Radio is a local medium. It’s a personal medium. Listeners have a relationship with their favorite radio stations, and think of them as companions. When you create a sales message that plays to that strength, you’ll get more mileage out of your radio direct response advertising.
This may be difficult if you’re advertising on national radio networks, Internet radio or satellite radio. But if you’re placing ads on terrestrial radio stations (which still make up the vast majority of radio listenership) or on a particular syndicated program, you should consider how to make your ad sound “localized” to the city or community, or to the audience base that is listening.
You want your message to speak personally to your audience. The more you can sound “one-to-one,” the better. There are different techniques you can apply to help your radio commercials be “locally” persuasive to your prospective customers. Here are a few ideas:
Talent endorsements – Listeners like the intimacy of personality radio. They may have a strong connection with the on-air talent. This type of bond is very powerful if the talent will endorse your product or service in a message that’s shaped to his or her personality. Endorsement spots make the phone ring, particularly if the talent is excited about your offering.
Local radio announcer copy – Rather than producing your commercial, you can provide a script to the radio stations and ask that they record it (or deliver it live) using one their own announcers. Announcer scripts can make your radio commercial sound more like the station that is airing it. For example, your radio ad may sound regionally different running on a Houston station than it would on a Boston station. Or, from a programming standpoint, the same script sent to a country station would have a different delivery than a classical station. Allowing the station to interpret the delivery style could produce a more favorable reaction from listeners.
Mentioning the city or region – Consumers like products or services that have a local identification. Mention the city or region name in your radio commercial, as long as it flows well and doesn’t sound forced.
Special offers – You may already be making a “special radio offer” in your commercial. Go to the next level of localization and position it as a “special radio offer for WXXX listeners.” That could create more urgency.
Radio production and scriptwriting are not expensive, so the extra effort to localize or customize your advertising can really boost your radio direct response campaign.
