Editor's note: This article was excerpted from Advertising Without an Agencyfrom
Entrepreneur Press.
A well-produced radio spot can inspire the imagination like
nothing else. Without a video aspect, the listener's mind is
free to wander--to conjure up splendid and impossible scenarios to
hold their interest, make them laugh, and, most of all, to pay
attention! People listening to radio are usually doing something
else at the same time--driving, working in the home or at the
office, or exercising--so they don't necessarily hear every
word in a commercial. It has to be good!
Obviously your production will need to be done at one of the
stations you will be using. But once you have tried the production
at a few stations and you feel comfortable with the quality of one
particular station, use that production facility for as much of
your work as you can.
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These are the costs involved:
- Production fees: If you are using the spot only on the station
that produces it, you will most likely not be charged
anything.
- Dubs and talent fees: If you take that spot to another station,
you will be charged for the talent (the person who does the
voiceover) and a nominal amount for any copies (dubs) of the spot
for the other stations.
One of the wonderful things about radio production is that you
have the option of having each station you use produce its own
version of the same script. This saves you talent fees and the cost
of dubs. The message will be the same--but the delivery will end up
being very different, unless you give instructions that will
standardize the spots.
Standardizing is very important, because you want people to know
they are hearing a commercial for the same businesses when they
hear slightly altered versions on different stations.
To standardize the sound of the spots done on different
stations:
- Request a female or male voice on all spots.
- Request the same music.
- Spell out the kind of energy you want put into the voice
("energetic read" or "laid-back, casual
read").
This way, each audience will hear the same words and receive the
same message at little or no production cost to you. While it may
be more appealing to have the same exact commercial on all
stations, new businesses do not always have funds to pay even for
the modest cost of radio production. And in that case it is smarter
to put whatever money you have into the frequency of the schedule
and run a basic but informative ad. However, if you can manage the
cost of having one commercial produced (including talent fee and
the cost of copies to give to other stations you are using),
it's a plus to have the same commercial running on all
stations.
Length of Spots
Generally, you will be running a 60-second spot. This gives you
plenty of time to get your business name and location in at least
three times. The name and location of your business should be
mentioned at least twice in a 30-second ad and three times in a
60-second ad.
Since radio production is so inexpensive and often free, you
don't have to be worried about changing your ad often. You can
therefore be very specific with each script and make the ad generic
or dedicate it to a special sale or promotional event. If you are
having a sale, give price and item (jargon for "mention
specific products and prices"), a percentage off, or a
specific brand being sold at a discounted price.
You will find there is little or no room in 30 seconds for cute
comments, sound effects, or even for a two-voice script. Save those
extras for your 60-second scripts.
If you have lots of information to cover, create either one
60-second script or two 30-second commercials, splitting the
information between the two and rotating both ads throughout your
schedule. When rotating two or more commercials, be sure that the
opening, the voice, the music, and the general feeling of the ads
are the same, so your audience will hear all of the information in
both ads without being distracted by differences between the two.
Remember that there's nothing to keep you from rotating two or
more 60-second spots in the same schedule as well.
Add some 15-second spots to your schedule to build frequency at
a lower per-spot cost. Your account executive can help you cull the
most important information out of your 60-second or 30-second spot
to create this shorter version.
Ready-to-Go Ads
It may not be necessary for you to create ads from scratch.
There may be other possibilities.
Franchise operators will often have access to canned radio
commercials through their advertising support system. A single
phone call can put a professionally produced commercial in your
hands within a day or two. Usually there will be an eight- to
10-second blank space at the end of these commercials for
"tagging" with your local address and phone number.
If you're in retail sales, you may find that distributors of
brand name merchandise also have professionally produced radio
commercials ready to go and often co-op advertising assistance is
available in the form of not only commercials but also money.
Whether you have a commercial created from scratch or you're
just tagging a co-op spot, always ask to hear the final product
before it airs. The station(s) will be happy to play it for you
over the phone or provide a cassette. Feel free to ask that the
voice be more upbeat or that the music be changed to suit you.
Listen to it again after the changes have been made. Give your
radio rep as much lead time as possible to avoid a last minute rush
on changes.
Once your commercial has been produced, ask your rep to give you
the master reel or CD if you think you might use the spot again in
the future. Radio stations will store the master copies, but on a
rare occasion one can be misplaced. If your ad has the potential to
be used again, keep it where you can find it in a hurry. Label the
box with the date and title and put a copy of the typed script with
it.