Don't Use Your Print Ad on The Radio
by BIG Mike McDaniel
Published on this site: April 15th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
I don't know about you but I don't drive down the road with a pencil
and paper on the seat.
Why then should you waste valuable advertising seconds on the radio
by telling me your phone number?
Spend 20 minutes with local radio and you will hear more phone
numbers than in most Yellow Pages.
Most radio ads are second thoughts. "Here take my ad in the
paper and make something".
Trouble is, most radio people don't know squat about making a good
ad so they take everything from the print ad and squeeze it in,
including the phone number.
And who designed the print ad in the first place? The business
owner, who wants a big bang for his buck, so he put it all
in there, lines carried, years in business. Probably even
a pic of the building, or worse, the owner's mug shot.
Telephone numbers, photos of the owners, grandiose statements that
have nothing to do with good advertising.
The only time telephone numbers work in a radio ad is when the
whole ad is built around getting the listener to remember the number.
An excellent example comes from the Holiday Inn Hotel people. Their
ad screams one 800 HOLIDAY. Great for remembering (a pain to dial).
They sell product when people call the number. Unless you can close
the order on the phone and have a mnemonic to remember the number,
don't waste seconds repeating your number on the air.
The only time your pic should be in the paper is when you give
the Humane Society a truck load of dog food. The only time your
voice should be on the radio is in a news sound byte from the dog
shelter.
Benefits get the customer to the your door, or on the phone.
Offer to solve their problem and they will come to you. Help
them remember your name and they will find you in the phone
book. Help them remember your location and they will come
thru the door.
"In the phone book under Veck, as in wreck" "Downtown,
across from McDonald's" "On the highway, look for the
giant Q in the sky"
Make your print ad all about benefits and use your radio ad to
reinforce it and help them remember you and how to find you.
For more about advertising, get my article "What Does the
Your Business Cards Say?" MailTo:[email protected]
BIG Mike is a Business Consultant and Professional Speaker.
His BIG Ideas Group helps small business grow with mastermind groups,
seminars and training. http://BIGIdeasGroup.com
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