigns, ensure any proposed common themes are incorporated day one for the sake of brand recognition and continuity
2. If possible, do not overburden the listener with too many words or, worse again, caveats at the end of the ad spoken at a million miles per hour, as this can be hugely off-putting.
Mention options if appropriate after reviewing our post entitled "Learn to "sell well" to prosper".
But be careful not to overpromise or misrepresent capabilities for reasons covered in our post entitled "Directors' duties & the "Corporate Veil""
3. Engage an independent "set of ears" from the target audience to ensure the message is clear and relevant from the outset, and draw on the feedback from critical market research in a constructive way throughout the process.
Conduct advance due diligence on the target market along the lines described in our post entitled ""Due Diligence" : what is it and why is it so important?"
And remember that use of relevant language is key, as explained in our post entitled "Extend your Vocabulary to Stressbust™"
4. Select both a broadcaster audience and ad release times that fit the target demographic.
Business offerings, for example, are more likely to have optimum reach during travel to work hours; offerings targeting parents or guardians of babies might need to fit around earlier bed times.
Also, make sure you have measuring apparatus in place to assess the reach and return of the advertising investment - see our post entitled "Keep a Tech Trail as opposed to Paper Trail to Stressbust™"
5. Don't be tempted to rush the ad or the process (which is a very creative one) but rather enjoy and learn from it - we ran 4 drafts over a period of 6 weeks before we agreed on the final, best version.
This included considerations such as to whether the offer was best suited to having accompanying music or a brand lyric and whether it should be nearer 60 or 30 seconds in length.
Ultimately, we ended up halving the first draft to a finished version of only 30 seconds, as we felt it gave the ad more resonance and crispness.
Each offering is, of course, different and remember it may be useful to draw on the experience of the broadcaster in question if you can, as they will have seen over time what kind of ads have worked for their audience and which have not.
Put another way, the broadcaster may help you learn from errors they have seen others in the same position make - see our post entitled "Break Time Quickie: StressBust™ by learning from the mistakes of others as well as your own".
So try to establish a relationship with the broadcaster which is strategic. This might, for example, enable you to post written ads on the broadcaster's own social media platforms as part of a wider cooperation - see our post entitled "How to make Strategic Partnerships work for you" for further insights into this.
Radio advertising is an important step for any business and can set market tone and related expectations in a way that is irreversible.
It may, therefore, be prudent to engage specialist outside support in both crafting and implementing a campaign to maximise its chances of success, reach and return.
If you can relate to the contents of this post and would like the value of our extensive network expertise in this area, please reach out to us in confidence via our "Contact" page or at connect@stresstips4ucom
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