But there is another way. Whether it can be a better way for you will depend on what you are selling and who your prospective customers are. The alternative advertising medium is RADIO.
Think about this for a moment:
When you run your ad in a magazine, chances are it is somewhat specialized and read by only certain types of people.
Even if a particular magazine boasts a circulation of a million readers, only a very small percentage of them will ever see your ad (unless it is a very large or full page) and even fewer people will respond to it.
Magazine advertising is a consumer-active medium which means that readers are forced to use their time and energy to read your ad in an effort to find out what you have to offer.
Radio, on the other hand, is a PASSIVE medium. Listeners are not required to do anything. They are already listening to their favorite music, news or talk show, and they do not have to exert any effort to receive your message.
Many advertisers have discovered that their particular business or product line can become ear-appealing, and can be successfully promoted and sold via a professionally created radio campaign.
A good radio commercial can often equal or surpass any other type of advertising that you are presently using, or plan to use.
Radio Advertising Considerations-
Radio consists primarily of the general population. You cannot single out a specific group of people from the masses and ask them to listen to your commercial while the rest of the audience turns a deaf ear to what you have to say.
Your ad message on radio will be heard by everyone listening, so your product or offer should have mass appeal to be successful.
The only true advantage that you will have to work with is the fact that radio stations broadcast to specific demographics or distinct age groups.
The Top-40 station will broadcast to reach teens and early twenties; the classic rock station will be appealing to the 30-50 age group; the oldies station will be aiming at the over 50 age group, and so on.
You can target your market by selecting only the station(s) that reach the market you want to sell.
If your offer is for those in their teens and twenties, you will naturally want to get your commercial on the Top-40 stations.
But if you want to reach the older audience, possibly senior citizens, then you'll want to advertise only on stations that play music or broadcast their programming to this audience.
The best offers are those that have a proven success rate. Offers that have been successful on radio include:
- Records/Cassettes/CD's
- How-To-Books
- Insurance
- Diet Plans/Products/Books
- Self-Help Materials
- Vitamins
- Specialized Gift Items
- Employment Offers
- Business Plans
- Videos (Specialized)
This list is not complete, of course, because there are many items, products or "things" that can be successfully sold via a well-produced radio commercial, each depending on the audience.
Successful Radio Advertising-
If you sell something in one of the categories above, you have a good chance of selling it successfully on radio...if you do it correctly.
First of all, if you are used to selling via display ads in magazines and newspapers, you probably close your ad with "send $24.95 (or whatever price) now to receive your ____” and follow that with an order form.
Except on the radio, there's no order form for prospective customers to fill out. With all space ads, you learned to offer plenty of benefits and to make it easy for the customer to order.
The same applies to radio, even more so. The absence of a convenient order form means you have to make it as easy as possible for your customer to respond to the message they've just heard.
The easiest way is to replace your address with a phone number or catchy web address that reflects your offerings.
Take it one step further and give listeners a TOLL FREE NUMBER. Yes, install an 800 number. The next step (if you don't already) is to accept credit card orders.
These two steps are your KEY to using radio successfully.
To make this work profitably, your selling should be a minimum of $29.95 for whatever you are selling... with a maximum of about $150.
Anything above that amount will probably require that you sell on the installment plan.
For example, if what you have to offer is priced at $379.95 then you ask for a small deposit (via check or charge and you will bill them for the balance to be paid in (for example) six easy payments of $60 each.
It probably wouldn't be worthwhile selling via radio if your selling price was only $5 or $10 unless you were using this as a leader offer just to build a customer list, in which case it might be worth testing.
To build a bigger prospect list, however, and a lot faster, you might want to test the inquiry method commercial.
Nothing attracts interest like the magic word "FREE" or when listeners hear “NO COST OR OBLIGATION. JUST CALL 1-800-000-0000 AND LEAVE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. WE'LL SEND YOU COMPLETE INFORMATION BY RETURN MAIL -ABSOLUTELY FREE!”
If you've matched your audience with your offer, a "No Money" approach will produce a truckload of prospects.
When using an 800 number to call, each will cost roughly 25 cents, but it can be worth the cost if you have a good product with a large profit markup.
The costs, the time and trouble of installing a toll-free number and arranging for Merchants Credit Card Status at your local bank can ultimately double, triple or quadruple your orders and, quite possibly mean the difference between success and failure for your radio commercial campaign.
Another alternative to a standard Merchant's Account is a service such as http://www.2checkout.com.
Most radio stations on which you plan to advertise will offer to write your radio script for you. In most cases, DON'T LET THEM.
Especially, not the smaller home town station. These stations are generally understaffed and have neither the talent nor facilities to turn out a good commercial for you.
They mean well, but the sad fact is, they will normally turn the job of writing your commercial over to a secretary to do in her "spare" time, to the sales representative that took your advertising order, or even the D.J. to write between records.
A large station, on the other hand, will probably have a professional radio copywriter on the staff, in which case you might get a good job.
So, before you sign any contract or pay for commercial time, ask if they have a professional radio copywriter. If not, put your commercial contract on hold.
You must remember that your commercial radio script needs another element to get it on the air where it will become effective:
A compelling voice!
To acquire the right voice for your needs, listen to all the stations in your area, especially the commercials. Draft your copy, and consider outsourcing to a local high-school or college student.
Ask for dubs (copies) of the tape at the time it is recorded. You might pay a few extra dollars for this service, but it's worth it. Some stations won't charge extra while others will add $3 to $5 or more for each dub.
When airing your commercial in your own locality, an 800 number won't be necessary, but you will need it when expanding your radio advertising throughout your state and around the country-
Unless your campaign is 100% Web-oriented.
Keep in mind that there are hundreds of radio stations in the U.S., so if your initial test is successful, you'll want to branch out to blanket the country in a short time.
If you explain your plans at the time your commercial is recorded, they might do it twice for you at no additional charge, if they want to create good will; once for local airing using your local number, the other inserting your toll free number.
No, you don't HAVE to offer credit card options, but you will get much more business (some estimate as much as 300% or more) than when asking for payment in advance. If you already own a business and offer the credit option, there's no problem.
But when just beginning a new business- especially if you plan to operate from your home -it can be difficult (if not impossible) to obtain a merchants credit account from your local bank.
For reasons of their own, banks do not normally accept home operated business; they like to know you have a store, shop, or other building in which your business will operate.
If you run into that obstacle, there are alternatives. One is an organization called "Entrepreneurs of America" founded by Ted Nicholas.
Another is for those who sell books, magazines or other printed products: The American Booksellers Association. Members of ABA can have their credit card orders processed through their program.
Http://www.clickbank.com is another viable [and economic] solution.
When using alternative collection services, you will pay a small percentage to have your orders processed, but it should be worth it in the long run if you can increase your business dramatically.
You need a good product that will appeal to a mass audience, and just one good commercial to really make a killing on radio.
Test locally and regionally at first, then spread the word throughout the hundreds of radio stations in the USA.
How You Can Get Free Radio Advertising-
The greatest expense you're going to incur in conducting a successful business is advertising.
You have to advertise. Your business cannot grow and flourish unless you advertise. Advertising is the "life-blood" of any profitable business.
And regardless of where or how you advertise, it's going to cost you in some form or another.
Every successful business is built upon, and continues to thrive, primarily, on good advertising. The top companies in the world allocate millions of dollars annually to their advertising budget.
Of course, when starting from a garage, basement or kitchen table, you can't quite match their advertising efforts...
At least not in the beginning.
But there is a way you can approximate their maneuvers without actually spending their kind of money. And that's through "P.I" Advertising.
"P.I." stands for per inquiry. This kind of advertising is most generally associated with broadcasting, where you pay only for the responses you get to your advertising message.
It's very popular- akin to pay-per-click, and is used by many more advertisers than most people realize.
The advantages of PI Advertising are all in favor of the advertiser because with this kind of an advertising arrangement, you can pay only for the results the advertising produces.
To get in on this "free" advertising, start with a loose leaf notebook, and about 100 sheets of filler paper. Next, either visit your public library and start poring through the Broadcast Yearbook on radio stations in the U.S., or Standard Rate and Data Services Directory on Spot Radio.
Both these publications will give you just about all the information you could ever want about licensed stations.
If, for some reason, your library does not carry these-
Another way might be to call or visit one of your local radio stations, and ask to borrow (and take home with you) their current copy of either of these volumes. To purchase them outright will cost $50 to $75.
Once you have a copy of either of these publications, select the state or states you want to work first. It's generally best to begin in your own state and work outward from there.
However, if you have a money-making manual-
You might want to start first with those states reporting the most unemployment.
Use some old fashioned common sense. Who are the people most likely to be interested in your offer, and where are the largest concentrations of these people?
You wouldn't attempt to sell windshield de-ice canisters in Florida, or suntan lotion in Minnesota during the winter months, would you?
At any rate, once you've got your beginning "target" area decided upon:
- Go through the radio listings for the cities and towns in that area;
- Jot down in your notebook the names of general mangers, the station call letters, and addresses.
- Be sure to list the telephone numbers and Web address, as well.
On the first try, list only one radio station per city. Pick out the station people most interested in your product would be listening to.
This can be determined by the programming description; contained within the date block about the station in the Broadcasting Yearbook or the SRDS Directory [covered above].
One other serious consideration-
Can you tie your campaign into a creative fund-raising event for a worthy charity/Foundation?
This can immediately:
- Propel your credibility;
- Generate highly-motivated Affiliate downline;
- Cultivate a highly-desirable opt-in list;
- And, of course, free radio advertising- as a P.S.A.
It is outside the scope of this post to go into detail on this obscenely lucrative opportunity, though certainly worthy of further exploration.
Making Contact-
The first contact should be in the way of introducing yourself, and inquiring if they would consider a PI Advertising campaign.
If so, here's a good JV scenario:
You tell the station manger that you have a product you feel will sell very well in his market, and would like to test it before going ahead with a paid advertising program.
You must quickly point out that your product sells for, say $5, and that during this test, you would allow him 50% of that for each response his station pulls for you.
Explain that you will handle everything for him: the writing of the commercials, all accounting and bookkeeping, plus any refunds or complaints that come in.
In other words, all he has to do is schedule your commercials on his log, and give them his "best shot."
When the responses come in, he counts them, and forwards them on to you for fulfillment. You make out a check for payment to him, and everybody is happy.
If you've contacted him by phone, and he agrees to look over your material-
Tell him thank you and promise to get a complete "package" in the mail to him immediately. Then do just that.
Remember, your presentation is everything. Make your package and offer as attractive as possible.
Write a short cover letter [one page]; place it on top of your "ready-to-go" PI Advertising Package, and get it in the mail to him without delay.
If you're turned down, and he is not interested in "taking on" any PI Advertising
Tell him thanks, ask for input concerning whether it's your product, presentation, etc...
That you are a Student of Marketing; and you consistently stride to make your offerings and presentation the very best they can be.
You'd be amazed at the priceless information you can glean, just for asking!
Make a notation in your notebook by his name, and go to your next call.
Contacting these people by phone is by far the quickest, least expensive and most productive method of "exploring" for those stations willing to consider your PI proposal.
In some cases though, circumstances will deem it to be less expensive to make this initial contact by e-mail, letter or postcard.
In that case, simply address you card or letter to the person you are trying to contact. Your letter should be:
- Positive in tone;
- Straight-forward;
- Complete.
Present all the details in logical order on one page, perfectly typed on letterhead paper, and sent in a letterhead envelope-
'Rubber-stamped' letterheads [cheap computer print-outs just won't get past a first glance. If you decide to send a print-out; get a laser copy.
Ideally, you should include a self-addressed and stamped postcard with spaces for positive or negative check marks in answer to your questions:
For example “Will you consider a mutually profitable "Per Inquiry" advertising campaign on your station?
Once you have an agreement from your contact at the radio station that they will look over your materials and give serious consideration for a PI program-
Move quickly, getting your cover letter and package off by First Class mail- Special Delivery, if the budget permits [very impressive].
What this means is at the same time you organize your "radio station notebook," you'll also want to organize your advertising package.
Have it all put together and ready to mail just as soon as you have a positive response. Do not allow time for that interest in your program to cool down.
You'll need a follow-up letter.
Write one to fit all situations; have 250 copies printed, and then when you're ready to send out a package, all you'll have to do is fill in the business salutation and sign it.
If you spoke of different arrangements or a specific matter was discussed in your initial contact, however, type a different letter incorporating comments or answers to the points discussed. This personal touch won't take long, and could pay nice dividends!
You'll also need at least two thirty-second commercials and two sixty-second commercials. You could write these up, and have 250 copies printed and organized as a part of your PI Advertising Package.
You should also have some sort of advertising contract/JV Covenant written up, detailing:
- Everything about your program.
- How everything is to be handled.
- How and when payment to the radio station is to be made.
- Special arrangements relative to refunds, complaints, and liabilities.
Finally, you should include a self-addressed and stamped postcard [with your e-mail and #] the radio station can use to let you know-
That they are going to use your PI Advertising program, when they will start running your commercials on the air, during which time periods, etc...
In Review-
Your first step is the initial contact after searching through the SRDS or Broadcasting Yearbook.
Actual contact with the stations is by phone or mail [avoid e-mail, at this stage]. When turned down, simply:
- Exude your sincere gratitude for serious consideration;
- Glean what improvements you can, and...
- Go to the next station on the list.
- Since you did- indeed- go through all that effort-
- You might as well cordially encourage the person who got your package JV offer to pass it on to anyone else they know in the industry, whom might be interested...you just never know!
For those who want to know more about your proposal-
Immediately get a PI Advertising Package off to them via the fastest way possible [e-mail, at this stage is acceptable, if applicable].
Do NOT let the interest wane!!!
Your Advertising Package-
Your Advertising Package should contain the following:
1. Cover letter
2. Sample brochure, product literature
3. Thirty-second and sixty-second commercials
4. PI Advertising/JV Contract
5. Self-addressed, stamped postcard for station acknowledgment and acceptance of your program.
Before you ask why you need an acknowledgment postcard when you have already given them a contact, remember that everything about business changes from day to day.
Conditions change, people get busy, and other things come up.
The station manager may sign a contract with your advertising to begin the 1st of March.
The contract is signed on the 1st of January, but when March 1 rolls around, he may have forgotten, been replaced, or even decided against running your program.
A lot of paper seemingly "covering all the minute details" can be very impressive to many radio station managers, and convince them that your company is a good one to do business with.
And a post card makes for a good reminder.
In Closing-
Let's say that right now you're impatient to get started with your own PI Advertising campaign. Before you "jump off the deep end," remember this:
Radio station people are just as professional and dedicated as anyone else in business- even more so in some instances-
So be sure you have a product or service that lends itself well to selling via radio inquiry system.
Anything can be sold, and sold easily with any method you decide upon, providing you present it from the right angle.
At the bottom line, a lot is riding on the content of your commercial; the benefits you suggest to the listener, and how easy it is for him to enjoy those benefits.
For instance, if you have a new book on how to find jobs when there aren't any jobs. You want to talk to people who are desperately searching for employment.
You have to appeal to them in words that not only "perk up" their ears, but cause them to feel that whatever it is that you're offering will solve their problems.
It's the product- and in writing of the advertising message about that product- that are going to bring in those responses.
Radio station managers are sales people, and sales people the world over will be sold on your idea if you put your selling package together properly.
And if the responses come in your first offer, you have set yourself up for an entire series of successes. Success has a "ripple effect," but you have to start on that first one.