Those are the three major topics in the current issue of my Radio Advertising Letter.
I’ve created this post for any subscribers who would like to comment, disagree, or illuminate.
PHONE NUMBERS, FOOT PAIN and A FAILED CAMPAIGN
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Phone numbers in radio commercials. Why DOES this debate rage on? Phone numbers are best saved for print ads. When's the last time someone actually took down a phone number from a radio ad?!?! Picture it. You're driving home from work. You hear a compelling offer in a radio ad. You hit the brakes and pull over to the side of the road! You fumble around, desperate to find paper & writing utensil. That complete, you write down that all important phone number. Which now, of course, you must do from memory, because the commercial is long since over.
R-i-g-h-t! 🙂 Dan. You're 100% correct. Period. Next?
Natalie Knox
Ellsworth, Maine
I have to disagree. I have written hundreds of radio ads with phone numbers and have had very good results. I can give you the phone number for Dominos Pizza in a town I lived in over a decade ago because we built an ad that made a crappy phone number memorable. My job was to get people to call the number.
I have people tell me the “rule” is to have the number in there three times or some say four times. I say this… If I don’t give you a reason to call, we can have it a hundred times and they still won’t call. If I give you a reason to call, once is enough. PERIOD!
BIG John Small
Founder
The Great Spot Company
I don’t really get why the martial art being ‘the original’ martial art, is relevant either. That said, I think there was a missed opportunity on the production side to image these guys by talking about the ‘secrets of the ancients’ or something in that vein. Not that you’d have to go totally David Carradine with it grasshopper, but rather than talking about tong-su-do (or whatever it’s called), being the first, you should lose the radio ad, and make them feel like they’ll be a part of some exclusive craft.
But a good solid benefit should be identified first.
Big John, you’re not disagreeing… I don’t think anyone would say “never ever use a phone number.” The debate will always be whether a phone number was appropriate for a given spot.
Domino’s Pizza? Makes sense to have a phone number. The local mechanic? Nope (unless you’re advertising emergency roadside service, in which case it better be an EASY number to remember).
I think the majority of the time, the phone number is useless. Especially in situations where you need to “fill” time. That’s like topping off the gas tank with water to make sure it’s full.
My opinion on the phone number: Unless your call to action has the listener sitting there, impatiently waiting for the phone number so they can take advantage of your incredible offer, there’s no sense in giving it.
My observation on the martial arts commercial is that the website address was given, and THEN the reason to visit the website (free coupon) was given. This left me feeling angry because I wasn’t paying attention to the address as it was being given (why would I?), but as a resultI didn’t know how to get my free coupon.
As for this commercial with the address repeated twice, the website spelled out and the company name repeated eight times….I’d like to see it on a future Monday Commercial Smackdown…
Nick
Sometimes numbers are good. While I personally can’t stand putting them in spots, if the main goal is to get people to call, then absolutely. I tell my sales people that if they want to put the number in, we’ll put it in three times to help retention. That also gives me a chance to get some other unneccesary information out of the spot. I also rep one of our biggest clients and they insist to have the number in every ad they do…but i can’t really argue since they get consistent calls with people telling them they heard it on the radio. Of course, it took consistent and frequent scheduling (they’ve been on for over three years straight) to attain that. Those two week runs with a client that insists the phone number is there, and then complains they didn’t a call, well that’s just what makes the job so much fun. Numbers not ideal, but sometimes essential.
Steve Babson
Glens Falls, NY
I love domino’s pizza! i know the number with out even looking it up. But i never go to domino’s to price their pizza or to see what the special is. Have you ever called your doctor up and asked him to take a look at that nasty looking rash you got from that girl? Come on i dont care about blue tooth cellphones heck even telepathy is useless when it comes to GETTING PEOPLE IN THE DOOR not on the phone. Sure if I need pizza ill pick up the phone. I dare you to make a 15 or 30 second ad with nothing but the phone number. just the phone number only. see how many calls that number gets. yes you can get results from using the number the right way. but why would you want to have your listener call in to a car dealership to ask what the price is? shouldnt they know that from the spot? or why dont you have the listener call the dealership and have them ask if it is ok to come in to look at the car! or better yet with blue tooth technology why dont you just ask to see the car over the phone. well thats all for me beam me up scotty i gotta call this doctor it hurts when i pee i hope he can help me! over the phone.
Buddy Jackson
Program Director KYYK 98.3
If you're telling someone to call for an appointment, use a number, especially if it's easy to remember (like Domino Pizza). But for a grocery store? And a good :30 spot beats an adequate :60 thirty ways to Sunday. Write like you have to pay for each and every word (that's what your advertiser is doing).
On the foot pain, I would not have used the "imagine what it would be like" line because it's superfluous. If they have foot pain they are already doing so without your inviting them to do so.
I've written clever stuff that didn't work..so it really wasn't all that clever. Over the last 30 years I've written thousands of spots, a few of them winners, most forgettable. Read it to the lowest-paid person at the station (OK, besides yourself) and see if it makes sense to them. If not, rewrite it to simplify. We have to make mental images, so don't get too wordy. (see suggestion above)
Dave (Doc) Kirby, Ops & Prog Mgr, Troy Broadcasting Corp,AL
also Lecturer at Hall School of Journalism & Communication, Troy Univ, Troy,AL
I’d like to see it on a future Monday Commercial Smackdown…
I reserve those for national, regional and large market commercials — for people who have the *budget, have the resources, and often are presenting themselves (as ad agencies) as advertising experts.
For smaller markets where it’s just some poor copywriter or producer doing his or her best, I don’t think it’s fair for me to publicly criticize or ridicule them.
They haven’t received any real training, their superiors don’t care about (or even mention) producing results for the client, and they’re swamped with work.
A minority of them do care enough about their clients and have enough pride in their work that they actually study the craft of creating successful radio advertising: They buy books and audio seminars, they attend live seminars, etc. (Yes, even if they have to pay for it themselves.)
The rest of them simply have jobs, and they dutifully show up for their jobs and do their best without knowing what they’re doing. They don’t realize it’s possible for them to produce much better results for their clients. I don’t relate well to that approach, of course, but I don’t want to humiliate them for what they see as “doing my job.”
Subscribers who submit spots for critique in my newsletter volunteer. Even then, I choose to critique only spots whose analysis I think can be helpful to all my subscribers.
*Most large market in-station productions have no budget, but that’s the owner’s choice. They could allocate more resources if they wanted, but ensuring the client’s campaign is successful simply isn’t that important to them.
the “imagine what it would be like” line (is) superfluous.
An excellent point, and one I’m surprised I missed.
It’s also an easy line to fix in an otherwise excellent radio commercial.
We all have clients that still want that phone number. Even on those rare occassions when the AE, the PD, the GSM and the GM all agree with you, the client still wants that phone number. I’ve found that a happy medium can be reached by using the client’s web address (URL) instead. I explain to the client, “that way, you get to use your very limited and precious air time to actually sell, and let your web-site be the mule, let it carry the disclaimers, the phone numbers. Your web address is your company or services name, so that enhances your brand awareness.” More often than not, they’re happy to comply. Invariably, they’re not doing much with their web-site anyway. Now, they have a place to put their phone number.
Mike,
Could I purty please borrow your language here the next time this comes up around here? I’ve begun to run out of ways to phrase it. This was beautifully worded:
“that way, you get to use your very limited and precious air time to actually sell, and let your web-site be the mule, let it carry the disclaimers, the phone numbers. Your web address is your company or services name, so that enhances your brand awareness.”
You had me at “be the mule”
Dolly
You flatter me. Glad to oblige.
Bare in mind, I’m somewhat jaded by the use of web-sites. I work for one of those companies that utilize and market them aggressively as NTR (non-traditional revenue)
I like to use them as mules, carrying all that damned ole dead weight.