Radio Advertising – from Good to Great

If you’ve lost sleep wondering how to make your radio advertisements great and missed the recent MTG breakfast seminar (perhaps due to the lost sleep), we’ve compiled three keys to make great radio advertising.

This isn’t fluff – Nepa and MTG radio have analyzed over 170 radio ads on 70 dimensions each to determine what makes a great radio ad.

This data was built over several years of collecting consumer reaction to advertising campaigns. By applying advanced modeling techniques, we’re able to determine what factors drive better advertising effectiveness and which don’t.

Let’s start with what doesn’t work – as this might be a little controversial – amusing or humoring people is not a straight path to effective radio advertising. That’s not to say that amusing people is bad, but if it’s your top priority – you are likely on the wrong track.

When we look at the data, the best way for marketers to increase overall ad performance in radio is to focus on three stages of the campaign ladder – observation, sender recall, and message recall.

And here are some tips on how to optimize each:

• Observation – add a known song to create stopping power that grabs the listeners attention.
• Sender recall – Don’t be shy.  Rather, clearly say who’s sending the message – this is most effectively done by adding a sound logo and clearly mention your brand name as early in the ad as possible.
• Message recall – Don’t stop at your brand name – be sure to clearly mention your product or service.

To take your radio ad to the next level, remember the basics of advertising and don’t get lost in trying to amuse the audience.

Mastering your radio creative is a great start to effective marketing – but marketing today requires optimization of creative and spend across a growing number of channels.