reach

Better Ads = More Buying Power

/ Duane Christensen

You want to advertise, but you also want to invest WISELY.

Let me help you spend your money. Just kidding. Let’s help you get MORE for your advertising investment, eh?

Here’s how this works.

Let’s say you were going to hire an AVERAGE or below average advertising person. They’ll gladly take your money…and then sloppily put together some ad with no idea about whether that ad might work or not. OR they’ll tell you that you have to air 42 ads a week regardless of your type of business or your local competitive situation. You’ll end up spending more money…and getting less in return if you go with this option.

What’s the other way to go? You can have better ads (or commercials – whatever you want to call them) When you have better ads and a better overall strategy fueling your ads, then you don’t have to BUY as many ads to air each week. Seriously. I’m not makin’ this crap up!

When you’re actual advertising message “hits the mark” with your targeted prospects better…then they have more impact. Here’s a totally made up scenario…

You’re told that you have to buy a lot of ads to make it work. So, you buy 45 ads a week. The ad itself is nothing special. But you’re “getting your name out there”, right? You’re disappointed with the results.

Then, you decide to do it better. You call me. We talk. You understand how advertising works a lot more just because we had a 20-minute conversation. You’re a bit more optimistic, hopeful, or maybe even excited now. I put a plan together for you. Instead of 45 ads a week on the radio per radio station, I suggest 24 to 30. Then, I come up with a better ad. Or series of ads. And then those ads start working. They’ll start working when a lot of thought is put into the plan in the beginning. There’s a foundation at the heart of it that will allow everything to work better, faster, and just plain WORK!

So, I’m not only going to be able to save you money initially, but you should be MAKING more because the advertising you’re doing with me and Results Radio will be pulling in more profitable customers to you. Then, all you have to do is make those customers happy and tell a few people about you…and Boom things start really crankin’ for you. Life is good!

With the money you’re saving initially on fewer ads each week…you could probably advertise on a 2nd radio station for the same money that the “average” ad person would have proposed!

Image courtesy of "stockimages" / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of “stockimages” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
MORE BUYING POWER!

Do you understand now that BETTER ADS WILL GIVE YOU MORE BUYING POWER?

BUT…none of that has a chance to become reality until you call me for an initial 20-minute conversation. Maybe it’s over coffee. Maybe it’s in our cozy little library at Results Radio. Maybe it’s in our top-secret brainstorming room with cushy, colorful chairs.

I’m a nerd about this stuff. I’m YOUR nerd…if you’ll have me. Let’s chat. I’d love to help out! I’d like to help you reach your business goals. What? You don’t have any? You should get some, because then you can get excited when you reach them. What’s your Sioux Falls or surrounding area market potential? Can you double your revenues? Triple them? Set some goals. I want to help you reach them.

Thanks for reading. Have a groovy day!

Duane Christensen

Results Radio Townsquare Media (8-station radio group)

Sioux Falls

605-940-7984

Let me add a little disclaimer here. Not every situation is the same, but this is a pretty frequent scenario I just talked about. And no, not every ad person will help waste your money faster. But I’ve seen too many who do not have your best interest at heart…or not have the knowledge to make your advertising work for you.

Blech! Advertising is So Confusing!

/ Duane Christensen
Advertising is Confusing

Image courtesy of “Stuart Miles” / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Advertising is Confusing!

What if you decided to finally do it right…and make an impact with your local advertising efforts?

What would you do? Where would you start?

If you look online, you have a ton of choices. Choices that provide no help in “un-confusing” you. Yuck! How could you ever get a feel for one of those advertising companies? You really couldn’t from their online presence. Their websites seem to be full of fluff and “creativity”. I never see any real proof from them that they know how to make local advertising work.

Now, if you stumble across my blog, you may be able to look at a few posts I’ve written…and make an informed decision. You could even listen to some of my sample radio spots. You would either think I’m a crackpot, or you’d be given enough confidence to contact me. But you’d have more than enough information to make that decision. Now let’s get started un-confusing you regarding your advertising.

Radio advertising works…

But first it depends on whether you’re committed to a genuine marketing effort. If you’re looking for the magic potion of advertising results, keep looking. And good luck. If you’re interested in finally figuring out what works and WHY it works, I think you’re in the right spot.

I recently met with a fairly new radio client. There were 3 people from the company ready to answer my questions. I was digging for some new info for future radio ads. One question I asked was, “Is there anything you DO that surprises your customers?” They gave me some great information. Then, we talked for a few more minutes…and the store manager said, “Sorry to go back to that ‘what surprises our customers’ question, but I just thought of something else.” I told him that we could spend the whole meeting on that topic because in your radio ads we need to surprise the listening audience. We need to tell them things they don’t expect to hear. Because otherwise, they’ll tune out. Don’t use advertising to tell people things they already know, surprise them. That’s what will make your radio work better. I heard a few of  them say out loud, “That makes sense.”

THAT was something they had never heard before. In the past, they had been puked on with words, phrases, and industry jargon like, Top of Mind, Branding, Awareness, Demographics, Reach, Targeting, Cost per Thousand, Cume, Dayparts, Circulation, Impressions, etc. etc. Nobody had ever told them that what you actually SAY in your advertising matters. Nobody had ever told them about what kinds of things their “target” might want to hear. Nobody had ever told them that it wasn’t about THEM…it was about how they can surprise, delight, and help someone else – their future customer.

Everyone walked away from the meeting feeling extra confident that we were on the right track. That their ad dollars were being invested wisely.

The only reason advertising might be confusing to you is because nobody has ever really explained it right (or maybe most ad people don’t know).

I don’t sell my clients; I lead them to discover the truth in advertising. I want you to understand what we’re going to do and why it’s going to work before you ever invest a dime.

Give me a shout and let’s talk. Afterwards, advertising won’t be so confusing for you.

Have a great day!

Duane Christensen

Marketing guy for: Results Radio Townsquare Media in Sioux Falls

605-940-7984

duane.christensen@results-radio.com

You’ve Bought Radio Advertising Before? Oh No.

/ Duane Christensen

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

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

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/

 

 

REACHING PEOPLE

/ Duane Christensen

One of the words you hear in the advertising world is “REACH”.

It’s important to “reach” people with your advertising. So, the big shiny thing for some business owners is when an advertising medium says they REACH (insert huge number here) people. But when you really think about “reach”…I mean really think about it…all that matters is if you “reach” them in a persuasive manner. I mean…are you moving people closer to doing business with you in your advertising? Are you engaging them in a conversation they can be a part of?

The TRUTH is that reach without engagement is not doing you any good.

The billboard that “reaches” tens of thousands of people every day doesn’t necessarily get noticed or make any sort of impact at all. Especially, when the message on that billboard is cliché, meaningless, and doesn’t provide any persuasive information. You better have 8 great words that combine to make a powerful statement.

The newspaper ad that “reaches” (insert their circulation number here) people doesn’t actually get seen by that many people. That’s the same as me saying that every single radio ad you air is heard every time it runs…by every single listener. And the newspaper ad that tries to “brand” your business with your business name and an un-engaging and un-persuasive slogan attached isn’t giving you what you think it’s giving you.

The online ad that comes up on someone’s page and is “viewed” doesn’t necessarily mean that you made any sort of impact. If they clicked on your ad and bought something immediately…then, yes, you can call that success. But how many times does that happen? When’s the last time you clicked on an online ad and immediately bought something?

No matter if it’s TV, magazines, Radio, bus benches, or whatever…REACH doesn’t matter all that much if the actual content of the ad isn’t making an impact. Is it getting people’s attention? Is it engaging them in a conversation? Is it persuasive? Is it teaching your prospect more about you so they can learn to trust you and contact you when they need what you offer next time?

THE WORDS used in your ads are more important than you know. They’re the MOST important part. So, when REACH is touted by an advertising medium…make sure that’s not their best selling point. They should be focusing mostly on what kind of MESSAGE will be communicated to your ideal future customer. If they fail to make the message the most important ingredient…move on until you find someone who does.

My newer clients are always surprised when they find out that I probably spend 50% or more of my time WRITING ads for all my clients. I have to. If I don’t put focus on the ad content, how would the ads ever work? How would they help attract new customers if I wasn’t constantly learning, researching, and writing better words?

Now…is there a perfect ad? No. There are too many possibilities for creativeness and other angles you can take. But it doesn’t mean I can’t try really hard to hit your customer’s biggest and brightest “emotional hot buttons”. And I DO make sure that all the ads I write will stick out and get the attention of your “target”. They’ll get the attention of your next new customer. And your radio ads will continually move people closer to doing business with you. Maybe your radio ad campaign benefits you best by bringing new people to see you…so you can dazzle them. Or maybe your radio ad campaign also reminds your current customers to shop with you more often. A good radio campaign can do great things for your bottom line.

Yes…radio can REACH a ton of people. But it doesn’t matter if those people never hear your ads.

I’ll make sure they hear them.

Have a great day!

Duane Christensen

Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog

605-940-7984

Watch them Squirm

/ Duane Christensen

Here is one question that can help you decide if you should buy advertising from someone –

“Mr. or Miss Advertising Rep, how do you plan on making this work for me?”

Then watch them squirm.  Or if they’re a “seasoned” salesperson, I assume they’ll have a smoooooth answer that doesn’t really answer your question at all.  You may get an answer that includes words like “reach” and “frequency”.  And probably a bunch of other numbers, and advertising clichés because that’s all they’ve got.  If you’re really lucky, you’ll get to see some nice graphs or pie charts.  A PowerPoint presentation would be a treat also.

Reach and frequency is about how many people your ad has the potential to hit…and how many times you run your ad.  But those factors are minuscule in comparison to what it truly takes to make your advertising plan work.

If you believe you know how to make advertising give you consistent, long-term results…let’s talk some day.

If you have no idea what it takes (you’re in the majority)…let’s talk some day.

I suppose I should tell you how I would answer that question I told you to ask.  Ok.  Next time.  Stay tuned.  My answer would probably be a little different each time someone asked me…but the CORE of my answer would be exactly the same.  And I wouldn’t whip out any demographic figures or bar graphs.

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, any marketing in general, 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.