How to Create Your First DFW Radio Ad

So your boss has asked you to write your company’s first radio ad. Congratulations! Here are some tips from advertising and marketing experts to help you create a more effective spot.

1. Understand Your Intended Audience

Know and understand the characteristics of the demographic segment you’re trying to reach. Although this is the least glamorous part of creating any commercial, thorough research will tell you the right basic tone and framework of your ad before you ever put your fingers on the keyboard to start that award-winning script.

In addition to age range, gender, education level, and income range, consider the target audience’s current buying status. A direct and simple pitch is often the best way to reach people who are already interested in the product or service and are just looking for the best price or other incentive. On the other hand, tomorrow’s potential customer may not even know he or she has a need for your product. Your commercial needs to educate them and then convince them to take the next step toward becoming customers (see “The Call to Action” below) and do so in the 150 or so words of the typical 30-second ad.

Choose The Right Station

This is a seemingly obvious decision that still deserves research and planning. An ad for a car dealership that specializes in SUVs will probably generate a better response among listeners of sports talk or classic rock than jazz or classical fans. To some extent, of course, the choice will be driven by the client’s budget, but the large variety of DFW radio station sizes and formats means that most advertisers can find one that will provide the “most bang for the buck”.

The Statements of Need and Benefit

Be sure that your script clearly and succinctly conveys what the product or service has to offer. Use a simple sentence or two and get right to the point. Don’t waste any of those precious 150 words asking rhetorical questions (“Looking for a way to cut your monthly cell phone bill?”). Instead, make a declarative statement: “Reduce your monthly cell phone bill with one of the many family plans now available from XYZ Cellular.” With just a few additional words, you’ve not only identified the listener’s need and conveyed the product’s benefit; you’ve also mentioned the seller’s name.

Sound Effects and Humor

While focus studies consistently demonstrate that ads with jokes or character voices are more memorable, they need to be appropriate for the product or service (no funny funeral home ads, please!) and the target audience. Remember also that the goal is to keep the focus on the product or service, not just entertain the listener.

The Call To Action

The inclusion of a call to action (CTA) – that is, asking the potential customer to take some next step (call, write, visit, e mail) – is an essential part of most ads, including radio commercials. Because so many consumers start their research online, it’s fine to include both a website address and a telephone number. However, don’t forget that most folks are listening to the radio while driving or otherwise multitasking. While giving the reader of a print as several additional options, this eats up too much of your thirty seconds and is too much information for the typical radio listener to retain. Give them something short and simple to remember

And, as with the name of the product or service and the seller, the CTA should be repeated at least three times during the spot.

Need help writing a script or getting your spot produced? We can help with that.  Just contact us and let us know what you need.

 

Guerilla Marketing Tactics for Dallas Businesses

Not every company has the budget needed for a large-scale marketing campaign, whether it’s inbound or outbound. This is especially true for smaller Dallas businesses. If you own a smaller company, don’t worry – there are still plenty of ways to effectively market your brand. In fact, you could be using guerilla marketing tactics in order to advertise your business. Guerilla marketing tactics are unique and effective ways to advertise without needing much of a budget. Both smaller companies and larger companies have made use of guerilla marketing tactics in order to increase the awareness of their brand.

The following are a few common guerilla marketing tactics that companies often employ that you can use to advertise your Dallas business:

• Give out free merchandise – One of the easiest ways to market your brand name is by giving out free stuff. For example, if you are sponsoring an event in town, then give out free T-shirts that have the name of your business printed on them. If anyone that takes one wears it any time in the future, you’re automatically getting free advertising! It’s smart to make the thing that you’re giving away relatable to your brand. For example, if you sell paper, stationary or greeting cards, give out free pens with your company’s name on them.
• Create referral networks – Team up with other local businesses in the area and create a referral network. For example, if you run a small bakery and the business across the street is a small coffee shop, then you can help each other out with a referral system. This would work by telling your customers to mention your business’s referral across the street at the coffee shop in order to receive a discount, and vice versa.
• Hang posters – Putting up posters throughout town (as long as you have permission of course) is an easy way to bring awareness to your business. However, the effectiveness of your poster depends on how creative and unique it is. A poster that has a few simple graphics, your company name and some information about products and services isn’t going to draw much attention. Just think about some of the guerilla marketing poster campaigns that movies have used over the last few years. The popular film “Blair Witch Project” put up missing person posters for their lead actors to give the film an air of authenticity and to build up interest in the film’s release. The film “District 9” used segregation posters forbidding aliens in certain areas, which mirrored the films alien apartheid premise. Creativity will help you draw attention to your brand.
• Create a fake rivalry – Find another business in town and create a fake rivalry. Obviously, you’ll want to keep it civil, but people love a good competition and it will help to draw attention to both your businesses. It’s a tactic that has been used for decades – in fact, Houdini even did it with his brother, Hardeen!
• Give something away – If you have a product that is affordable enough that you can give it away without losing too much money, such as baked goods, then go to a populated area and do just that. If your product is good, then those who tried it will come back and pay for more.
• Wrap your car – Put your company name and logo on your car, truck or even bike. You’ll be advertising your business wherever you go!

These are just a few guerilla marketing tactics that you can use for your Dallas business. Check out some of our other awesome ideas on our other blog posts.

If you want to get more information on how to activate a guerilla marketing campaign, let’s talk.