Radio Ad Copywriting
Radio Advertising Copywriting That Gets Results
“The secret to running effective radio ads”
Are you tired of getting lackluster results from the money you are spending on radio advertising? Or are you a radio account executive who wants to get better results for your clients while freeing you up to spend more helping them to succeed? If so, then this will be the best news you have heard in a long time. Because you can start seeing the results you want, and start having your radio advertising pay huge dividends straight to your bottom line, today.
Let me explain…
The results you, or anyone, gets from your radio advertising depend on a few things. And one of those things is the #1 secret to getting a true return on investment from your advertising. Of course, first you must be reaching the right people. People who can benefit from your offer. People whose life will be better because of your product or service. That’s your market. The people who will decide whether or not you are thriving or dying a year from now. So, it’s vitally important that you are talking to the right people. It’s also critical that you reach each of them a significant number of times with your offer, bringing us to the 2nd part of the equation. This is frequency, and it’s one of radio’s biggest strengths.
Radio is one of the only mediums on earth where even a small business in a small town can affordably repeat a message enough times per day to see almost instant results. However, even if you have those two things dialed in to perfection, your radio advertising won’t deliver your desired results unless you have the 3rd and most important part of the equation.
The message.
What you say and how you say it in every ad you run is the absolute Holy Grail of effective advertising. Nothing is more important than how you craft your message to potential customers. Cute cliché-filled advertising copy is not what grows your bottom line. It doesn’t work and it never has. You must solve a specific problem for a specific person.
I have generated sales of between $50M and $70M for my clients over the years. Much of that was generated by effectively using radio. And I have found that when an ad works, when it creates a positive ROI for your business, only then does your advertising become a solid investment rather than an expense.
Today instead of tooting my own horn about my accomplishments over the past 35 years in advertising, I want to share with you what I believe makes for an effective radio ad.
Pay attention to this next part and you will be miles ahead of your competition …
As with any ad, the most important part is the headline. In radio that would be the first line of the ad. It must grab your prospects’ attention, zap them out of their mental fog created by all of the have-tos and problems in their lives. It must clearly convey that this may be of interest to them and even vitally important. That listening to the rest of the message could solve a problem that has been keeping them up at night or help them achieve a desired positive outcome in their lives.
Whether their car needs repairs that have them crossing their fingers every morning hoping it will start and a new car may be the most practical solution… Or that they could really use a vacation to relieve some stress and unwind before the rubber band snaps. Or maybe they are just tired of all the same old places they usually go out to eat and need a change. Sometimes we just want a really good cheeseburger, or at least I know I do.
The point is that regardless of what type of business you are advertising, you still need a big idea that shows your target customers how your business can make their lives better in some way.
- It must convey a real solution to a major problem or help them achieve something they have a burning desire for. (That could be as simple as, “Where can I find good Sushi?” or as complex as, “How do I decide what to do to help dad? He’s getting too old to be on his own”
- It must promise to solve that problem or to effortlessly make that dream come true.
- It must prove in some way that this is the fastest, easiest and most viable solution.
- It must offer a friendly and hassle-free way to take advantage of that solution.
And you need to convey that idea in a way that speaks to your prospective customers as a real friend with a real solution. And you must do all that in an interesting and even entertaining way. You are having a conversation between you and your prospect. It’s just the two of you talking, so keep it real.
Something to always remember is that people will not tolerate boredom. That’s why they ignore 99.9% of the commercials they hear. There are no benefits to be derived by listening to them, let alone acting on them. People are selfish beings. We have to be in order to survive. We don’t care how long you have been in business, that you are family-owned, and they sure don’t need you to tell them that spring is in the air.
Leave that drivel to the rookies who will soon be saying “I tried radio advertising once and it just didn’t work for my business.” The next time they call a radio station will be when it’s time to advertise their going out of business sale.
But you are smarter than that. You know that people need what you have and all you lack is someone who can tell your story in a way that has customers coming through the door in droves. A message that gets people to go to your website or makes the phone ring off the hook.
That’s where I come in. I can craft a message for you that gets people to take the exact actions that you want them to. How do I know? Because I have done so tens of thousands of times over the past 35 years.
Here’s another important part of every effective radio ad… Stay focused on the benefits, not the features. I do this simply by saying 3 simple words every time I mention a feature. “So you can…” And then I go as deep into the benefits as time and information will allow.
For example, hire a radio copywriter with over 35 years’ experience in creating effective radios ads. So you can feel secure that the money you are spending on advertising will bring in a positive return on investment. That way you can sleep like a baby at night without wondering or worrying whether or not your ads are working. And have the peace of mind of knowing that your business is growing every day. And all you have to do is stay on course and it will continue to do so.
Won’t it feel great someday to wake up and realize that all of the dreams, hopes, and expectations you had when you started this business have now come true? That is how you dimensionalize a benefit. Just think “so you can…”
The final piece to the puzzle is this. Ask for the damned sale! It may sound obvious, but most ads never do this effectively. What exactly do you want people to do?
Let me illustrate with a story…
My son-in-law was sitting on the front porch. It was a warm, sunny summer day. We were all at a family gathering at my daughter’s house. They live on a farm in a small town and this front porch is everything you would picture a stately family homestead to look like. It was built back in the early 1900s.
He was sitting in a rocking chair with a garden hose in hand, making the kids, my grandkids, do all kinds of silly little competitions with each other. The loser got doused with the cold water from the hose. Which led to much giggling.
I said to him, I can’t believe they are doing all the things you are asking of them with no hope of reward. And that the only reward is to not get sprayed with cold water.
He looked at me and said, “David, people like to be told what to do as long as they are in agreement with it. They are having fun and even losing isn’t really losing, its 90 degrees out here.”
Being an ad man, that really made me think. Giving people a viable solution to their problems, explaining why it’s the best solution, and then telling them exactly what they need to do next is exactly what they want. It makes it easy for them. It takes one more thing off their plate. And you did all the hard work of finding the solution for them. Their lives are immediately better because they ran across your radio commercial. Imagine that.
Really, if you focus on these things, you could easily write the best radio commercial you have ever run all by yourself. However, if you would like to greatly increase your odds of success while not having to spend all that time and energy, you could just fill out our questionnaire and let me write your next radio ad for you.
By doing that you will have given yourself a distinctive competitive edge. One that could mean achieving your dreams, or your client’s dreams (making you a hero) practically overnight. Isn’t that what you want? To have your radio ads stand out, get noticed, get listened to, and most importantly get acted upon?
Fill out that form and let me get to work crafting you a radio commercial that will work better than anything you have ever run.
I just told you what to do next by the way… And we both know it’s exactly what you want to do. So, take the easy option to solving all your radio advertising problems and to start running ads that work.