Written by Ray Edwards
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Profit From Radio Advertising With These 7 Keys

Radio advertisingRadio advertising is an often-overlooked “magic marketing bullet”. Done correctly, it can increase your profits like magic. Done wrong, you can burn money at stunning speeds.

Here are the 7 Keys to Making a Fortune Using Radio Advertising.

Key 1: Use Direct Response Copy

Most radio ads use ineffective copy — they try to be funny, cute, or clever.

Don’t use these tactics, because they almost never work. Instead, use a direct response ad. A good basic template for such an ad looks like this:

  1. Attention-grabbing headline.
  2. Associate the listener to the main benefit of your product or service.
  3. Describe the offer in vivid language.
  4. Re-associate the listener to the benefit.
  5. Make a direct call to action (repeat at least three times).

I recommend the call to action, whenever possible, be either a website address or a telephone number.

Once you have convinced the prospect to take one of those two actions, you can place them into your marketing system to make the sale.

Let’s look at two example ads.

First, the “wrong way”…

Wrong Way (i.e., the “Usual” Way)

“Craft Master Jewelers is proud to announce our 20th annual Valentine Sale! Come browse the enormous selection of the finest diamond and gold jewelry available anywhere. Come on in to our store at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, and see for yourself as our friendly courteous staff helps you make the right decision about what jewelry to buy. We have tennis bracelets, solitaires, and even custom pieces available. We have over 75 years experience and are eager to serve you. Call us at 555-1212, visit our website at Craft Master Jewelers dot com, or stop by the store at 1313 Mockingbird Lane today.”

The problems with the ad copy above:

  • It uses a lot of cliché language that listeners will instantly “tune out.”
  • The ad is not about the listener, it’s about the advertiser: for example, it uses phrases like “our store”, “our staff”, “we have”, etc.
  • Too many options: tennis bracelets, solitaires, custom pieces, etc.
  • Too many conflicting calls to action: call the phone number, check out the web address, visit the street address.

Now let’s look at an ad for the same company, but this time done using a different approach…

Right Way: “Direct Response” Style

“Attention — men who still haven’t bought that Valentine’s gift. It’s not too late to make her glow with love for you. Imagine… a jewelry craftsperson asks you a few simple questions, and then creates the perfect gift of diamonds or gold. All without the frustrating shopping experience, in a minimum of time, and at the price you choose. Enjoy her surprise and delight… call Craft Master Jewelers now at 555-1212… 555-1212 Don’t disappoint her — delight her instead. 555-1212.”

What’s right about the second ad?

  • The focus is entirely where it should be; on the harried, busy, clueless man who hasn’t bought his wife or sweetheart a Valentine’s gift.
  • The headline speaks directly to the intended target: specifically, “men who still haven’t bought that Valentine’s gift.”
  • The body copy talks about benefits that are important to the men who are most likely to buy jewelry: their concern over budgets, time efficiency, and the fact that they hate shopping,
  • The single call to action (in this case, the phone number) is direct, simple, and repeated three times.

Key 2: Any Station Works, If You Buy Enough Ads

While it certainly doesn’t hurt to be on top-rated stations, it’s not necessary. The top-rated station is usually has the most expensive ad rates.

You don’t have to be on the #1 station — there’s no reason you can’t advertise on any of the stations in the Top 10 (as determined by the Arbitron Ratings company — find them at www.Arbitron.com).

When it comes to negotiating rates, here’s a handy trick: listen to the station and make note of what businesses advertise on that station. Then simply call those businesses and ask how much they’re paying. While many will not share their rates, some will.

It might sound simple, but this is a seldom-used tactic can get you the best deals with very little effort.

Key 3: Make Each Ad Contain Only One Most Wanted Result

Many radio advertisers will try to do too many things in a single commercial: get a mention in for their street address, their phone number, their website, and their “special of the week”, and more.

That’s confusing for the listener.

You must decide in advance: what is the purpose for your ad? What is the Most Wanted Result you need to get from your ad?

You need to choose: you can ask consumers to visit a website, or to call a phone number, or to visit your physical store… but if you try and ask for all those results in a single ad, you’ll likely get none of them.

There can be only one Most Wanted Result for each ad you run.

Key 4: Don’t Let the Radio People Write Your Copy

Here’s a dirty little secret of the radio business: over 95% of the ads are written by the salesperson or by a DJ! In fact, the majority of stations do not employ full-time copywriters.

Do you really want a salesperson or DJ writing your copy?

(The answer is, “NO”.)

Even if the radio station (or ad agency) has a full-time writer, chances are the writer will be more interested in writing “cute” or “award-winning” copy, which almost never equals “sales-making” copy.

Don’t let the radio people write your copy. Write it yourself, or hire a copywriter who is well-versed in writing direct response-style radio copy.

Key 5: Never Work With Children or Comedians

For some reason, many radio advertisers feel compelled to try making their commercials “cute” or “funny”. It almost never works.

Using a cute kid voice almost always means the listener will focus only on how cute the voice is… and they will be distracted from listening to the ad’s intended message.

Using humor in your ads is a bad idea because: it’s hard to be funny. It’s even harder to be funny in a way that creates a benefit picture in the listener’s mind.

Bottom line: when you decide to eliminate the cute and the funny ads, your ad might sound a bit “boring”, but will be much more likely to bring you the customers, leads, and profits you desire.

Key 6: Buy Everything But “Drive Time”

Radio sales people love to sell commercials in what’s called “drive-time” (i.e., the hours each day most people are driving to and from work, usually 6am to 10am, and 3pm to 7pm).

That’s because (a) they’re easy to sell, and (b) drive-time spots are the most expensive spots on the radio station — so the commissions for the salesperson are bigger.

When your budget is tight — or when you are testing a new commercial to see how effective it is (the response it gets) — I suggest a different strategy.

Buy commercials every hour outside of morning and afternoon drive times (morning drive is the single most expensive advertising real estate on almost every radio station; afternoon drive is next).

You can normally get these commercials at a great discount. In fact, ask for the commercials from midnight-6am as a “free bonus” for buying the others.

Quite often you’ll get them free — or at least for dirt cheap rates.

If you have a bit more money, or if you tested your ad and it seems to be working well, try buying one commercial in each drive time (morning and afternoon), at the same time every day (so the same people hear the same ad day in and day out).

If that works, you can expand your buying into other drive time hours.

Key 7: Use This Secret Tactic Ignite Your Ad Response

The most popular time-slot on most radio stations is the morning show, which is usually on the air Monday-Friday, 6am-10am.

These are the hours during which the station almost always has its biggest audience.

Listeners tend to be most loyal to a station’s morning personalities and DJs.

If you can get interviewed on the morning show in a favorable light, it can put the rest of your advertising on steroids. If the audience thinks the morning show likes you and your product, it’s as if you’ve been endorsed by the show. This can be an enormous boost for your sales.

You can often make a morning show interview a condition of your advertising contract. One caution: make sure you are not being “forced” on the morning show’s host(s).

Being interviewed in a sarcastic or unfavorable light can be worse than no interview at all.

Win the host(s) over to your cause, make them like you, and you’ll enjoy the halo effect of a true endorsement by the radio personality.

What to Do Now

You now know more than 93% of business owners about the right way to advertise on the radio. Put the power of what you know into action!

Radio can build your business quickly, increasing sales and profits literally overnight.

Put these 7 Keys to work for in your radio advertising campaigns, and start enjoying increased sales and profits.

About the Author

Ray Edwards is a million-dollar direct response copywriter, speaker, author, and consultant. Before becoming a full-time copywriter, Ray spent 25 years in the radio business. When he's not writing for clients like Jack Canfield, Alex Mandossian, Mark Victor Hansen, and Jeff Walker, Ray teaches others how to write copy that sells. For more, visit the Ray Edwards Copywriting Blog, or his teaching site at Web Copywriting Explained.

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Category: Contributions / Copywriting / Tips
Tags: advertising, audio, basic, copywriter, Copywriting, dj, Marketing, profit, radio, ray edwards, station
This post was written on Monday, July 30th, 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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  • Thanks for the guidelines! It is hard for an Internet Marketer to think about advertising offline,, at least it is hard for me.

    I could relate to your "bad" example. I don't listen very often but those are exactly the type of advertisements I hear. :o)

    Thanks...
  • Nandini Bhattacharjee
    Thank you for the excellent tips on radio copywriting.
    Profit From Radio Advertising With These 7 Keys By Ray Edwards is packed with commonsense. They'll be useful to me next time onwards when I'm on a tight deadline, because that's when such practical solutions don't occur.
    One tends to get so carried away by what's on the creative brief that the message gets 'wordy' and lacks the visual drama required to catch the listener on the track.

    Thanks!
  • Brillient ideas.. I always enjoy reading your articles!

    Will try out some of the suggestions, thanks.
  • Dangerous simplification of writing for radio.

    If I submitted the ad you called good to an expert on radio
    they would choke on their coffee.

    Some seriously poor advise in this article.

    It is absolutely not true that any radio station can work.

    Ray - Michel there's some seriously inaccurate information
    and just plain bad advice in this post.
  • Harlan, I appreciate your taking time to give feedback on the article.

    After spending 25 years in the radio business, writing many ads for clients, and seeing the results, I'll stand by the ad I called good. Is it the best radio ad ever written? Probably not. Is it better and more effective than 95% of the ads that are currently on the radio? Yes.

    It is true that some radio stations are better than others -- some have more listeners than others, and that's a definite advantage. However, the station with the most listeners is often prohibitively expensive to buy. Buying a station with lower ratings but getting more frequency (in other words, being able to buy more ads) is a good strategy for many advertisers.

    And while the subhead in the articles does say "any station", the paragraphs below it clarify that: "there's no reason you can't advertise on any of the stations in the Top 10".

    There are other considerations when buying ads that went beyond the scope of this article. Some of them are common sense. I wouldn't recommend advertising an assisted living facility on a station with a primary audience of 18 year-olds, for instance.

    And while I do claim to have expertise in this area, for those who are specifically interested in writing for radio, and who want more details about how to do it, I recommend looking at the materials offered by Dan O'Day at http://danoday.com .

    Again, Harlan, thanks for your comments. I know you're a busy guy, and I appreciate your taking time to offer a different view.
  • Ray,

    Would you mail an offer for breast implant surgery to
    quadriplegics?

    The basic rule of copy is the list is more important
    than the copy itself.

    And it radio, its the station.

    Who are the listeners?

    What are the demographics?

    Do they have enough money for your product?

    For most products, you don't shop radio by price.

    You shop by demographics.

    Ray, if you know Dan O'Day, send him your
    "good" commercial and ask for his opinion.

    It's very difficult for me to see you using any
    of the techniques Dan mentions in his
    excellent "How To Create Maximum Impact
    Radio Commercials."

    I'll be curious to hear Dan's response.
  • Harlan,

    True -- for most products, you don't shop radio by price. But price is a consideration for almost all buyers. So including tips on getting better prices seemed like it might be helpful. And effective use of budget is a smart consideration for any buyer.

    As for the demographic questions: yes, of course, you raise good points. Demographics are important. Your radio rep and show you how the audience breaks down using software that analyzes the ratings data. You definitely should take that information into consideration.

    This article was intended to help two groups of people:

    1. People who use radio, but use it ineffectively (most of those using radio).

    2. People who don't use radio because they think it's too expensive.

    Before anyone invests their money in any form of advertising or marketing, it's a good idea to become well-informed about that medium and the possible advantages and disadvantages.

    It's probably easy to read my article and point out things I didn't include -- and there are plenty of things I didn't include. That's because, at least in part, the article is already longer than most of the articles on this site.

    Anyone who has more interest in the subject should do further research.

    One place to start is with the free audio interview I did with another radio expert. No optin required -- just download or listen online.

    http://rayedwards.com/writing/turn-your-busines...

    I definitely do recommend Dan's products. While I don't agree with everything Dan says, I do think he is, for my money, the best source for material on this subject. And yes, I know him. You're right -- he could probably tear my ad apart. And it would be better for it.

    That doesn't change the fact that my sample ad is better than the dreck that passes for radio advertising most of the time.

    Thanks again for your insightful comments, Harlan. It's good to know you're always looking out for the best interest of others. I'm sure it's that spirit of helpfulness that has gotten you where you are today.
  • I'd like to see the conversion rates between talk radio, and music radio in the biz op industry.

    Talk radio listeners are conditioned to sit back and listen to someone talk all day, while the music folks just want to hear the latest Green Day song.

    Ray,

    Is talk radio a lot better then say the top 40 stations for response (not price)?

    I would reckon it would be a whole lot more responsive, and cheaper too!

    For instance, I bet I could sell a truck load to them Art Bell or Coast to Coast AM listeners, but I think I'd have a harder time trying to pull in sales off the oldies station.
  • Jason, there's a huge difference between Art Bell and Rush Limbaugh.

    Talk radio is hyper responsive but now there is commercial saturation.

    You can hear weight loss ads back to back to back.

    Even though they say they won't do it.

    So just like advertorial works in newspapers.

    Make your commercial "sound" editorial.
  • Harlan's right... picking your audience is important.

    Talk radio is by far the most responsive audience in general; next on my list would be country listeners.

    That being said, the real magic happens when you marry your offer to your audience. A hot offer that appeals to hip-hop listeners will get much better response on the hip-hop station than it will on the Oldies station.

    As is true on the web, the advertorial approach can work better as long as you have a compelling way to draw listeners into your marketing funnel.

    Another point on which the Doc is correct: radio stations and networks do a very poor job of "category separation". That means your ad may end up running right after a competitor's ad. Most stations will promise you they won't let that happen, but in truth it happens all the time. Monitor your campaigns carefully. It's less of a problem in categories other than weight loss, sexual potency products, and auto dealers (auto dealers are the #1 category of radio advertisers -- does that surprise anyone?).

    The audio I linked to earlier contains a killer, little-known strategy for using the advertorial approach on AM talk stations. There's nothing for sale at the link, nothing for sale in the audio, and this is not part of some product launch or other promotion. Just good information that could be useful to some marketers... listen to it, and you'll see what I mean.
  • Ray,

    Thank you for this article.

    Like Ray, I have been in the radio industry for a long time. And, the truth is, most radio sales seem to be driven by the station's "desire to pull in quick bucks now" than to have radio people that can sit down and get a real feel for the client's business.

    From 1996 to 2004, I successfully sold radio airtime on a station that was not rated in the Arbitron for my market. The station's format was a faith-based Christian format that included segments of music and talk.

    Sometimes, it was much more honest to tell a business owner that they would be better off advertising in a different venue - sometimes a different station, sometimes print - and that's not always easy to do. But it was the honest thing to do. Sometimes that same business used a different campaign that DID work with our station.

    Listeners to a lot of talk radio, country, and some Christian formats, such as Southern Gospel, are extremely loyal. Oldies stations in general are having a hard time getting sales because their audience is aging out of
    the target age for advertisers.

    The station I worked for had a number of biz op ads, but they were pretty much all national network spots, specifically, airing over the USA Radio Network out of Dallas, Texas.

    Radio advertising is an animal all its own...
  • Thanks for the replies Ray, and Harlan.

    I think the way to approach advertising on radio might be best this way...

    Instead of saying, "I have this XYZ product to sell, so let's go find a radio format that it will be targetd to"...

    ...It would be much better to just go after certain formats and then figure out what to sell them.

    For instance, go to the Art Bell crowd and find what kind of crazy Area 51 or alien abduction, or Chupacabra type thing you could sell them.

    Or, go to the Rush Limbaugh crowd and find out how you could leverage an issue like abortion where you know 80% of your audience is going to agree with you. (Not sure what you could sell with anti abortion, nor would I want to, but you get the picture of message to market match). The Limbaugh faithful would jump all over some offer that was trying to save lives of unborn babies. (Ok, I'm getting too deep and wicked here). Just trying to prove a point.

    So instead of starting with a product in mind, it seems smart to start with the radio station and format in mind, and then figure out what to sell them.
  • From a marketer's perspective, you're right, Jason.

    If you were an entrepreneur with an existing product or product line, you'd need to reverse the process and look for a station or show with the right audience.

    If you start with no product or preconceptions, and simply look for a responsive audience and then source a product to sell them... so much the better.
  • Ray, superb article.... you put a lot of work into it, and there's a lot of great tips in it... I really like your examples of good vs bad radio ad copy... lots of parallels with copywriting for video as well in there...

    That's truly a superb, valuable article; exceptionally well written; I'm printing that one out myself (a rarity) for study and use. Thanks for taking the time to write it; it's certainly good enough to be in a trade magazine as a feature piece... superb work on it. Thanks very much. Solid tips.

    -ken cal.houn
  • Hey Ray--from one former radio guy to another, well done. I especially liked the part about sales people writing copy. Ah, the horror stories I could tell you...

    And the part about using kids? I wish I had a dime for every time I've heard some business owner throw his unintelligible 3 year old into his spot thinking, "THIS will result in sales!"

    Ridicule maybe, but not sales. Yeesh.

    Thanks bro--spot on!

    JW
  • Ray,

    Great article. I know you said there were plenty of things you didn't include, but I think one of them worth mentioning (which is obvious to you and me, but may not be to everyone reading) is to track the results of your ad and test different ads to come up with a control.

    If your call to action gives them a free CD or booklet that they have to call to order, obviously you can key the telephone number, or worst case, the department.

    And depending on the business model, in most cases it makes sense to practice sound marketing funnel strategies, where the call to action puts them in your funnel.

    I agree with Harlan that demographics, psychographics, etc. are obviously important, but your advice to NOT let the DJ or radio people write your copy alone will probably probably push them from unprofitable to profitable.

    Cheers,

    John
  • Ken... thanks, I appreciate your comments.

    Jay... yep, the "kid thing" is a common trap advertisers fall into.

    John... thanks for your comments as well. I do, of course, agree that testing and tracking are vital -- thanks for making that observation!
  • Jesse
    As a Radio Copywriter I find it quite alarming that you would make statements without any source or citations. "Here's a dirty little secret of the radio business: over 95% of the ads are written by the salesperson or by a DJ!" And where might I ask did this percentage come from? I know for a fact that almost every radio station (at least in Canada) employs one full time copywriter.

    "Even if the radio station (or ad agency) has a full-time writer, chances are the writer will be more interested in writing "cute" or "award-winning" copy, which almost never equals "sales-making" copy."
    While it may be a lot to digest, my first priority is writing copy that PRODUCES results. To make such a generalized statement is terrible journalism. And why are these ads winning awards? To cite the crystal awards criteria for judging copy, award winning copy is based solely on two key questions:
    1) How clearly does the entry demonstrate the results that the product or service promises the listener?
    2) How successfully does the entry motivate the targeted listener to take up the Call To Action (purchase the product; or call the phone number; or visit the website, etc.)?

    So while I may be writing award winning copy, I would be doing any client a disservice to start producing the boring repetitive humorless copy that this article loves so much. I am not trying to be mean, but I would ask that Ray give stations, and fellow writers, more credit in the future.
  • I'm not trying to be "mean" either.

    I'm all about results.

    In my experience, the " boring repetitive humorless copy" tends to be profitable.

    The "creative award-winning copy" tends to be less so.

    There are a few copywriters who can deliver both entertainment and sales.

    The key word in that last sentence is "few".

    If you are one of those (no doubt you are), then you have my congratulations and my admiration.

    But the fact is I have seen far too many small business owners taken to the cleaners by agencies and other "creatives" who are more intent on producing copy that wins them (the agency or "creative" person) awards than on producing sales for the client.

    And while the award criteria you cite asks "how successfully...the entry" "motivates the targeted listener", this seems to beg the questions: based on whose judgment? Based on what objective criteria?

    If the criteria is actual sales results, then I'd say that's the right criteria. If it's just a matter of the opinion of the judge(s)... then (in my opinion) it misses the mark.

    Bottom line for me: results don't lie. Even if they are produced by "boring repetitive humorless copy".

    And awards don't matter (to the business owner) if the copy doesn't produce sales.

    At least that's the way I see it.

    Wishing you all good things,

    Ray Edwards
  • Ten years and thousands of radio campaigns later, we have learned some valuable radio advertising lessons (some the hard way). Though advertising on the top stations in a market may be cost prohibitive, the saying "you get what you pay for" is also true. You really should learn how to request and understand the numbers (Cost Per Point, Cost Per Thousand, etc.). In a top ten market such as Houston, there are stations that charge $750+ for a morning drive spot. There are also lower tier stations (usually running brokered programming) that might sell a spot for $50. If both of these stations target your ideal customer, it might seem like a no brainer to run with the cheaper stations. But if you break down the numbers you may find that the larger station is a much more efficient media buy when you look at CPM and CPP. It's like buying a car. Do your homework before committing to a radio schedule.

    Great article!

    M. Bruce Abbott
    Creative Director/Partner
    Radio Lounge
    http://www.radioloungeusa.com
  • Being in the direct response radio advertising business for almost 20 years, I can't agree more with your points. Radio is a very powerful medium if you understand its benefits and limitations, and approach your audience with a straightforward, benefit-oriented message.

    Gary Kretchmer
    Target + Response Per Inquiry Radio
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