Radio Advertising Facts

Author: Radio Ad Facts

  • 12 Causes of Advertising Failure

    12 Causes of Advertising Failure

    1) The desire for instant gratification. The ad which creates sufficient urgency to cause people to respond immediately is also the ad most likely to be forgotten immediately following the “expiration” of the offer. Such ads are of little use in establishing an identity for the advertiser in the mind of the consumer.

    2)  Attempting to reach more people than the budget will allow. For a “media mix” to be effective, each element in the mix must have sufficient repetition to establish “retention” in the mind of the prospect. Too often, however, the result of a media mix is too much reach, not enough frequency. Will you reach 100% of the people and convince them 10% of the way? Or will you reach 10% of the people and convince them 100% of the way? The cost is the same.

    3)  Assuming the business owner knows best. The business owner is uniquely unqualified to see his company or his product objectively. He is on the inside, looking out, trying to describe himself to a person on the outside looking in. It’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle. Too much product knowledge causes the business owner to answer questions that no one is asking. This makes for extremely ineffective advertising.

    4)  Unsubstantiated claims such as, “Highest quality at the lowest price. Advertisers will often have what the customer wants, but fail to offer any evidence. A cliché is nothing less than as unsubstantiated claim to the public is tired of hearing. You must prove what you say in every ad. The prospect will not make a new decision about your product until you have given him new information and a new perspective. Do your ads supply new information? Do they provide a new perspective? If not, prepare to be disappointed with the results.

    5)  Improper use of passive media. Non-intrusive media, such as newspaper and yellow pages, require the use of a reticular activator (such as a photo or illustration) because passive media tends to reach only those buyers who are actively in the market for the product. Passive media is very poor at reaching prospects prior to their need, which means it is extremely difficult for passive media to create a predisposition toward your company. With patience, the consistent use of intrusive media (such as radio and television) will win the heart of the customer before he is in the market for the product.

    6)  Creating ads instead of campaigns.  It is foolish to believe a single ad can ever tell the entire story.  The most effective, persuasive and memorable ads are those most like a rhinoceros. They will each make a single point very powerfully.  An advertiser with seventeen different things to say should commit to a campaign of at least seventeen different ads, with each ad being given sufficient repetition to accomplish retention in the mind of the prospect.

    7)  Obedience to unwritten rules.   For some insane reason, advertisers want their ads to look and sound like ads.  Why is this?

    8)  Late week schedules.  Advertisers justify their unreasonable focus on Thursday and Friday advertising with the statement, “We need to reach the customer just before he goes shopping.” Why do these advertisers choose to compete for the prospect’s attention each Thursday and Friday when they can have a nice, quiet chat all alone with the prospect each Sunday, Monday and Tuesday?

    9)  Overconfidence in qualitative targeting.  The importance of qualitative data has been grossly overestimated by many advertisers and media professionals.  In reality, Saying The Wrong Thing has killed far more ad campaigns than Reaching The Wrong People.  It is amazing how many people become “the right people,” when you are saying the right thing.

    10)  Event driven marketing.  A special event should be judged only by its ability to help you more clearly define your market position and substantiate your claims.  If one percent of the people who hear your ad for a special event actually choose to come, you will be in desperate need of a traffic cop and a bus to shuttle people from remote parking lots.  Yet your real investment will be in the 99% who did not come to the event!  What did your ad say to them?

    11)  Great production without great copy.  Too many ads today are creative without being persuasive.  “Slick, clever, funny, creative, and different”, are poor substitutes for, “informative, believable, memorable and persuasive.”

    12)  Confusing “response” with “results.”   The goal of advertising is to create a clear awareness of your company and its Unique Selling Proposition.   Unfortunately, most advertisers evaluate their ads by the comments they hear from the people around them.  The slickest, clearest, funniest, most creative and most different ads are the ones most likely to generate these comments.  See the problem?  When we confuse “response” with “results” we create “attention getting ads” which say absolutely nothing.

    Article Compliments of Roy H. Williams Marketing in Austin, Texas. 

  • 10 Good Reasons to Advertise on Radio

    10 Good Reasons to Advertise on Radio

    If you’re going to advertise (and you should), it makes sense to spend your advertising money where you get the most results… Radio!

    Here are ten reasons why radio is your best choice (courtesy of the Radio Advertising Bureau).

    1) Radio sells with immediacy.

    Research proves that radio regularly reaches consumers within two hours of their largest purchase of the day.Can there be a better time to reach customers than on their car radio while they are driving to do today’s shopping?

    2) Radio sells everywhere.

    Radio is the only true mobile medium. In the car, at work, and at play, radio is there…the companion and the advertising force your customers take with them wherever they go.

    3) Radio sells with intimacy.

    In your personal life, when you have something very important to communicate to someone, which would you prefer – to show them a picture, to write to them, or to talk with the intimacy and emotion of the human voice?Radio sells with intimacy.

    4) Radio stars in the theater of the mind.

    Want a 100-piece symphony orchestra in your ad, an elephant, a chorus, a laughing child, a love song?With word pictures and emotion-evoking sounds, radio’s theatre of the mind stimulates the most emotion-filled pictures the mind can comprehend.

    5) Radio escapes advertising’s clutter.

    Today’s newspapers average 2/3 ad copy to 1/3 editorial copy. TV spends about 1/3 of its time on advertising. Today’s radio, at about 10 minutes of advertising per hour, devotes less than 1/5 of its time to ads.Radio is the uncluttered medium.

    6) Radio is the cost effective medium.

    Newspaper rates are up (even though circulation is down). TV ad rates are up (even though viewership is down).Radio advertising costs grew less than any other major form of advertising.

    7) Reach is nice, but frequency sells.

    Newspaper and TV are reach media – they reach varying numbers of people. Psychologists tell us that consumers need to be exposed to an advertising message at least three times before it begins to penetrate. Most local businesses cannot afford the necessary three-times-plus frequency that effective advertising demands – except on radio. Radio is the reach and frequency medium you can afford.

    8) Radio’s targeted advertising sells.

    Radio’s variety of formats allows you to pinpoint your advertising on the station or stations that best match your customer’s interests. You cannot pinpoint advertising in the broad-reach, scattershot newspaper and TV media forms. Radio’s unique targeting ability saves you money.

    9) You’re always on the front page with radio.

    With radio advertising you are front and center in the listener’s attention span when your ad is on the air. You’re never buried on page 42 and you’re never surrounded by your competitor’s ads. With radio, you are always on the front page.

    10) Radio is an active medium in an active society.

    Passive forms of advertising simply list merchandise or tell you where a product is available. Radio is an active medium capable of stirring emotion, creating demand, and selling your product or service. Today’s hotly competitive marketplace demands an active medium. That’s radio!

  • 10 Reasons to Advertise

    10 Reasons to Advertise

    Why Should You Advertise? Here are 10 Good Reasons…

    My store has been here forever…  Everybody knows about us…  We’re doing just fine without advertising…  I have such a great location, I don’t need to advertise…  Don’t kid yourself.  It’s virtually impossible to build a successful businesses without advertising.  There are many good reasons to advertise, including attracting new customers, increasing sales and business growth.  Below we present 10 of the best (courtesy of the Radio Advertising Bureau).

    1)  You must advertise to reach new customers.

     The market changes constantly.  New families moving into the area mean new potential customers for you, or for your competition.  Customer’s income levels are constantly changing, which means changes in lifestyles, needs and buying habits.

    2)  You must advertise continuously.

    Shoppers don’t have the same store loyalty they once had.  Automobiles give shoppers mobility and freedom.  The National Retail Merchants Association says “mobility and non-loyalty are rampant.  Stores must promote to get former customers to return and to attract new ones.”

    3)  You must advertise to influence shoppers throughout the buying cycle.

    People often go from store to store comparing prices, quality and service.  Advertising must reach them consistently through the entire decision-making process.  For example, the average new car purchase is a 13-week cycle.  Your name must be fresh in their ears and minds when they ultimately decide to buy.

    4)  You must advertise because it pays off over a long period.

    Your advertising today is selling customers whose buying decision may be weeks away.  Advertising gives you a long-term advantage over competitors who cut back or cancel advertising.  A 5-year study of more than 3,000 companies found that advertisers who maintained or expanded advertising over the five years saw their sales increase an average of 100%.

    5)  You must advertise to generate more store traffic.

    Continuous store traffic is the first step toward sales increases and expanding your base of shoppers.  For every 100 items shoppers plan to buy, they make at least 30 unanticipated “in-store” purchases.

    6)  You must advertise to make more sales.

    Advertising works!  Businesses that succeed are almost always strong, steady advertisers.  Look around – you’ll find the most aggressive and consistent advertisers are almost always the most successful.

    7)  You must advertise because there is always business to generate.

    As long as you’re open for business, you’re got overhead to meet and new people to reach.  Advertising will generate customers now, and in the future.  Your doors are open.  Even the slowest days produce some sales.

    8)  You must advertise to keep a healthy positive image.

    In today’s competitive marketplace, rumors and bad news travel fast.  Advertising corrects misleading gossip and punctures “overstated” bad news.  Advertising that is vigorous and positive can bring shoppers into your store regardless of the economy.

    9)  You must advertise to maintain store morale.

    When advertising and promotion budgets are suddenly cut or cancelled, salespeople may become alarmed or demoralized.  Positive advertising boots morale.  It gives your staff strong, positive, motivational support.

    10)  You must advertise because your competition is advertising.

    There are only so many consumers in the market ready to buy at one time.  You must advertise to keep your share of customers or you will lose them to the more aggressive competitors.

  • 7 Retail Marketing Mistakes

    7 Retail Marketing Mistakes

    Are You Making These 7 Retail Marketing Mistakes?

    As an independent retail store owner you have to wear LOTS of hats – including Chief Marketing Officer. Check to see if you might be making one of these common Retail Marketing Mistakes…

    #1. Your Marketing is “All About Me”

    If had to pick the most common (and most deadly) retail marketing mistake, this would be it. Everyone thinks that their products, their services, their promotions, and their store are far more fascinating than they really are. It’s only natural. To you, the most important thing in the world is – you!

    I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your customers don’t really care that much about you, or your store, or your products. Like you, what they care most about is themselves.

    The trick for you as a retail marketer is to stop thinking about what you offer and start focusing on what your customer wants. It’s the only way to build the kind of customer relationships that engender real trust, strong loyalty, and repeat business.

    If most of your outbound communication (emails, facebook posts, postcards, newspaper ads, etc.) is about your products, your services, your promotions, or your store and not about what’s interesting, helpful, useful, beneficial, or entertaining for your customer, then you are making this marketing mistake.

    #2. You Don’t Track Your Results

    If you don’t track the results of your marketing efforts it’s impossible to tell if they are successful, or to what degree they are successful .

    Of course, tracking your results takes forethought and planning. (See Retail Marketing Mistake #7!)

    You have to be very clear about what your primary goals are for each of your marketing efforts – generate sales? attract new customers? re-activate inactive customers? build relationships? What you hope to achieve affects the way you track your results and how you judge your success.

    Some marketing results are easy to track, some are a bit more complicated, but it’s always worth it. With marketing (as with almost every area of business), if you can measure it, you can manage it.

    #3. You’re a “One and Done” Marketer

    I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a great conversation with a retailer who’s super excited to share a major marketing success and when I ask them, “So, when is the next one scheduled for?” they look at my like I have three heads.

    Most of them honestly hadn’t considered repeating their successful event!

    Or here’s what used to happen to me when I owned the Mackinaw Kite Co… We’d forget from year to year, month to month what we’d done and what worked. I’d find myself scratching my chin and saying, “Yeah, now I remember that thing we did last year. That was really great. Huh, wonder why we didn’t do that again this year?”

    One and done doesn’t cut it. You spend too much time and effort getting your marketing right to only do something one time. If it is successful keep on doing it again, and again, and again.

    #4. You’re Unhappy If It’s Not a “Home Run”

    Hey, who doesn’t like to hit a home run?! It’s fun. The problem is that if you expect all your marketing efforts to be a home run, you’re bound to be disappointed – and you might stop swinging the bat.

    Most of your marketing efforts will be “singles.” Not every email will get an 80% open rate. Not every in-store event will create a stampede of customers. Not every non-profit organization will be a top partner.

    Celebrate your singles!

    It’s the accumulation of lots of singles that will, in the end, cause you to win the game. Any good sports fan will tell you it’s not the team with the most home runs that gets to the World Series.

    Just keep hitting lots of singles and I guarantee you’ll end up with a lot more “jingle” at the end of the year.

    #5. You Don’t Adapt Good Ideas

    There is no shortage of good – even great – ideas for attracting new customers, driving traffic, creating loyalty, increasing sales. But you may suffer from a lack of marketing imagination.

    If you see an idea that’s working for your colleagues in another industry, imagine all the possible ways you could adapt it for your business.

    And don’t just watch other retailers. Watch your local realtors, chiropractors, builders, manufacturers, car dealers, dentists, or anyone else you can lay your eyes on. You may find some marketing gold if you can adapt ideas from other kinds of businesses. How do you think banks, restaurants, and liquor stores all ended up with drive-thru windows?

    While you’re at it, don’t forget to adapt your OWN good ideas!

    If the ’12 Days of Christmas’ promotion worked for you, adapt and do a Spring Fling Deal of the Day during the week of spring break. Who said the concept had to be used only at Christmas? Who said it had to be 12 days long? Fashion week, Mother’s Day, graduation, Father’s Day, Back-to-School… what works for you?

    Adapt!

    After nearly every speech I give to a mixed industry group someone comes up to me and says, “I really loved your ideas for the pet store, but do you have any ideas for my bike shop?” Those store owners are making this retail marketing mistake and they are doomed if they can’t adapt.

    #6. You Don’t Pay Close Attention to the Details

    The nitty-gritty. The down-and-dirty. It’s the execution of the details that will often make or break your marketing efforts.

    Paying attention to the details is certainly what will take your retail marketing to the next level and is where you’ll really maximize your efforts.

    Here’s a perfect example. My friend, Paul, just sent out his second email newsletter. It had a great subject line, really compelling content, and a strong call to action asking readers to pass it along to their friends. I thought my brother would find it interesting so I forwarded it, and that’s when I noticed…

    There was no place in the email where my brother could click to subscribe to the newsletter. AND Paul’s website address wasn’t hyperlinked in the email. Readers would have to copy/paste or manually type the web address into their browser bar to visit his site and sign up.

    So while Paul’s email accomplished the goal of strengthening existing relationship by delivering good content, he really missed a golden opportunity to build his list by not paying close attention to the details.

    #7. Your Marketing is Scattershot, Not Strategic

    You know who you are… you do a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a little bit of the the other. You try marketing tactic after tactic in hopes that some of your stuff will work.

    Your marketing efforts spring from a need for cash, rather than from a thoughtful, well-designed strategic plan.

    The good news here is if you try enough stuff, some of it will work. And if you repeat the stuff that works (see Retail Marketing Mistake #3), you’ll start to get some traction. Activity and effort is way better than doing nothing.

    But strategic activity and effort is lots, lots better.

    When your marketing is based on a strategic plan, all of your tactics work together to enhance each other and achieve your overall goals. Each effort builds upon the other and the sum becomes greater than the parts.

    And the cool thing is, strategic activity is not only more effective, it’s easier. Better, easier – who doesn’t love that?!

    So, how’d you do?

    Are you making any of these Retail Marketing Mistakes? If you are, don’t get down on yourself. Almost everyone makes these mistakes from time to time. The question is…

    What are you going to do about it?

    (From Bob Negen’s blog at www.whizbangtraining.com. Used with permission).

    Bob Negen Training