Advertising

Advertising Script Writing Tips:

• Your business name should be repeated
at least three times.

• When incorporating your business
address into your ad, leave out street
numbers. Landmarks are much better.

Example: “…just past the hospital on
highway 41”

• Listeners seldom remember phone
numbers unless it is something memorable
like 1-800-Buy-Cars. Don't waste valuable
airtime with phone numbers.

• Listeners are more likely to remember your
web site address, unless it is lengthy or has
hyphens. Leave off the “www“ in front of your
domain. Example, just say:
"NewsTalk1270.com”

• Try to paint a visual picture and include a
call to action to add some urgency, but don't
overplay it. People do not like the “hard sell”.
Use action words like “discovery”, “free”,
“results”, “revealed”, “secrets”, “startling”.

• Unusual sounding voices, sound effects,
and edgy music can get listeners attention…
just don't overdo it. Humor can also be a
great selling tool, but these type ads lose
their effectiveness quickly and must be
changed on a regular basis. However, an
ongoing series of humor ads that play off the
previous ad can build a loyal audience
anxious to hear the next installment.

• Have a business owner or manager record
the spot in his or her own voice. Over time,
listeners begin to feel that they know the
person though they may have never met.
This builds a level of trust and makes it
much easier to convert the listener into a
customer.

Parting thoughts: If you are in business then
you must be marketing your business
continually… if you wait until sales are slow
to start advertising, you'll be disappointed.
Think long term so that when people think of
your particular specialty they'll think of you.
During an economic slowdown your
competitors will probably pull back on
advertising… this is the perfect time to move
your name ID to the front of the pack thru
strategic ad placement.

I'd also like to share with you a page from
Michael Corbett's book, “The 33 Ruthless
Rules Of Local Advertising.”

“Don't Ask Your Customers What Brought
Them In: The way most advertisers attempt
to track results is by asking their customers
what brought them in. Allow us to share an
experience. When Michael was getting
started in the advertising field, he was
responsible for the successful grand
opening of a new lumber store. This was a
complete store that carried almost
everything imaginable.

Michael, his boss, and the storeowner stood
at the front door of this huge place and
polled customers as they walked in for the
grand opening weekend. As they entered
the store, each shopper was asked, “what
brought you in?” Roughly 50% said radio,
30% said television, and 20% said
newspaper. What interested the poll takers
most was the fact that they never ran an ad
on TV. The grand opening was advertised
only on radio and in the newspaper. How
could it be that 30% of the people who
came into that store that weekend said they
saw the ad where it had never been? And
when questioned about how sure they were,
the customers were sure.

After speaking to scores of local advertisers
who have had a similar experience when
they polled their customers in an attempt to
evaluate the effectiveness of their
advertising, we've learned some things
about polling and about people, and about
what not to do with the polling results.

• People don't know what brought them in.

• People don't know that they don't know
what brought them in.

• People don't like not knowing what
brought them in and they want to be helpful,
so they'll make things up.

• Never change your multiple media
advertising plans based on what people say
brought them in.”

Radio advertising is the toughest of all
marketing avenues to track because it does
such a great job at reinforcing your other
advertising efforts. As an example a
customer may tell you they looked you up in
the Yellow Pages, but if that person has
been hearing your radio ads for a while,
when he opened the phone book your ad
was the one that jumped off the page
instead of being lost among the twenty other
ads in your category.

A good strategy is to put together a long term
maintenance level of radio equal to about
50% of your marketing budget… then move
the remaining 50% around between
newspaper, direct mail, billboard, etc. Radio
will increase the impact of your other
advertising and by spreading things around
you'll hit various segments of your service
area.

Compare us to what you are currently paying for newspaper, direct mail,
billboard, or phonebook advertising... Radio works!

While newspaper readership continues to sharply decline… a recent Arbitron
study revealed that 86% of all Americans listen to radio on any given day...
with an average listening time of almost 3 hours daily per person! (Even higher
in the metro Atlanta area)

To reach these potential customers for your business, we offer flexible monthly
packages to fit every budget or requirement. With an excellent lineup of
weekday, evening, and weekend programming... plus news, weather, and
sports updates around the clock - we can deliver the audience for your spots.

Why radio?

No one form of advertising can reach all potential customers. On average, an
individual must be exposed to the same message 7 to 10 times before that
message sinks in. Occasional re-exposure keeps the message refreshed in
the mind of the public. That's the beauty of radio...

Even the most basic radio advertising campaign includes dozens of plays for
your commercial. Repetition of message is why even established businesses
like funeral homes, car dealers, banks, and hospitals stay on the air every day
year round. People are most likely to listen to the radio while driving, making a
radio ad possibly the last advertising message they receive before making a
decision about where to eat or shop.

Radio Increases The Effectiveness Of Your Other Ads

ValPak... the nations largest direct mail company understands the power of
radio. Beginning a few days before they mail out their coupon packs in a given
market, they run a heavy schedule of radio advertising in that area to
encourage listeners to check their mailboxes for the blue ValPak envelope.
Anticipation builds among the public...

And here's ValPak's secret... through their use of radio, ValPak coupons are
redeemed at a higher rate than the industry average. This keeps ValPak's
advertisers happy and improves ValPak's bottom line.

Your newspaper ads, billboards, direct mail pieces, or phone directory ads
become more powerful when backed up with an effective radio campaign.

The Value Of Long Term Advertising Campaigns

Remember… you're advertising to a passing parade. Potential customers in
your market area move or pass away, with new families moving into your
market daily. It's important to constantly be in front of these new faces.

Several months ago, a new business ran a successful one-month radio
campaign with us for their grand opening. They were pleased with the results,
but felt that after one month everyone was now aware of their new store.

Even though many months passed, we continued to receive phone calls from
listeners asking us the name of this particular business. The initial ad
campaign registered with the listeners... but when people finally found
themselves in need of the services offered by this establishment, they couldn't
remember the name. The connection with the consumer was made, but without
a long-term presence on the air, sales for this business were being lost.

Why News/Talk Radio Instead Of Music Radio?

The music radio market is very fragmented... classic country, modern country,
pop, classical, alternative, classic rock, modern rock, golden oldies, jazz, easy
listening, gospel, contemporary Christian. To effectively reach all those
listening markets would be prohibitively expensive. Plus satellite radio, IPods,
music ready cell phones, and car CD players are increasingly eating into the
music radio market.

Why listen to music on your radio, when you can get higher quality sound
without commercial interruptions through these other alternatives? Recent
studies are showing that music radio listeners are increasingly avoiding your
commercials by flipping to another music station during the break.

With News/Talk radio it's different... Talk radio listeners are less likely to turn
the dial during a commercial break. While music radio is a collection of
different songs, which many times is used as background... talk radio on the
other hand is very listener intensive and interactive. With talk radio, listeners
are following the conversation and feel that tuning out even for a couple of
minutes might result in their missing something important.

The latest Arbitron numbers from Winter/Spring 2007 revealed that News/Talk
Radio is the most listened to of all radio formats… beating all others and
pulling a 17.4 share. Compare that to Country at 9.7, Oldies at 5.5, and Adult
Standards at 1.0.

It's All About Demographics

To get the most effective return for your advertising dollars, you need to target
the listeners who are most likely to need your goods or services and have the
income to spend on them. Once again, News/Talk radio is the winner! The
target audience for News/Talk radio consists of individuals in the prime
consumer age range of 25 to 55. News/Talk listeners on average are more
politically active, more involved in their communities, have higher disposable
incomes, and are better educated than listeners to other radio formats.

Radio is a vital part of any comprehensive advertising campaign.

Call (770) 382-1306 today so that one of our marketing professionals can
design a custom advertising campaign for your business. Advertise in specific
shows, certain time segments, or in our overall schedule. We'll help you
develop an advertising strategy that factors in your other advertising methods...
to help you get the most from your advertising dollar.

Currently, approximately 360,000 people live under our daytime signal footprint.
Our signal covers parts or all of Bartow, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd,
Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield
Counties... plus our signal is streamed worldwide over the Internet 24/7 with
almost 50,000 unique web listeners each month.

We can assist with writing your scripts and can produce your ads in house
utilizing state of the art audio equipment. Many customers have us produce
two or more spots and rotate them throughout the day. If you utilize co-op
funds, we can produce monthly affidavits showing detailed run times for your
spots.

Whatever your requirements, we're here to serve you...

Call today at (770) 382-1306... let us put you on the air!

And be sure to ask about our new website BartowCoupons.com