Five Keys to Radio Advertising Success

By Apryl Duncan, About.com


Radio is an affordable ad medium that can reach a mass audience. These five keys help increase your chances of having a successful radio ad campaign.


Frequency of Ads
A radio commercial needs to air multiple times before it sinks in with the listener. Running your commercial once a week for a month isn't going to be enough.


Frequency refers to how many times your ad airs in a short amount of time. A commercial that airs multiple times in a day has a better chance of reaching the listener than a commercial that only airs a few times in a week.


Target Audience
Just like with every ad you create, you must know your target audience. Advertising your western gear store on a country station makes sense. Advertising a teen clothing store on the same station doesn't.


Make a list of the radio stations in your market. Listen to each one to help identify your own target audience. What kind of listeners will be tuning in and are they a potential customer for your product or service?


Radio stations also offer programs you'll want to know more about before you buy. You won't want to advertise your Christian book store during a program that uses a raunchy sense of humor.


Producing Your Commercial
Unlike television commercials, production is more simple for a radio commercial. You need a script and voice talent.


However, that doesn't mean you should just slap something together. Your copy isn't relying on any visuals so it's vital you capture the listener's attention from the start. The copy needs to be crystal clear and not muddied by trying to be cutesy in your pitch.


Voice talent can be as simple to find as calling the radio station. Most stations have a complete list of voice talent in your area. You send the script, they voice it.


Remember, frequency is the key so make sure your ad hits the mark and will get the consumer's attention the first time. Research shows it takes a few times before the consumer actually gets what your company is all about. It's vital your ad stands out and conveys your message repeatedly.


Rates
Take advantage of the low ad rates for radio. Ad rates are on the rise but the costs are still more affordable than visual mediums like television.


Use your negotiating skills to get a good deal on an ad bundle. The more ads you buy, the better rates you'll be able to get.


Timing Your Spending
Ad rates are generally less expensive in the first and third quarters. Radio commercials in these time frames are easier to negotiate and cheaper for you to advertise.


Before you take the plunge into radio advertising, find out if you're Ready for Radio. And if you're ready to hit the airwaves, this radio commercial script can show you how to deliver strong copy that will reach your listeners every time.

Radio Commercials: Don't Just Play Less....Make Them Better

From Corey Deitz,Your Guide to Radio.

Opinion
Earlier this week, J.P. Morgan released the results of a survey which found commercial-free music is the one thing above all else which is creating a paying listener base for Satellite Radio.

DUH.

Stephen Wang, an analyst for J.P. Morgan said, "What it comes down to is, the absence of commercials on satellite radio still reigns as the No. 1 driver of demand. Unique content, on the other hand, appears to be the least important factor, which implies that the loss of Howard Stern and other programming should not have too negative an impact."

Wang also went on to say that Satellite Radio will continue to erode the listenership monopolized for so long by traditional, terrestrial radio.

Yes, listeners really hate commercials. So much in fact, Clear Channel Radio, owner of some 1200 radio stations, recently introduced a chain-wide revision of its commercial policy called “Less is More”.

The idea is to play less commercials. Well, that’s a good start. But, less can also be made better throughout the industry.

Let me digress for a moment to make a point. I’m sure you’ve noticed that when it comes to the Super Bowl, people actually look forward to the commercials. They sit there and watch them! The next day they talk about the ones they liked the most!

So, is it that people hate commercials so much or - is it just that they hate commercials which offer them nothing?

Ask an average listener what they think of typical radio commercials and they will probably tell you they are either:

1. Annoying

2. Boring and/or repetitive

3. Have no entertainment value or

4. They insult the listener’s intelligence.

Imagine if Radio could consistently produce commercials which countered those negative traits? Why, people would actually listen through “stop sets” (the portion of radio programming where the music stops and the commercials begin).

Wouldn’t it be something if, as a listener, you didn’t feel compelled to punch over to another radio station the minute a commercial began? I can tell you Program Directors across the country would be thrilled.

I believe it is not only possible, but essential that traditional Radio begins to once again, apply the rule of entertainment to all aspects of its programming.

Let me digress again to make another point. When a radio personality applies for a job, he/she sends an “aircheck”, which is an audio demo of how he sounds on-the-air doing a real show. A long time ago I was told that if your aircheck didn’t impress the Program Director in the first 10 or 15 seconds, you were tossed into the waste bin. I think it’s true because being a Program Director twice, that’s about all I ever gave someone’s aircheck.

If our standards as Radio people are so stringent for entertainment value, why should we expect our listeners to have a lower standard? In other words: every commercial should be entertaining enough to quickly grab the listener’s attention and imagination.

So then, how does Radio do this? It starts with a commitment to flush out, once-and-for-all, some of the awful techniques and habits that have seeped into the state of our current commercial production:

1.Don’t encourage clients to voice their own commercials - especially if they are just plain horrible - just for the sake of the sale. If an account executive is talented enough to sell commercial time, he should be talented enough to talk a client out of doing his own spot.

2. Commercials should never consist of just a voice reading copy over a music bed. I’m sorry, but that’s just not compelling enough.

3. Radio stations should consider hiring copywriters again – talented people who can create engaging 30 or 60 second theater of the mind commercials. Today, most commercials are written by sales people. Bless their hearts: they made the sale – don’t make them write the copy, too.

4. Radio stations should seek out Production Directors (the people in charge of overseeing the making of the commercials) who are not comfortable settling for mediocrity.

5. Production Directors should always insure the right commercial version is running in the right format. Some products, like Coke and Pepsi, for instance, create commercials designed for specific formats: Rock, R&B, Alternative, etc. I’ve heard R&B versions run on Alternative stations and vice versa. That’s lazy and a disservice to the listeners. Someone listening to a Classic Rock station is not much interested in hearing a hip-hop version of a Pepsi commercial.

6. Radio stations should never accept sub-standard production from advertising agencies. It is unbelievable what some smaller agencies pass off as radio-quality production. And worse: some radio stations don’t even question it.
In short: every moment of airtime at a radio station should be treated as if its entertainment potential could mean the difference between a listener staying or leaving….because it does.

If traditional radio stations adopted a “Super Bowl mentality” when it came to those 12 or so minutes of commercial time each hour, then maybe the promise of commercial-free music on Satellite Radio wouldn’t be as alluring to listeners.

10 Essentials to an Effective TV Commercial

By Apryl Duncan, About.com

Put People in Your Commercial

People relate to other people. Putting people into your commercial can help draw your target audience in as opposed to a 30 second shot of your building's interior, exterior and the parking lot. You don't want your commercial to look hokey so you do want to be careful about having people waving at the camera or standing there smiling. Have them doing something that relates to your business so your commercial doesn't look like a photo that's come to life.

Plan Out Your Video

Using a furniture store as an example, you may have ten different kinds of recliners, eight living room sets and six bedroom suits you want to feature. You're going to have to narrow those shots down because you simply can't get them all into a :30, :45 or even a one minute commercial without flashing so many different pieces of video on the screen that your potential customers will feel like they're in a lightning storm. Wide shots of your showroom are good to get a bunch of your furniture displayed at once and you can select a few items you want to be featured alone. It's crucial you not cram a bunch of video into the small amount of time you have for your commercial. Your video should tell the story about what you're advertising even if a customer has their volume turned down.

Writing the Script

Make sure your commercial's script times out to 30 seconds (or however long you have bought air time for). Use short sentences that grab your potential customer's attention. You've got a very limited time frame to capture your audience and you need to get your message across quickly. Don't get wrapped up in long sentences. Keep them short and punchy. Your audio should also tell the customer what you're advertising even if the customer is in another room and can't see the TV when your commercial airs.

Audio and Video Must Match

When writing your commercial, you must make sure your audio and video match. When you're talking about new car models arriving, you don't want to see video of the current year's make. When you're talking about your big showroom of furniture, you don't want to see the building from the street. You must merge your audio and video to create a powerful sales tool.

Never Forget Your Call to Action

Your call to action gets customers to buy or act now. Don't get to the end of your commercial and leave off your call to action. You want to tell customers to visit today and give your complete contact information, including Web site address, phone number and street address (giving a quick line about how to find you if possible). For example, "That's Simple Designs, located next to the old train depot downtown."

Stick to Time

You've bought a :30 commercial package. As tempting as it might be to squeak in an extra few seconds, you just can't do it. Your commercial must time out to the exact time you've paid for. Going over will only get your all-to-important call to action clipped because those last few seconds will be cut off when your commercial airs.

Hiring a Production Company

Of course, you want your commercial to be professional. You can hire a production company or many television stations have their own production companies in-house. They can handle all aspects of your commercial, including writing, shooting and editing your commercial. Shop around for prices. Some production companies are able to offer you a commercial package for as low as $100 that will include still pictures shot with a high quality video camera.

Scheduling Your Commercial

Placement of your commercial is very important. It determines who will see your commercial and how much you will pay for its air time. Having your commercial air at 3 a.m. will save you money but if you don't reach your audience it's not money well spent. The same holds true for the station you're airing your ad on as well. If you're advertising your maternity clothing store, you don't want schedule air time on ESPN with your local cable company.

Frequency

Television is less demanding on frequency than radio but it still deserves more than a one-shot deal. If you were advertising during the Super Bowl, that would be a completely different story. But on the local level, you need to identify the key times your ad should run and buy enough air time for your commercial to reach your audience at least twice. More times would be ideal.

Consistency

Use the same announcer, jingle, fonts, colors, etc. to keep your commercial consistent. This helps people start to get to know your company by all of these factors. The more you recognize the lady pitching the hair salon down the street, the more you know exactly what that company's name and address is before she even speaks in the commercial.

Pitching Your Own Ad Campaign Idea

By Apryl Duncan, About.com

You've come up with the King of Ideas. This one's never been done before and you're the only one that can see it through. Talk to the agency. Pitch to the company that produces the prodcut. Just what is it that you do?

Your best chance of making this happen is actually bypassing an agency. An agency is going to be deadset on creating their own ad campaigns and are usually pretty closed-minded to any ideas coming from outside of the agency.

With that said, though, many companies who have ad agencies on retainer are also going to be closed-minded about hearing ideas because they're relying on the agency. Their line of thinking is that they've paid thousands of dollars to the agency so they should be the ones developing the ideas.

It's tough to break into ad campaigns for bigger companies. It can be done.

The agency process and getting your ideas out there is a complicated business. But I Have a Great Idea breaks down the process.

The good news is that in the last couple of years some companies have become more receptive to consumer-generated advertising. There are even companies that have held contests for consumers to create and submit their ads.

For example, MasterCard wants people to submit their own commercials for the Priceless campaign. The best will be shown nationally.

Chevy used The Apprentice to launch a contest where people could go online and put together their own commercial for the Tahoe. Kodak has given consumers the chance to upload their own photos to create a commercial.

Granted, some of these are just for fun. Even if you won a contest, you wouldn't be packing for Madison Avenue.

One of the biggest success stories is François Vogel's. He created a homemade HP commercial holding white picture frames up to his face using the song "Picture Book" by The Kinks.

He pitched his commercial to ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. They liked his homemade spec version so much, they signed him on as director and star in the "You + HP" ad campaign. Vogel became so recognizable to consumers that he even reappeared in the campaign with a similar commercial set to "Out of the Picture" by The Robins.

There's also another side to the story. With more people editing video on their computers, many people are creating their own commercials from the comfort of their home.

Most are created for fun, some are even spoofs of other commercials. But a lot of these are getting big amounts of publicity as they're picked up by advertising blogs and spread across the net.

California school teacher George Masters experienced that firsthand. He created a 60-second animated iPod commercial featuring the song "Tiny Machine" by the Darling Buds. He posted his ad on his Web site without any buzz and before he knew it, the commercial had spread across the Internet and had been watched about 50,000 times.

Quality and creativity made his commercial stand out and marketers noticed. They even commented on how professional this school teacher's homemade ad is.

Masters didn't quit his day job and head off to pursue a career in advertising, though. That may not even be your plan as many people simply want to submit one idea they've come up with and not become a part of the advertising industry after that.

To pursue your own idea and getting it out there, do your research. It would even help to create a concept ad for the company you plan on pitching to.

Show them you're serious and can deliver. It doesn't have to be anything fancy at this point. Vogel's HP ad featured test shots submitted to the ad agency to demonstrate his concept. This is just a preliminary introduction of your idea and what you can do for them.

Every company has a marketing department even if they have an outside ad agency. So contacting the company president isn't going to help but contacting the marketing department instead can be the best approach.

These are the guys and gals that can help get the ball rolling for you. Keep in mind, though, you may get a chilly reception because many people simply aren't going to be receptive to what they consider an outsider pitching an idea.
Just be ready to have the door slammed in your face many times and prepare to be persistent. You may get lucky.

Good luck and remember, it's not easy to get your concept put on TV, it's even rare. But as Vogel proved, it can be done.

But I Have a Great Idea

"I have a great idea for an advertising campaign. Who do I send it to?"

It's one of the most common questions people have when it comes to advertising. However, it's not a simple one to answer.

Advertising is a machine built of many parts. Penetrating the field on a career path isn't impossible but submitting a one-shot idea practically is.

If you have little or no experience with advertising and want to pass along your great idea, chances are, you're not going to get very far. Big name companies use the services of advertising agencies or even have their own in-house service.
Deutsch, a successful ad agency, handles Burger King's advertising as of this writing. The agency handles most, if not all, of the fast food chain's advertising, depending on the contract. What this means is Deutsch is responsible for concepting, writing, producing - all aspects of the company's advertising.

Still holding on to your great idea? The agency's makeup includes account executives, copywriters, graphic designers, production crews, creative directors and more. As their name indicates, creative directors are primarily in charge of the creative process. They oversee the copywriters, graphic designers, production crews, etc., which all vary based on the individual project.

Gateway previously pulled their advertising bucks to form an in-house agency. The in-house advertising process basically works the same way. The company just didn't outsource the work to other agencies.

So who cares about the agency's formation? You still have an idea to send out.

Advertising professionals spend a lot of time carefully calculating each ad strategy before it hits the market. Plenty of ideas never come to fruition for any number of reasons.

The brainstorming sessions involved in an ad campaign are a very lengthy process. Ultimately, a majority of agencies develop several ideas before pitching them to the client.

Think of the years of experience that fill a conference room when the agency's creative team sit down. There's a target market to consider, cost and other factors to weigh when developing a new idea.

That's not to say you don't have a great idea. But there's a lot more to the overall process than submitting a spark to the complete bonfire.

It's the same as saying you have a great idea for a new type of car. While advertising may seem simple - from idea to finished product in a snap - the route an ad campaign actually takes is quite complicated.

Six Myths About a Career in Advertising

By Apryl Duncan, About.com

Myth: Advertising is an unethical and dishonorable profession. Working in advertising is, in fact, a very respected profession. Unfortunately, there are those that think because you are trying to sell something through advertising that you're trying to trick or deceive the public.

Advertising actually follows very specific rules that ensure all advertising messages are on the up and up. The last thing an advertising agency wants to do is to harm their client's reputation by producing materials that could be misconstrued as deceptive advertising.

Myth: Everyone in advertising makes a fortune. Yes, it's true, you can make a lot of money working in advertising but not everyone is making six figures. A majority of people working in the field started at the bottom rung of the ladder, interning for free, possibly even making minimum wage just to get their start in the industry.

Just as with any profession, in advertising you pay your dues and you work your way up. What you make of your advertising career is completely up to you.

Myth: It's really hard to get started in advertising. There are plenty of opportunities for those who want to get started in the field. This doesn't mean you're going to get that corner office with a view, the prestigious income and creative control of advertising campaigns with your first job.

There's a lot of legwork you're going to have to do. But if you're serious about your career in the industry, you can break in.

Myth: Working in advertising is just like working in public relations. These two industries are commonly tagged as being the same profession. While advertising and public relations can go hand-in-hand, their focus is far different. You can use your advertising skills to get a job in PR and vice versa but just because you work in one industry does not mean you automatically know everything there is to the other.

Myth: You'll finally be able to put all those great ideas to good use. There's a certain process to every advertising campaign. Some clients give the advertising agency a basic concept and they let the agency run with it. Some leave everything to the agency's expertise and let them handle every aspect. Other clients want to be more involved in the agency process.

In most agencies, you'll have meeting after meeting after meeting about any given ad campaign no matter what department you're in. You can exercise some of your ideas to an extent but they may not make it to the client.

As part of the agency team, there are many levels of red tape your ideas and even your materials will have to go through before the project will be complete. The great copy you wrote on Tuesday may end up back on your desk with a bunch of changes by Wednesday. You resubmit it Thursday and by Friday you've got even more changes.

Most agencies welcome your creative ideas but don't get your feelings hurt if those ideas are dashed. It's not personal, it's just business. The idea you may throw around in a creative meeting may be the complete opposite of what a client has told their Account Executive they want or what was decided in a previous meeting with other execs within your agency.

Myth: It's a glamorous, fun-filled career. Every day is a day at the beach. Don't you love those movies and television shows where the characters work in advertising and they seem to be having so much fun? Bosom Buddies, Thirty-Something, Friends, Nothing in Common, Bounce - these are just some of the examples of shows or movies whose characters have a career in advertising. And that's just what they are: characters in a fictional story.

Oh yes, it's great fun to create an ad campaign and it's rewarding to be a part of the team. However, there are days you will work extremely long hours, even weekends, and there are days your project may do a 180 and everything you previously worked on is now trashed. Sometimes the best days in advertising are the days when that difficult project finally leaves your hands for the last time.

Advertising Agency Copywriter Career Profile

By Apryl Duncan, About.com

Job Description:
Ad agency copywriters work in an agency that handles multiple clients or a company's in-house agency, meaning the client is the company and they do not handle advertising for other companies. An agency copywriter works on the creative team and usually reports to the Creative Director. A copywriter's main focus is on writing for ad mediums like print ads, brochures, Web sites, commercials and other advertising materials.

Salary Range:
$32,927 - $52,166 for a Level I copywriter, with some Level III copywriters reporting a salary of $78,014.

Special Skills:
Ability to write catchy, persuasive copy that sells every client's products or services
Brainstorm copy ideas and possible angles for a client's ad materials
Work long hours and meet deadlines are both a must
Must be able to work in a fast-paced, high pressure environment
Strong command of the English language with an eye to catch spelling and grammar errors
Contribute original ideas for ad campaigns
A thick skin because your copy will be revised many times
Ability to work with graphic designers, account executives and possibly even the client to move the projects from concept to completion

Education and Training:
Many copywriters have a bachelor's degree in English, journalism, communications, advertising, marketing or public relations. Some have specifically attended an advertising school. Others have started on the ground level with little or no college education and have worked their way up. They may have even taken a copywriting course to learn the fundamentals of writing copy.

Generally, the higher up the career ladder you want to go as a copywriter, the more work experience and/or college education is required. The requirements vary based on the agency's size and the city as well.

Typical Day:
• Write copy for ad materials like print ads, brochures, Web sites, commercials and other advertising mediums
• Edit projects that have come back to your desk for revisions
• Proofread your ad copy before it's sent for approval
• Meet with the Creative Director or the entire creative team to give a status update on each of the projects you're working on
• Contribute ideas for new business and current clients' ad strategies
• Help prepare pitch concepts for clients
• Work with the creative team to cast for projects ready for production
• Go on location where commercials are being produced

Common Misconceptions:
While some agencies do want their copywriters involved with the clients, campaign pitches and strategy sessions, a lot of copywriters find their job description doesn't include some or all of these involvements with the client's campaign.

Other copywriters spend a lot of time involved in these activities. They don't sit down at their desk at 8 a.m. and write copy all day until it's time to go home.

Know what type of environment you prefer before going in for the interview. But be flexible. As a new copywriter, every bit of experience is helpful no matter how the agency views the role of its copywriters.

Getting Started:
Copywriters can begin with little or no college education by interning or landing an entry level position. A ground level job generally begins at a very low pay scale. Without much education or experience, your best approach is to find a smaller agency to get your feet wet.

College graduates may also find they have to start with a ground level job. Interning while in college gives you a great opportunity to gain valuable experience and make contacts you can use once you graduate.

Some agency copywriters started out as freelance copywriters. They built their portfolio and made key contacts while freelancing.

Seven Ways to Start Your Freelance Copywriting Career Off Right

By Apryl Duncan, About.com

You can have a successful and profitable career as a freelance copywriter but you have you have to get started on the right track first.

1. Start with the BasicsReady to hang your shingle and call yourself a freelancer? You'll need a few basics to get your business off the ground.

Business cards, letterhead, supplies and even your own ad campaign can be basics you might not think about at first. They're essential to getting prepared for your new career path, though.

2. Make a Plan of ActionIt's not just the big businesses that need a plan of action. As a freelancer, you are the business and you need a plan too. Not only does this give you information you need to identify your goals, it also gives you key information you can use to market yourself to potential clients.

3. Set Your RatesDeciding what you're going to charge is one of the most difficult decisions you'll have to make as a freelance copywriter. It's crucial that you set your rates right from the start.

Your first decision is whether to charge by the hour, by the project or to include both rate types. This poll gives you an idea how other freelancers charge their clients.

Your rates will also effect how you work with clients and get paid. Spend a lot of time developing your rates and evaluate what you can live with as a fee beforehand because clients don't want to work with freelancers who are constantly changing their rates and rate types.

4. Create Writing SamplesYou can't show off your writing talent if you have no samples. If you don't have any writing samples to your credit, there is an easy solution.

give you the chance to create writing samples even if you don't have any copywriting projects under your belt. Spec Ads aren't just for copywriters with limited or no experience. They are an excellent way for you to show potential clients how you would write for their particular industry.

5. Prepare Your PortfolioGet your portfolio ready now before the clients start calling. The last thing you want to have to deal with at the last minute is preparing your portfolio the night before a client meeting.

Having your portfolio ready to go at any time also gives you the opportunity to based on what the client is looking for in a freelancer. This lets you switch out your projects based on the client's needs, showing your ability to work with any type of client no matter what the product/service.

6. Develop a Freelance ContractWhen that first client calls, you want to have your contract ready to be faxed or presented in person. As excited as you may be to get that first client, you don't want to start working on any project until you have a signed contract in your hand. Creating a freelance contract is key to any freelancers success. It's your first line of defense if you ever find yourself with a client who doesn't want to pay.

7. Find ClientsRemember all those basics you got together in step one? Now it's time to put them to good use.

Whether you're approaching agencies for freelance work, trying to get small businesses to use your services or both, you can take several different approaches to find your clients. Take those business cards and your portfolio to small business conventions to cities all around you. Send out your materials advertising yourself to advertising agencies, especially smaller agencies that need freelancers because the cost of a permanent, full-time copywriter is too much for the agency to bear.

Just be persistent in your search for clients and soon your freelance copywriting career will be so successful, you'll actually be turning new business away!

A REALTOR® Most Foul - But is it a Real Estate Ethics Violation?

From Larry Lowenthal

What this Expert Real Estate Witness Says About Fouling the Townhome

The homeowner's problem:
I got to know a Realtor (broker and certified appraiser) when he helped my daughter purchase her townhome, and he did a fine job.

Several months later he called asking if I knew of a place he could rent a room, because of serious marital problem. Obviously, he knew that I had extra bedrooms in my condo.

He wasn’t here for long, though. He lived here for 10 days and paid $20 a day rent for those days, but then he stopped paying me. So I asked him to vacate.

After removing his possessions and returning my key, he asked to use the bathroom before leaving. He then stuffed the toilet with a roll of paper, defecated, flushed, and left immediately. The resulting overflow quietly fouled the wall to wall carpet in that bedroom.

Obviously I quickly discovered the awful mess and cleaned it up with the help of a company that helps with water-damaged carpet.

Fouling Response:
You experienced bad luck with a poor boarder.

However, his conduct is not the type that is addressed by the Realtors’ Code of Ethics. The Code does not cover a Realtor’s conduct when it does not involve the real estate business or real estate transactions.

If I were in your shoes, which I hope have dried out by now, I would seriously consider filing both a police report (vandalism) and a small claim for damages. Imagine him explaining his behavior in open court!

The Author: Larry Lowenthal is a Florida REALTOR® with extensive experience in ethics hearings and resolutions. He provides expert witness testimony in cases involving real estate ethics questions. More about Larry Lowenthal.