{"id":18977,"date":"2016-03-07T00:55:11","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T08:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?p=18977"},"modified":"2016-03-07T00:55:11","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T08:55:11","slug":"radio-copywriter-critique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/radio-copywriter-critique\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Copywriter Gets 9 Things Right, 2 Small Flubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Radio<\/a>It is so much more enjoyable to critique the work of a good radio copywriter<\/a> than the lame attempts of a bad one.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, the radio commercial.<\/span><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Constant-Contact-KRTH-216.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Here Are 9 Good Things You Can Learn from this Radio Copywriter.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

1.<\/strong><\/span> The ad begins with the story of someone who has been transformed (“She’s more than just an email sender; she’s a marketer!”) <\/em>by the service being advertised.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong><\/span> That “someone” is given a name: “Katie.”<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That personalizes her and makes it easier to envision her as a real person.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you watch Last Week Tonight,<\/em> here’s something you might not have noticed:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever John Oliver<\/strong> <\/span>turns to address an image of a child, teenager or pet, he addresses that child, teenager or pet by name.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Always.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Last-Week-Tonight-with-John-Oliver-North-Dakota.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n


\nOliver always addresses the person by “name” \u2014 even though it’s a fictitious person with a fictitious name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why? Because the inclusion of the person’s name makes it more of a story.<\/span><\/p>\n

The more specific you are, the more vivid the story you can tell.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.<\/strong><\/span> He clearly and concisely describes a common task \u2014 “sends out emails” \u2014 that is directly related to the advertiser’s product.<\/span><\/p>\n

4.<\/strong><\/span> He makes “Katie” even more real by noting that she sends out those emails “for her nonprofit.”<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Constant Contact isn’t designed specifically for nonprofit organizations. But a specific picture quickly and efficiently is painted in the listener’s mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

5.<\/strong><\/span> Unlike what I did in #4 (above), the announcer<\/span> uses real language: “for her nonprofit.”<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

People who work for nonprofit organizations refer to them simply as “nonprofits.” <\/span><\/p>\n

The announcer slides right into her world by using the correct jargon.<\/span><\/p>\n

6.<\/strong><\/span> The advertiser isn’t introduced until after we’ve met Katie and learned something about her…something that’s relevant to the ultimate sales message of this spot.<\/span><\/p>\n

7.<\/span><\/strong> The commercial clearly establishes how Constant Contact helps Katie: “…she’s a marketer!”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

8.<\/strong><\/span> The spot ends with a clear Call to Action: “Free trial at ConstantContact.com.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

9.<\/strong><\/span> Because the announcer isn’t burdened with too much copy, he’s able to take the time to tell the story. <\/span><\/p>\n

He’s able to pace himself, to pause when pausing helps the storytelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why isn’t this 30-second radio spot<\/a> crammed with too many words, a la<\/em> most radio ads?<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the copywriter limited the focus to a single, linear story.<\/span><\/p>\n

No detours.<\/span><\/p>\n

No unnecessary ad-speak.<\/span><\/p>\n

No “winner of the coveted Hugo Bernstein Award for cool email tools.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Did a Different Advertising Copywriter Write this Line?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

There’s one place where they momentarily drop the ball. <\/span><\/p>\n

It’s when Katie says, “And with our free expert coaching, our results have been better than ever.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A) “With our free expert coaching”<\/em> is confusing. <\/span><\/p>\n

It sounds as though her nonprofit offers free expert coaching, but I’m guessing the copy refers to free coaching Constant Contact offers its customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

B) “Our results have been…better than ever”:<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

When You Pause Before Finishing a Sentence, You Create an Expectation Among the Listeners.<\/em> <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

You pause before delivering a pay-off, something funny, something surprising, something dramatic.<\/span><\/p>\n

You don’t pause, however, before saying something as bland as “better than ever.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, it feels as though that line was written by someone other than the copywriter responsible for the rest of the commercial. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Katie” is specific.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Nonprofit” is semi-specific. We don’t know what the nonprofit does, but we know it’s not a retail business or professional service.<\/span><\/p>\n

But “better than ever”?? <\/span><\/p>\n

We don’t know how good their results had been before Constant Contact. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe they were abysmal, in which case “better than ever”<\/em> might mean “not quite as pathetic.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

No, the ad can’t make specific financial claims. But Katie might have said:<\/span><\/p>\n

“Now our members actually read our emails”<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

or <\/span><\/p>\n

“fundraising is less of a hassle…for me and for our members.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

That line of dialogue is sloppy, ineffectual…and well beneath the copywriting skill demonstrated by the rest of the script.<\/span><\/p>\n

But 90% of this commercial copy is excellent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I don’t happen to use Constant Contact, I’m delighted to be able to compliment their radio advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is so much more enjoyable to critique the work of a good radio copywriter than the lame attempts of a bad one. First, the radio commercial. Here Are 9 Good Things You Can Learn from this Radio Copywriter. 1. The ad begins with the story of someone who has been transformed (“She’s more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"\nRadio Commercial Gets 9 Things Right, 2 Small Flubs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is so much more enjoyable to critique the work of a good radio copywriter than the lame attempts of a bad one...as John Oliver helps to illustrate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/radio-copywriter-critique\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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