Radio ads
Here are some great ways to make sure your radio advertising does NOT work for you…Are Your Radio Ads “Skippable”?
When someone hears your radio ad… what do you think they do? Are they interested, entertained, or intrigued? Or are they annoyed, bored, or oblivious? There’s a great novelist and screenwriter, named Elmore Leonard, who has a quote that sums up how your radio ads need to be written. He said, “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”
In 1972, Elmore read The Friends of Eddie Coyle by the late George V. Higgins. It inspired him to “loosen up” and not be as rigid, to get into scenes quicker; Fifty-Two Pickup, (1974) Swag, (1976) and Unknown Man No. 89 (1977) remain the essential trilogy of the Elmore Leonard sound, the setting no longer the old west, but urban Detroit.
It’s never a bad idea to “loosen up” with your radio ads.
Dude. That’s all you have to do.
The WORDS are THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR ADVERTISING EFFORTS.
But unfortunately, most advertising you see or hear includes many “skippable” words within them. Don’t let it be yours.
How do you keep an ad from being skipped over? You have to put in the work up front. You have to do the research. You need to sit and think (yes, thinking is a lost art form – but if you get good at it, you can write your own paycheck). You have to get into the head of the people who want or need your product or service. What’s going through their mind? What do they care about? (Hint: It’s usually not how long you’ve been in business)
- People want solutions to their problems
- They want to buy from someone they can trust
- They like to be entertained
And please, SKIP THE BORING AND IRRELEVANT STUFF.
So, remember those things when you’re putting your next radio ad together. If you think that radio ads are just the name of the business, a laundry list of what that business does, and the phone number 5 times, you’re going to be really upset with the lack of results you get.
“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” -Elmore Leonard
Duane Christensen
Results Radio Townsquare Media
Sioux Falls, SD
605-940-7984
duane.christensen@results-radio.com
The Power of Sound
The Power of Sound
Radio advertising. It’s affordable… it’s versatile… and over 90% listen to broadcast radio every week. And overall… Americans, still spend more time with our radios than we do on Facebook. And radio doesn’t melt your brain like Facebook does. “Melt your brain” is my technical term for “makes you dumber, lonely, depressed, and narcissistic” (and it’s just my opinion – but look at the research).
Radio advertising has the potential to outperform most marketing mediums today. Part of that reason is because of the power of sound.
Sound vs. Visual. Which is better? Which should you choose? You’ve heard that, right? Or thought it? “I have a visual product. Therefore it makes absolutely perfect and logical sense to use a visual advertising medium.”
Geez, it would sure be nice if advertising worked that way. Simple. Straightforward. A step-by-step formula for advertising success. Sorry. Doesn’t exist.
Have you ever read a great article? You didn’t read the whole thing top to bottom because of a picture. A picture may have gotten your attention. But the words are what kept you engaged. The words that were being spoken by you silently in your head.
Has a song ever changed your mood or brought an old memory flooding back? All the time! Sound is powerful.
Has anyone’s words ever hurt you? Sadly, yes. And I’ve hurt plenty with my words. Words I wish I could have back.
Something to think about.
My clients are getting great results because of the words we’re using in the ads… the stories we tell… and the people used to deliver that message. It’s not about a picture. It’s about creating pictures in people’s minds… with words. Spoken words.
Duane Christensen
Your Local Marketing Helper
Sales – Marketing – Copy Writing
Radio Advertising’s Superpower: What Can It Do For You?
Image courtesy of “vectorolie” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Radio advertising’s superpower is long-term branding for a business. When a local Sioux Falls business wants to build a brand, be remembered, and reach a lot of people, there is nothing better than a good, consistent radio advertising campaign. Warning: You can’t release just any kind of radio ads out into the world…it has to be well-thought-out and strategic (which is our specialty). So, what can a consistent radio advertising plan do for you? Let’s get right to it. You like lists, right?
1) Awareness of your business. You become a choice to those who didn’t know about you.
2) Change perceptions about your business, service, or product…where perceptions need to be changed. Which will allow you to attract more customers and increase your sales. Duh, right?
3) Cause people to remember certain words or phrases when they need what you sell. And we anchor those words or phrases to your business name…so they contact YOU instead of a competitor.
4) Cause people to “FEEL” and “SEE” what it would be like if they were your customer. Get them to like you before they have ever bought from you.
5) Brand your business. When people think about, hear, or see your name, they KNOW WHAT YOU STAND FOR (or against)…and they feel good about that. Which immensely increases the chance YOU will be the business they choose to BUY from.
With all of the above 5 things cranking, you then get…
6) Consistent business growth. By consistently saying the right things to a whole bunch of people, you’ll keep attracting new faces. So, if you treat people right, and keep most of your current customers…your sales will continue to grow. You won’t have to wonder “how are we going to make some extra sales this month?” You won’t have to discount your services or slash prices of your products to get new business. You’ll be attracting the profitable people – not the wishy-washy ones who have to get everything on sale.
This stuff works. I have clients who’d love to tell you about it.
Let me know if you’d like to talk with me about marketing your business in the Sioux Falls area.
Radio advertising has received a bad rap by a lot of business owners. But only because they didn’t do it right. They didn’t understand radio’s superpower. And the advertising people they talked to in the past…didn’t understand how to unleash radio advertising’s superpower.
Duane Christensen
Results Radio Townsquare Media
Sioux Falls SD
605-940-7984
You’ve Bought Radio Advertising Before? Oh No.
You’ve advertised on the radio before. So, you know what you want. Ok. But is “what you want”…the best thing for you?
Image courtesy of “Salvatore Vuono” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Sioux Falls has a ton of advertising options. You may have already “tried” a bunch of those options. You may have “tried” a bunch of different radio advertising schedules. You may even feel you’ve met nearly every advertising sales rep in the city! Wow, I hope not. That would make ME want to sell everything and move to the mountains!
Do you feel that advertising is a necessary evil? You say, “Well…let’s try another stint on the radio. Can’t hurt, right?” Then, you call up a radio station (maybe me) and ask about the rates.
Now, here’s me. I don’t know much about your business yet. And the number of radio advertising options are pretty high. It’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing (if you actually plan on making your radio advertising work). Rates don’t really mean much if you’re not buying into the right plan. Or the right IDEA.
My first thought is… “Do we know what to SAY in the radio ads yet?” No. We don’t. Do I know your competitive landscape? Do I know why your customers buy from you and not the other guy down the street? No.
Image courtesy of “Master isolated images” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Questions. I need to ask questions to offer the best solution. Not just give you a “package” that won’t work. I need to know more before I can recommend a plan for you. Would you like to draw a one-time crowd? Or would you like to become a household name in Sioux Falls? What would you like your advertising to accomplish? Why do you think you’re a big deal? Do your customers feel you’re a big deal? Would you like more of those happy customers? If I asked your customers about you…what would they tell me?
I love to work with Sioux Falls small business owners who want to make a mark. Those who want to serve their customers better than anyone else could, and those who have a goal and want to know how to reach that goal. I don’t really ever feel comfortable being an order taker. I almost always find a major flaw in someone else’s advertising plan. Those flaws could be any number of things that can sabotage a local marketing and advertising campaign. Such as the length of the ads, the competitive strategy, the message in the ads, the number of ads scheduled to air, etc.
If you’ve bought radio advertising before…I want you to forget what you’ve done before. Because if you were doing it right, you wouldn’t have stopped. You wouldn’t have called someone else. So, try your best to erase from your memory what some other advertising person has told you in the past. If you truly want to get it right this time and stop being unsure, skeptical, confused, or frustrated with your local advertising, then, we’re going to start from scratch. We’re going to have a bunch of conversations before I let you spend any money on advertising. We’ll get it right, first. We’ll have a plan. A plan that will carry the potential for good things to happen. Growth. Good word of mouth. Buzz. Increased profits.
When you’re ready, just call.
Thanks. Have a great day!
Duane Christensen
Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog
I’m kind of a big advertising nerd. And I’m confident in the power of radio when it’s done right. The spoken word is impressive when you choose words wisely. You can arrange them in a way that can be subtly persuasive, aggressively entertaining, or peacefully comforting. Let’s find the right words to use for your small business. I am a salesperson, ad writer, and marketing guy for Results Radio Townsquare Media in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I started there in 1998 (while still a punk) answering phones and scheduling radio commercials on an old DOS program (green and black screen). Yikes. I’ve learned a heck of a lot since then.
I even published a small business advertising book in July of 2012. You can check it out here if you want >>> Take A Bigger Slice (on Amazon)
Ph: 605-940-7984
Email: duane.christensen@results-radio.com
Web: http://duanechristensen.townsquareinteractive.com/
Patience and Diligence When Starting Your Radio Advertising
- What should your radio ads sound like?
- What kind of style?
- Who should voice them?
- Should you use humor or no humor?
- Emotion or intellect?
These are all good questions. And they are questions that won’t get answered all at once. The more I talk to you, the more the answers will surface. Or sometimes smack me in the face. It’s amazing how many times I’m talking to a Sioux Falls business owner, and I’m asking questions left and right and listening, wondering where the “gold” for the radio ads will come from. And then… from out of left field, they’ll say something that dang near makes me fall out of my chair. They’ll say something that could possibly be the shiny nugget to make it all work. Almost as if it was sent down from the heavens (and they don’t even know they said anything important).
And then, another and another, and pretty soon I have 3 to 5 pages of scribbly notes with circles and underlines and capitals and exclamation points.
Image courtesy of “digitalart” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
It doesn’t always happen in the first meeting. Usually not. But this is what you need to expect when you’re calling someone for local advertising help. You should expect it…you just won’t usually get it. So, LOOK OUT… Most will sell you an ad package and then give a few notes to a production person back at their office. They’ll say, “Make an ad out of this. It starts tomorrow.” Can you see where your results may be non-existent from this method?
I won’t start a radio advertising campaign for you if I’m not completely confident it will “move the needle” for you. If it takes a month to get it right, that’s better than pulling the trigger prematurely and wasting your money, wouldn’t you agree?
If you’re a local Sioux Falls area business person who would love to stop “shootin’ from the hip” with your ad budget…and finally start making more from what you’re investing…then we need to talk. Are you just a teensy weensy bit competitive? It really helps. It’s almost required. If you’d like to grow your sales, an intelligent and creative advertising campaign would most likely make you a much happier human being. I’d like to help make that happen.
How much can you grow? How fast? What will it take? All good questions that I’d love to help you answer. Radio advertising isn’t a one size fits all sort of thing. If you’re sold a package by someone else and then put on “auto-pilot” …don’t expect too much for “results”.
What do I do for my clients who are on the radio right now? What would I do for YOU once you’ve started with an exciting new radio plan? I always have my radar up for the next great ad idea that can move someone a lot closer to doing business with you. We change the ads up about once a month depending on how heavy your ads are scheduled. There’s a limit to the number of weeks an ad can run before it gets “played out”. So, we keep it fresh – it’s in your best interest.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day!
Duane Christensen
605-940-7984
Results Radio Townsquare Media – Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog
What Are You Saying in Your Sioux Falls Radio Advertising?
I live, work, and play in Sioux Falls. Usually, I listen to the radio for the music, the sports talk, or the news talk. Mostly the music. But once in a while I scan all the radio stations I can tune in… and listen to the radio ads. Because I’m a geek, I know. But you gotta know what’s out there, right?
Image courtesy of “stockimages” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Anyway, I realized that there are a lot of businesses being under-served. They need help. They’re being sold “radio” instead of being offered a way to grow their business – a way for their advertising to actually work. Can you imagine if you KNEW that your radio advertising was working for you? Instead of just thinking of it as a necessary evil. Wouldn’t that be nice.
The way to make it work is to FIRST take what you “think” radio advertising should sound like… crumple that up into a ball… throw it on the ground… and grind that into oblivion. Then burn it. There is a lot of radio advertising out there where I can pretty much guarantee that it’s a big waste of money. All because you’re not saying the right things in your ads. You’re not saying anything worth listening too.
People aren’t listening to radio ads like I do. Remember, I’m the geek that purposefully listens intensely to advertising – nobody else does that. You need to say something that inspires, is creative, tells a story, shares new valuable information in an understandable way, is authentic, or makes people smile… or all of the above.
When you say something worthy in your radio advertising in and around Sioux Falls… you’ll be shocked at what it can do. I’d name off all of the things I hear in ads that is utter nonsense and completely snooze inducing, but the list is too long.
How would your best customer sell someone on your products, services, your employees, or your company as a whole? Start there. Or call me. I’d love to talk about your local advertising woes… and help you out.
Have a great day!
Duane Christensen
Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog
Results Radio Townsquare Media – Sioux Falls
https://siouxfallsradioadvertising.com/
Need more small business advertising advice? You could try this: Small Business Advertising Kapow
I Love Your Radio Ads
“I love your radio ads.”
Some people say that…to a pretty good handful of my radio clients. That’s great! But it doesn’t mean much if the ads aren’t working.
But…
There’s something to be said for getting people to like your ads. That means they’re listening all the way through. If you bored the snot out of them for the first 5 to 20 seconds…they won’t stick around to listen to the rest. And therefore…they won’t tell you “I love your ads.”
Image courtesy of “basketman” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
What does it take to have radio ads that are liked or loved?
It usually involves a story. Or some piece of interesting information shared in such a way that engages the listener. Maybe you teach the listener something. Maybe you get them nodding their head saying, “That’s me. I know exactly what you’re talking about.” Or your ads are sincere and touch an emotional hot button…and then provide a solution to a problem that doesn’t seem “sales-ey”. When you truly want to help…that shines through.
I read a quote recently (and for the life of me I can’t remember who said it) “People don’t listen to ads. They listen to what interests them.” And I remembered the quote because it’s soooooo true. Just because you’re on Radio, TV, online, Facebook, Twitter, billboards, bus benches, etc…. it doesn’t mean you’re actually getting your message across to those people who use or come in contact with a particular advertising medium. You better be telling them something they care about or providing enough intriguing info that keeps them listening.
A good headline is crucial. But if you decide to take the easy route (after the interesting headline) and start telling them how great you are, that you’re the best, that you have excellent customer service, yada yada yada…you’ll lose them. Have an intimate conversation with the listener. (I say listener instead of listenerS because your ad needs to speak to one person. It’s one on one. Make it personal. Make them feel like you’re face to face with them. Keep your radio ad about your prospect – not about you.)
I forget that I need to say this more often: People don’t care about you…they care about themselves and their family and how you might be able to HELP them. That’s it. If someone doesn’t feel you have their best interest at heart, good luck snagging that fish.
Not everyone will say, “I love your radio ads”. But when you finally get on the right track…some people will. And you’ll notice the effect it has on your business.
I can’t end this without a little disclaimer though. There have been thousands of advertising campaigns that have won big awards and popularity contests…but they didn’t end up attracting any new business for the advertiser. Humorous, outrageous, or heart-warming might get some attention…but your ads still have to sell. They still have to move people closer to doing business with YOU instead of your competitor. It can get kind of tricky. The right strategy comes into play here. You need to make sure the message you’re conveying is something that people will care about and can cause them to buy more of what you sell.
Have a great day!
Duane Christensen
Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog
605-940-7984
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New Sample Radio Spots
Here’s a quick note just to inform you that I’ve updated the “Sample Radio Spots” page in the menu at the top of this site. Or click here.
Take a listen to some ads I wrote and/or helped produce in 2012. And if they won’t play for you… just let me know. Sometimes this darn audio sharing stuff is touchy.
Anyway, enjoy your listening. And if you like anything, please share, comment, or hit the “like” button. I’m always hoping to spread the gospel of “better radio”… and better local advertising! Thank you.
With radio… we can transport you anywhere. It’s like a “mini-movie”. The sky is the limit!
Have a great day!
Duane Christensen
Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog
Results Radio / Townsquare Media
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. Or… here’s a crazy thought… just give me a call! Have a great day! 🙂
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EASY isn’t always BEST
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!
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Sioux Falls Radio Advertising 