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Author Archives: Roy Sencio

I have been a radio commercial producer for 15 years now, I also produce TV commercials, audio visual presentations, and do voice overs.

Radio Advertising Tips: Choosing The Right Radio Station to Advertise On

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Posted by Roy Sencio on August 2, 2007 – 8:54 am
Filed under Radio Advertising Tips

I am assuming two things at the start of this post:

1. You have a product or service that you want to advertise on radio.

2. You do not have an advertising agency that takes care of your advertising placement.

Radio advertising today is still one of the effective modes of advertising, despite statistics that show advertising budgets for radio campaigns slashed down in favor of print and tv, and the other non traditional mediums such as online advertising, billboards and other targeted efforts like direct marketing.

So how do you choose the right radio station?

Each radio station, much like your product or service, has its own audience or listener base. They are the radio station’s customers. The first thing you should do, is find the radio station whose listeners are the type of people you foresee buying your product or availing of the service you are offering.

There are many ways to do this. You can contact the radio station and request for a portfolio and proposal. A radio station has Account Executives whose job is to bring in advertising placements from advertisers like you. Chances are they will give you a station profile that would likely give you a brief introduction about the station, their programming, their market, and their reach. Usually what is not included are specific figures like survey results to give you a clear picture of the numbers they have, this is important because you want to establish market share; you need to know how many people are listening to this station, and at what times of the day.

Once you have all the proposals from the radio stations you contacted, all you need to do is compare markets/listenership and cost. If a station is able to give you facts and figures, even better. Narrow down your choices and once you have done that, move to the next step.

Proposals are proposals, they are supposed to look good. Which is why you have to do your own checking to verify information printed on those proposal you received.

If you have an existing business, all you have to do is ask your customers if they listen to the radio and what radio station they listen to. You can and may not ask all of your customers, just choose those customers that you see as your ideal customer that fits certain criteria that you may have.

For example, if you want to advertise a product that targets middle to upper class males aged 25-40, find the radio station that has that demographic, and at the same time interview your customers who appear to be of that market. Their answers will give you an idea what radio stations their demographic listens to. Check if the radio stations on your shortlist are the radio stations that come out on your survey.
Another method, which could be helpful especially if you product is new and you do not have any customers yet, is to look at your competitors advertising campaigns. Find out what radio stations they are advertising with, and find out how long their ads have been running. Like any smart advertiser, an advertising campaign on a radio station that is not working, will not run long term. There are of course exceptions like if it is a dated ad for a sale or promo. A long running ad on a radio station could be a good indicator of a radio stations effectiveness.

Many advertisers however make the mistake of choosing a radio station simply because it is what they are listening to or because it is the cheapest to advertise with.
That being said, once you have identified a radio station to go with, try to get the best priced package. The best priced package of course is the least cost you can get the advertising campaign for, which also is not in excess of your advertising budget for radio.

The Burger Joint Radio Commercial

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Posted by Roy Sencio on July 21, 2007 – 6:41 am
Filed under Radio Commercial

A few days back I talked about this radio commercial I produced for WRAPS Pita and how amused I was with the ad.

I remember there was this other radio commercial for another fastfood type product, called the Burger Joint.

If I am not mistaken this must have been somewhere around ‘97.

WRAPS Pita Sandwiches Were Heavenly

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Posted by Roy Sencio on July 18, 2007 – 3:45 am
Filed under Radio Commercial

This site is not quite finished yet, there are still several improvements needed such as a contact form that actually works and the interface where you may check out voice over samples and previous radio commercial projects.

Not to blow my own horn but I was really amused with some of the old jobs that I did, some years back and one of the funniest which never fails to crack me up is the radio commercial I produced for WRAPS which is a restaurant that sells pita sandwiches.

The WRAPS Radio Commercial is probably one of the best written copy’s I believe, not because I wrote it, but because it has all the elements of a great radio commercial: it catches attention, it is funny, witty, delivers the sales message and provides a call to action.

The WRAPS Radio Commercial however does not have the call in numbers of the establishment, I cut them out before uploading it here.

I think I had a few other food related commercials, there is this other commercial I produced back in the late 90s if I am not mistaken, it was for a very popular local burger join, but I will tell you more about that later.

So to recap, should you need to write a good radio commercial copy, keep the following simple tips in mind:

- a great concept that revolves around the product, check out the products attributes or characteristics and play around with that, use such words in the copy to reinforce its good qualities
- catch attention, maybe by using humor (though there are other ways)

- be clear about the sales message you deliver

- provides a call to action

What is missing in the ad sample are specific details what the listener should do, and the sense of urgency to perform the action you want them to. I didn’t include them on the version I uploaded.

I hope you found this interesting and helpful… ’til the next time; keep on radio snacking!

Tips for Radio Commercials and Radio Advertising Part 5

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Posted by Roy Sencio on July 17, 2007 – 11:24 am
Filed under Radio Commercial

This is the last batch of tips for radio commercials, I hope you have found these most helpful.
8. Sound effects are an important element to radio commercials, however need to be used appropriately. Sound effects are primarily aids in helping the listener picture the scene,and improper use of sound effects might divert the attention of the listener from the main advertising message. When listening to a radio commercial, the listener cannot see the action, and sound effects help in creating the scene, however since most effects sound alike, it is best used in tandem with the radio commercial copy, unless the sound is really unique and obvious. A listener may not be able to differentiate from water gushing on a sink or on a river bed or waves crashing on a shore, but that effect used with the right text such as “nothing beats lying on the sand getting that tan and listening to the ocean”; would be very effective.

9. Present a clear call to action! What do you want the listener to do after hearing the spot? You got their attention, they heard your message, so what next? A radio spot will only generate calls if, at the end, your prospect can answer the question, “What do you want me to do right now?” The answer should always be to get that inquiry, through phone call or walk in. To sweeten the deal, you can even reveal the call in number in a bribe or freebie such as the vioce over at the end of the ad saying, “To get your free brochure on how to lose weight fast by better eating, call (phone number).”

10. Give the listener a sense of urgency, a reason for them to act within a given time limit. Limited time offers are not an exclusive tool of direct mail, they work in every medium, also radio. No one wants to miss out on a good deal. YOu are eventually going to putt your spots out, especially if it is also a dated ad like a sale maybe, so you might as well establish a deadline to force an immediate response.

Tips for Radio Commercials and Radio Advertising Part 4

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Posted by Roy Sencio on July 16, 2007 – 11:08 am
Filed under Radio Commercial

Welcome to our fourth installment of tips on radio commercials and radio advertising.

7. One of the most difficult tasks when getting started in writing your radio commercial copy is creating the ad’s format. There is actually no hard and fast rule, and it would really depend on what you would feel appropriate to the message and to the product. Here are the common formats being used.

Straight Announcer — This is by far the simplest, a single strong voice talking directly to the listener. The radio commercial copy should be simple, direct, and clear. The voice should speak as if direclt addressing a single person and not sound like someone reading. It is important for the copy writer to write like they were actually speaking to a person right in front of them, taking care not to use words that would distance the speaker from the listener. It does not have to be declarative, the voice can pose a question also.

Dialog — Let’s face it, people are social beings… we love to talk, and somehow we also love to listen to other people talk… if it is in any way interesting. In most cases the discussion revolves around one person’s experience about a product or service, with the other person not knowing anything about it; and thus there is a transfer of information.

The party that is unaware of the product can even pose questions or present opportunities that the product or service may provide.

This is a very powerful method of advertising, especially if executed well and with the voices used match the demographics of the listeners of the radio commercial.

Vignette — We start the ad with a scene like a slice of life scene presenting a situation or problem, followed by the announcer who presents the product or service as the solution. It could be several slice of life scenes punctuated with voice over announcements that. Vignettes can also be in the form of personalities or voices that represent a demographic and a situation they find them self in.

Person on the Street — This is the easiest to produce and has a high level of believability. All you have to do is pick people on the street, persons who represent the demographic that probably already benefits from the product, then ask this real people what they think about the product.

The key is to get them to talk about the product, describe how it’s benefited them and ask if they would recommend it to others. Not all the answers will be eloquent, and may need some measure of editing or cleaning up. Having them sound unscripted, unrehearsed.. REAL is what makes it effective. Hearing real people say good things is one of the best forms of advertising you can get.

Testimonials — This is actually taking the person on the street concept a step further by getting the people you picked to directly speak and address listeners, talking about using the product and its benefits. Testimonials treatments have been used with experts, celebrities, or ordinary people.

Story — This is one of the most difficult to put together, but very rewarding if pulled off. Everybody loves to hear a story but to do it in just 30 or 60 seconds is quite a feat. You would need a plausible, brief plot and voice talents who can properly deliver lines and add to the drama of the scene. Like any good short story, there is a crisis that needs a solution.

Tips for Radio Commercials and Radio Advertising Part 3

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Posted by Roy Sencio on July 15, 2007 – 10:33 am
Filed under Radio Commercial

Welcome to Day 3 of tips for those who want to know more about radio commercials and radio advertising.

5. When writing a direct reponse radio commercial script, your ultimate goal is to get that phone to ring, or get that listener into your store.  The absolute goal is to get inquiries or orders, or inquiries that you now have an opportunity to convert into an order. A really good radio commercial sometimes doesn’t guarantee a sale, but does guarantee a response in the form of a phone call or a walk in inquiry. What happens next depends on you; and what you do or say to that potential customer.

This may be a little off tangent, but here I would like to say something about handling inquiries, where a lot of potential customers are lost simply because the person who does the answering or the entertaining does not know how to handle a customer. When handling an inquiry, don’t simply be satisfied by giving information or making a client more aware about what you are offering. Go a step further, establish a rapport, build a meaningful relationship with potential customers by offering free information, free consultation, a special price, or some other reason to gain their trust.

6. So you have put together your radio commercial copy, the script that is going to get sent to production. You feel its a good script, catchy, funny, compelling. Now, take away the information about the product or the product itself. If the commercial sounds good on its own without the product, then you got a bad copy. Remember to make your radio commercial about the product or the selling message itself.

The mains sales message should come first, and that should what the entire ad revolve around, it is what the creative concept should revolve around.