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* Good support medium -- radio works really well when paired with other marketing mediums (like print, direct mail or television).
But for every positive, there's a negative. In
spirit of being objective, here are a few for radio:
* Background medium -- radio tends to be on in background, which means it tends to be ignored. Generally, your target market needs to be exposed to your ad more times than other marketing media before they'll act upon your message.
* Little staying power -- lack of visuals again keeps radio from "sticking" with people. At least, that's what some of marketing gurus say. But, here again my marketing consultant friend differs. She thinks it's that subconscious thing again.
And if you can write a spot that creates pictures in your customers' heads, you can actually work this to your advantage. In fact, according to my friend, if picture is defined enough, not only will people remember it better, but they'll also think it was a print ad instead of a radio ad. (More on art of creating pictures using words in later issues.)
* Hard to track – it's impossible to know exactly how many people are tuning in at any given time.
A final note: Because radio is subconscious, keep that in mind when crafting your ad. Repeat your business name a lot and any other branding info, so it gets into your customers' heads. Don't put in phone numbers. Instead, purchase a memorable Web site domain name and repeat that. And remember to create "pictures" whenever possible.
Creativity Exercise -- How can you use radio in your business?
Would radio work for your business? Let's find out.
Take out a sheet of paper and a fun pen. (I'm partial to gel pens.) Draw a line down center.
On one side, put header: Why advertising on radio is a good idea for my business. On other side, put header: Why advertising is a bad idea for my business.
Now pick a side and start writing down reasons.
You might be more comfortable starting with side that's easiest for you. Then when you work on other side, you can simply turn reasons around.
For instance, let's say you started with bad idea. One of your reasons was: My product is completely visual. You could turn it around by saying "Because my product is so visual, I'll have to work harder to create pictures in my customers' minds. And because customers create their own pictures, they're more likely to remember them."
Or what if you started with a good idea, and one of reasons was: "Because my business is local." You could turn it around and say "Because radio is holding me back -- I'm only reaching this local market." (Ah, now I'm even going against what I said earlier. Maybe with this statement you could look for ways to get your customers to spread word outside area about your business.)
As you saw by my last example, you'll be amazed at what comes out when you do this exercise. Even if you don't change your views on radio advertising, you may come up with new and powerful insights to your business.
Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at www.writingusa.com. Copyright 2004 Michele Pariza Wacek.
