I realize that every time I say this, I make enemies.
But my experience tells me that — with notable exceptions that deserve our gratitude and admiration — most radio stations’ claims of being devoted to the success of their advertisers ring very hollow.
Two-Part Station Management Quiz
1. “We are committed to the success of our advertising clients.”
— True or False?
If you answered “True,” please continue to Question #2:
2. Which of the following is true for your station?
A) Every employee who ever writes a commercial for a client has had professional-level education in how to create effective radio advertising.
B) We have specific deadlines for salespeople to turn in their copy orders — and we enforce those deadlines. (Recently one of my Radio Advertising Letter subscribers told me, “Neither our Station Manager nor our Sales Consultant believes in deadlines.” So much for Quality Control.)
D) Just as we support our sales department’s desire to attend sales conferences, we support our creative and production departments desires to attend creative or production conferences.
If they’re honest, most stations answer “False” to A, B, C and D.
“Commitment” requires more than saying you’re committed. It requires a continuous investment of time, money and resources to back it up.
“On my radio show, I am not allowed to mention ‘Dancing with the Stars’ or that the newest iPhone is being released.
“That’s because our manager believes that saying these brand names during the normal course of conversation will give brands free air time and thus engender a potential loss of revenue for the station.
“Quoting from his critique of my program: ‘Speaking positively about local TV channels/media is giving them air time and unpaid publicity.’
“What’s your opinion?”
Your job is not to avoid giving unpaid publicity to other businesses or media outlets.
Your job is to engage your radio station’s listeners.
The easiest, best way to engage your listeners is to enter the conversations that define their daily lives.
Half your audience watched “Dancing with the Stars” last night, but you’re supposed to ignore that and instead try to get them interested in the fact that this is National Dental Hygiene Month?
Your listeners lined up outside stores the night before the new iPhone first went on sale, and instead of talking about that you’re supposed to encourage them to call to vote: “What’s your favorite color — red or blue”??
I suggest that your manager ask every one of your station’s listeners, “Why do you listen to this station?”
I predict:
• Many will say, “I like the music they play.”
• Some will say, “I really like their DJs.”
• Not one, however, will say, “I listen to your station because you never give free publicity to competing media or to businesses that don’t advertise with you.”
Why is that important?
Because a commercial radio station cannot survive without listeners.
Yes, “radio advertisers pay the bills.” But advertisers go where the listeners are.
The more relevant you are to your listeners’ lives, the more listeners you attract and the longer they listen.
News Flash:
Everything your audience does when they’re not listening to you is your competition.
If they’re watching the World Cup, they’re not listening to your music program.
If they’re at a concert, watching a movie, or reading a book to their children, they’re not listening to your station.
Following your manager’s (and many managers’) logic, that means you should never talk about the big local concert, the blockbuster movie…or children.
Nicole, a radio station account executive, writes:
“I work for a radio station in Indiana and I am a huge fan of yours. I wrote a spot and I would like your honest opinion on it, if you have the time to listen.”
Here’s the commercial.
I tell Nicole:
Your commercial is unlikely to upset your radio station employer nor the client; it sounds like most local radio commercials.
I listened to it just once, but unlike a radio listener I deliberately stopped what I was doing to listen…and the only thing I retain from it is the advertiser’s name.
A commercial should be a conversation with the targeted listener; this was the advertiser talking about the advertiser.
Far too many words, too many bullet points, too many cliches, more than one Call To Action….
I very much appreciate your being a fan of mine. But I have to ask: Have you actually gone through any of my training? I’m guessing you haven’t — and I truly don’t mean that as a criticism. It’s just that that spot contradicts so much of what I teach.
Nicole responds:
I have only been working in radio for 8 months now. I do follow you on Facebook and receive emails from you but have not been able to take a training class. I have no training in radio except for what I have learned from the station.
I offered to critique her commercial on my blog, and Nicole bravely accepted the offer…..
There are far too many words in this commercial. The announcer (I don’t know if it’s you or someone at the radio station) has to rush to fit it all into 60 seconds. It’s impossible for listeners to follow, to keep up with the onslaught of verbiage.
Radio advertising solves problems. Upon repeated listening, it appears that the problem your advertiser, a water park, promises to solve is the impending end of summer. (“You’re not ready for the summer to end.”)
But if you were to ask patrons of this water park why they go there, I doubt they’d say “so summer won’t end.”
Perhaps they’d say “a fun place to take the kids.” Maybe it’s “a way to get the children out of the house and let them burn off some of their inexhaustible energy.”
How can you know for sure why people go there? Ask them.
You name three rides and/or features, none of which means anything to the listener (and one of which I can’t understand despite repeated attempts to decipher the words).
“A year-round explosion of family fun” — “Year-round” is irrelevant. You’re not trying to get people to come to Caribbean Cove throughout the next year. You’re trying to get them to come now, this week, this weekend.
“Only 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis” probably is a selling point. But “convenient to numerous shopping areas, parks, professional sports facilities, theaters, and much much more” is just plain silly.
(I realize it also undoubtedly is among the bullet points you received from the client. But they shouldn’t be in the radio commercial.)
If there’s so much cool stuff to do at the water park, why do people care if there are shopping areas, parks, etc., nearby?
Unless you’re striving for irony or parody, never say “conveniently located.” Can you honestly say its location is convenient to everyone in your audience? If not, why would you say it is?
You end the radio spot with two Calls To Action — which is one too many. Is the goal of this advertisement to get the targeted listener to visit the website? Or is it to get them to call the water park?
Whichever your one real Call To Action is, why should the listener act on it? “For more information” is not a good enough reason.
I don’t blame Nicole. She’s new to radio and has her hands full learning how to sell.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the radio station that employs her provided her with some form of sales training (books, audio or video recordings, maybe even a live seminar or workshop).
But clearly her employer expects her somehow to “pick up” the ability to craft an effective radio advertising campaign.
Over the years, I’ve had the honor of being a guest speaker at numerous Radio Advertising Bureau conference.
On this particular occasion, due to a scheduling snafu, a Radio Advertising Bureau official has just informed attendees that my 90-minute presentation will be cut back to only 45 minutes.
This scheduling problem was something over which I had no control, and I really felt bad for everyone who was disappointed by the abbreviated presentation.
This exclusive video footage begins just after the announcement has been made.
Unless you’re doing “Institutional” or “Image” advertising (now often mistakenly referred to as “branding”) — which ad agencies love but which usually are bad investments for advertisers — your radio commercial should have a clear Call to Action.
This is especially true for local retail advertising, which is the lifeblood of commercial radio.
Contrary to popular belief, a “good” spot is not one that wins awards. It’s not one that everyone tells you they love.
It’s not even one that the client tells you he loves, nor the one your audience hums along with.
A “good” advertisement is one that motivates the listener to act on the sales message.
To go to the automobile showroom and test-drive the vehicle.
To visit the website and view the cheap airfares.
To pick up the phone, dial the toll-free number, and request the free information booklet.
There is nothing as powerful as a Sense of Urgency to motivate people to act.
“Limited supply” — if genuine and if communicated convincingly — can lend a sense of urgency to a sales offer. (Think about past holiday seasons when parents frantically ran all over town, searching for the nearly-impossible-to-find new toy or game.)
The limited supply might refer to the product itself. Or it might refer to some sort of bonus and/or Gift With Purchase.
Another very strong incentive to act is embodied in a deadline.
In the U.S., we are required to report our income to the Internal Revenue Service. For individual taxpayers, the annual deadline for filing their tax returns is April 15.
Based upon a completely nonscientific survey I’ve made of people I’ve met in life, I’d estimate that 47% of American taxpayers mail their income tax returns on April 14 or 15.
Why do they wait so long?
Is it because April 15 is just too darned early in the year? If income tax returns weren’t due until, say, June 15, would everyone file their returns in May?
No. They’d file on June 14 or 15.
Why?
Because true, enforceable deadlines are among the strongest motivators known to humans. (I don’t suppose you’ve ever stayed up all night finishing a school report…or a sales proposal for which you’ve had weeks during which to prepare.)
The following is not a deadline:
“With prices like these, you know they won’t last forever!”
Neither is:
“Hurry, this sale ends soon!”
A deadline is:
“Friday night at 9.”
“November 15.”
“Tomorrow at Noon.”
Grocery stores understand this.
Odds are the supermarket you patronize advertises weekly “specials.”
They probably begin on Thursday and expire the following Wednesday. They offer something of genuine, measurable value — a great bargain — for a very limited time.
Week after week after week.
Why?
To motivate grocery shoppers to return to their supermarkets week after week after week.
The more you can educate your radio advertising clients regarding the wisdom of making genuine, valuable special offers with deadlines, the more money you can make for them.
