Almost everyone listens to the radio; either on their way to work, on long drives, or just to have a cup of coffee in the morning.
With millions of people listening daily, it’s a great idea to have a good radio commercial to boost your brand.
It gives you a little control over the number of people who listen to your ad but what you don’t have control over is what they do AFTER listening to your advertisement and that’s what matters most…
For your commercial to be categorized as a success you need to have certain feedback:
Did you drive sales? Did you create awareness? What’s your profit margin looking like? Did you spend a lot of money running an ad and get low returns?
We’ve all listened to the radio at some point or the other and heard a couple of advertisements that left an impression on us
I‘m sure you can remember a few and are probably playing it in your head right now…
This is the kind of impression you want your radio commercial to leave on your audience and this post will teach you how…
Here are 5 secrets of Good Radio Commercials
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Target Audience
Your target audience determines everything about your commercial. From the radio station to the voiceover artist and even your script. Determine who your target audience is and you’ve got a major part of your commercial settled.
If your audience is older you’d want to stay away from slang and the lingo of the younger folks. If your audience is teenagers or kids, you wouldn’t talk to them about retirement plans or insurance.
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Choosing the right Radio Station
It’s no brainer that most people have favourite radio stations and even hosts that they wouldn’t want to miss. Often they’d tune in at 4 pm just to catch their favourite topic or listen to their favourite on-air personality speak.
This type of loyalty to a certain host or station helps you choose radio stations that have large audiences. You can also determine the age, sex and other important information about their listeners that’ll help your advertisement thrive.
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Writing the best script
Radio advertisements tend to be short. This means you need to get your best work out there within 30 seconds to a minute. Now, this isn’t to make you panic or fret, it can be a good thing because it’ll help you focus on what’s important and cut out unnecessary things.
Are you trying to create awareness or drive sales? Write down all the messages you’re trying to get across and pick your top 2 or 3 if you can. Focus on these 2 or 3 messages and include a Call to Action at the end of your advertisement.
A call to action tells your listeners what action to take. It could be to call a number or to visit a website.
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Adding a song
Radio commercials are primarily non-visual. This means you’re working solely with your listener’s ears and imagination and you’ve got to create an advertisement that paints a picture in their mind.
You want them to visualize your commercial as though they were watching it on a screen. This keeps your ad in their minds even after it’s done airing.
A great way to do this is by adding a song. Most radio advertisements have catchy jingles that have you singing along whenever it comes on. Add a catchy jingle to your ad and you’ve got an audience singing your brand out on their way to work.
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Choosing the right Voiceover Artist
Certain scripts call for certain voices. After figuring out your target audience, choosing the right radio station, writing an awesome script and even adding a jingle, you wouldn’t want to ruin it by using the wrong voice.
Emotion-based content is what drives people to action. Emotion-based doesn’t necessarily mean something that leaves your listeners teary-eyed. It could be humour, joy, laughter; anything that keeps them CONNECTED to your advertisement.
Choose the right voice that connects to your ad that way you can connect much easier to your audience.
PRO TIP: Run A/B testing if you can afford it. Run two different ads at the same time and monitor them both. After a while, pick the ad that performed best and leverage on that.
Check out these samples of radio ads to hear how the voice actor connects with the ad and even pick up a few more pointers for your radio commercial!
iVoiceAfrica has exceptional voiceover artists who can help bring your radio ad to life! Give us a call on +234 (0) 7026276411 or send an email to info@ivoiceafrica.com
If you’ve got tips for good radio commercials be sure to leave a comment!
