It’s All About You. Wait…No It’s Not

September 18, 2013September 18, 2013 / Duane Christensen

If you and I meet some day for the first time, I’ll be completely honest with you. I’m going to tell you that your radio advertising isn’t about YOU. I’m going to be honest with you because I actually care that your advertising works. I really really care. I’d rather you be happy with me…than upset that your ads don’t work. I’m addicted to the feeling that I’m doing good for my radio clients.

Image courtesy of “Stuart Miles” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You may say that you want certain words and phrases in your ads. I may agree…and I may not agree. If your ad is mostly customer-focused and talks about how you help your customers avoid frustration or make them happy, we’re on the right track. If your ad (and ad campaign) talks mostly about YOU. I’m going to tell you WHY that won’t work. And I’ll help you understand the basic psychology behind effective advertising.

Once we figure out what a good strategy will be to set you apart from your competition, and figure out some things to say in every ad that will help cause people to subconsciously say, “Duh. I’d be pretty dumb to do business with someone else,” then it’s pretty smooth sailing from then on. Then, we won’t have to start from scratch every time you need a new, fresh radio spot to hit the airwaves.

Please don’t “try” radio to see if it works. It works. The only reason it would ever NOT work, is if the ads were scheduled too sparsely, or if you’re saying things in your ads that nobody cares about. If you do that, your ads will be “invisible”. And invisible radio ads are a big waste of money, and you’ll be disappointed.

That’s why you WANT me to be honest with you from the start. Not just take your money and run for the hills. You want me to share things with you that you might not see “from the inside”. It happens to the best of business owners. They forget to look at things from the consumer’s point of view. What may seem significant to you and your business, might not matter much to the average joe or jane and their families.

The only ways that your advertising is about YOU are that 1) You’re the one paying for the advertising and 2) we have to tell the listeners which business to contact (YOU!) when they want those wonderful things that you offer – less frustration, better life, headache relief, money savings, etc.

When you want to attract a consistent flow of profitable, new customers, I have what you need. It’s not a pill, it doesn’t come from a magic wand; it comes from putting some serious thought into what it is you want to accomplish and what your customers really love about what you offer. Let me know if you’d like to discuss your future and your new radio advertising plan.

Have a great day!

Duane Christensen

Results Radio Townsquare Media

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

605-940-7984

I work for Results Radio Townsquare Media. I write this blog on behalf of my own sales career within the company. I’m passionate about what I do. Making advertising work for you IS the most important thing that I do. It’s what fires me up. What do I do? I write ads, think strategically with your best interests in mind, create ad schedules so your message can be heard, and I become very familiar with your business and what your customers care about.

EASY isn’t always BEST

November 15, 2012 / Duane Christensen

Easy is good. Easy is convenient.

It’s easy to order take-out. It’s easy to go through the drive-thru.

And it’s easy to get a poor advertisement ready for Print. Here’s what I see in Sioux Falls print:

Weak headlines
Un-inspiring content
Pictures that don’t match the message
Image courtesy of “Stuart Miles” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Business logo and contact information

That’s easy to put together. It’s easy on the business owner.

The print media says, “Here’s your ad.”

You say, “Looks good. Run it.”

It’s easy to run a poor radio ad, too.

Weak headline
Un-inspiring content about the business
Business name sprinkled throughout the copy
Phone number twice
Website
Weak slogan

Take any advertising media (web, billboard, TV, etc.)… it’s easy to create ads that don’t work for a local advertiser.

I’d rather you NOT take the easy road when it comes to advertising. Well, it CAN be easy as long as you find the right copy writer.

It takes time, effort, research, and sweat to create ads that “stick” and ads that work.

It’s NOT easy to get past what you think a radio ad should say in it…and what it should sound like. The best radio ads take tradition and crush it. The best radio ads talk to the listener about what the listener would like to hear…not what the business owner usually wants to hear. Which makes sense, right? Aren’t we trying to engage the listener (your prospect)?

Get past “easy”…and move towards “effective”. It won’t take long before the right way IS the easy way. Let me know when you’re ready to take the bull by the horns.

Duane Christensen

Results Radio / Townsquare Media

605-940-7984

For more help with local advertising performance, and advice concerning what you should actually SAY in your ads to make them work better, consider my local advertising book, “Take a Bigger Slice”. Or click HERE to read a bit more about it. Have a great day!

Would you rather not see…or not hear?

February 26, 2011January 2, 2014 / Duane Christensen

I’m going to ask you one “would you rather” question. Would you rather not see…or not hear? That’s a tough one. My first instinct is to say not hear. But how could we really know which would be worse without actually experiencing blindness or deafness?

Hellen Keller noted that it was much more difficult to be without hearing than without sight. And that helps me segue into my radio advertising message to you today.

Radio advertisers know that radio gives life to their message to the public. Those businesses that rely solely on print ads or online advertising (sight only), don’t understand yet what good radio can do for them. And I’m going to leave TV advertising out of this comparison because most small businesses don’t have a big enough budget to implement a truly effective TV campaign. Of course you can with Cable TV, but cable TV stations hit such a small number of people, you usually need to be on 10 or 20 different cable stations to make an impact. Usually. Of course there are exceptions.

Whoa…I got off track. Let’s get back to sight versus sound and how it affects your advertising. I think a print ad makes a business owner feel good because it’s something they can hold in their hand. They can hold it up and say, “This is my advertisement!” That’s not so easy to do with the sound waves of a radio ad.

A good radio ad is not a print ad read into a microphone. A good radio ad will talk to your potential customers about them. It’s a voice talking directly to them and it connects the benefits of what you offer to their own lives. It paints them a picture with voiced words about how you can help them improve their life or eliminate a problem they have. A radio ad is a print ad brought to life. A GOOD radio ad is nothing like a print ad. You could call it a print ad on steroids if you want. But the spoken word is so much more powerful than the word in print.

A good radio ad should make people feel good about your business. And when that happens…you’re buying “mental real estate”. And owning some mental real estate is the start of branding. And branding is important because you can’t predict when your prospect will need what you offer.

Here’s a quick explanation of what branding is: If advertising is “getting your name out there”…then branding is simply “attaching something to your name”. And attaching something that matters to your prospect…to your business name…is a potent element in truly effective advertising. We can get more into branding some other time. I’ll share with you a few deeper things that will help shed light on why “Branding” kicks “Advertising’s” butt.

A good radio campaign will get your prospect to remember you when they need you…and then you’re 2 or 3 steps ahead of your competition that’s just trying to “get their name out there”.

So…Hellen Keller wished she could have had the gift of hearing back before the gift of sight. That tells us something about how our minds work…and the kind of advertising that is superior to others.

Have a great day!

Duane Christensen

Results Radio Townsquare Media – Sioux Falls

605-940-7984

My work website: http://duanechristensen.townsquareinteractive.com/

If you have questions about the cost of radio advertising, which radio stations would be a good fit, or how to get started attracting more customers, don’t be afraid to ask. I like to help good businesses take a bigger slice of the Sioux Falls market.