Mid-Missouri Marketing Resource Blog

According to Nielsen, 92% of Americans listen to radio every week. Compare that to the number who consume television on a weekly basis; surprisingly, just 87%. Podcasts bring up the distant rear with a mere 22%.

Across all demographics, radio is the most popular form of media in America. For adults ranging in age from 18 and up, radio reaches between 90 and 94% of them all. But why is radio king? How has it enjoyed such an enduring reign? Here are some likely reasons:

Of course we’re going to say “YES” – you knew we would. You also know a simple Google search will produce a myriad of articles explaining why radio advertising works. What you probably DIDN’T already know is that radio works so well, it can actually work against you. But that is entirely within your control – and that’s what this blog is about.

The formula for determining whether radio is going to work for or against you is startlingly simple;

Are you delivering on your promise to customers? YES = radio will accelerate your businesses’ growth. NO = radio will accelerate your businesses’ downfall.

One of the most powerful marketing tools for a business is when a business owner becomes the voice of his or her company.  Think Dave from Wendy’s; when he started starring in their ads in the 80s, sales skyrocketed.  Dave seemed natural, unaffected, likeable and sincere.  He invoked trust.  On a subconscious level, viewers must have felt like, if Dave is such a good guy, eating at Wendy’s must be the right thing to do! 

This is especially true for local business.  There’s something reassuring to listeners about a local business owner who comes across as a good person, who is fully involved with the business and has a vision for how to improve his or her customer’s lives. 

Many local businesses do take advantage of this opportunity, but not all businesses do so as successfully as they could – and most often this is because they aren’t naturals at voicing their own ads. 

This is not their fault, of course.  Public speaking in all its forms is like dancing or playing a musical instrument; it comes more easily to some than to others.  But, just like dancing or playing a musical instrument, it does come with a set of ‘good form’ tips that can at least help nudge one in the right direction.  The rest is practice!

As a business owner, you have a unique opportunity.  You own something that has a chance to become a part of local culture, to join the regional vernacular, to contribute to the zeitgeist… to be a BRAND.  

But what IS a brand?  More than just a slick logo, a brand encapsulates ALL mental associations, both good and bad, that consumers have about your business… so building yours goes well beyond coming up with a cool business name and tagline.  It means taking control of EVERY aspect of a consumer’s experience that you possibly can.  Once your brand identity is fully realized, your efforts to develop and market your business become exponentially more powerful. 

So… what DO they really care about?  The short answer is themselves.  For elaboration on this blunt, over-simplified assertion, please read further:

There are some songs I used to hate in the 80s.  Or maybe I didn’t “hate” them per se – I just got tired of them.  I wasn’t a big fan of Journey, for example. Seems like “Faithfully” played every day, all day, everywhere I went. Couldn’t get away from it. Now, 37 years later, when that song gets played somewhere and I’m there to hear it, I have to stop whatever I’m doing to enjoy it. Could it be that Journey is like a fine wine and just got better with age? More likely, it was always good and I just appreciate it more now.

Jake is a nice-looking young man with a trustworthy face.  He looks no more than 35 years old.  He wasn’t what I expected for the owner of a used car dealership, so when we sat down to discuss his radio ad creative for the first time, I initially thought maybe this was the owner’s son. But since having a trustworthy face doesn’t help to sell trust over the radio, I asked Jake what he could tell me about his dealership that might make his brand stand apart from all of the other dealerships in the area.

Here is Part 2 in our 2-part series on common mistakes that businesses make trying to write their own radio ads. While the first three mistakes are frustrating enough…these last four cause professional writers and producers everywhere to groan inwardly and smack their foreheads in exasperation.

When it comes to advertising on the radio, it’s common for business owners to feel that they are in the best position to know what needs to be said about their business on the air -- and how to say it.  It’s easy to understand why they feel that way; it IS their business, after all.  However, in most cases, they’re incorrect.  They are no more in a position of expertise on how to advertise their own business than a non-doctor is on how to diagnose his or her own problem.  Unfortunately, there are still those business owners who will go on ahead and write their own radio scripts anyway… and we find that, most of the time, they make the same 7 mistakes...

You may know or work with someone who you think has charisma and a pleasant speaking voice. So, naturally, the next time you need a narration for your presentation, advertisement or even just an update for your company’s phone message, you probably already have that person in mind for the job.