What Makes Radio Commercials Effective?
We recently started a radio advertisement campaign on CBS KFWB Los Angeles. KFWB 980 is one of the largest radio stations in the city known for its second largest media market in the world. This was the first time we prepared a script for a station with million + listeners. So far, we ran 2 separate spots. Interestingly, one worked and the other didn\’t.
Use simple scripts
Using technical jargon or unfamiliar business terms in the script will confuse listeners. Our first set of ads was straight forward, with the terms in the script very easy to understand. As a result, we received many responses. Our second spot didn\’t generate as many responses because of the complexity of the words used in the script.
Free is always good
The word \’free\’ is an immediate attention grabber. The scripts that stand out should include phrases like \”free assessment\”, \”free first consultation\”, or \”free passes\”. We are including the term \”free consultation\” in our third spot that is starting in January. Lets see how this will work!
Direct to the website that has detail information
With the advertisement that didn\’t work, we relied too much on receiving calls to our 800 number. Instead, we ended up getting many hits on our web site. As we did not have the most up to date content on our website, we lost some leads. Always have supporting information on the website. Try to create a custom landing page other than your main website for each advertisement that you air.
Come up with a catchy 800 #
Try to come up with catchy letters corresponding to your 800 number. Fedex uses 1 800 GO FEDEX. This works especially well on radio commercials because the chances are that people hear your ad while they are on the road and cannot stop in time to jot down the number. Fun, creative numbers can work wonders for businesses.
Do not miss the incoming calls
Too often companies spend large sums of money for advertisement, but fail to align the back-end fulfillment portion. Each missed call represents missed revenue. Be ready to take all the calls. Have people standby when the ads come out. Or, even better, have answering service pick up the calls 24/7 while you are busy or attending other clients. There are many good services out there. Companies like Global messaging Center in Hollywood have trained staff and good customer service to take calls 24/7.
In case you miss the calls, follow up promptly and offer to visit them in person.
Jay Maharjan is a management and marketing consultant based out of Los Angeles. He can be reached via his blog http://4entrepreneur.net
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