Radio Ads Work

2011-09-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

Virtual DJ - A Wrong Turn for Radio.

2011-08-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

While skimming through the August 18th edition of Inside Radio, I came across the news headline that read "Forget voice tracking, a non-human DJ may be radio's next big thing".

My first reaction was - "Are you frickin kidding me?!?!" Why in the world would the radio industry go in that direction? Frankly this would just send our industry in the wrong direction - downward spiral.

So I read more of the story and learn that the technology for the computer generated personality "Denise" was developed by Guile 3D Studio. Dominique Garcia, a veteran DJ from San Antonio learned of the technology and purchased "Denise" for $200.

According to the blog by Dominique on mysanantonio.com, when the Denise software program was developed, it was intended to be a virtual assistant that would act as a personal assistant who would answer your phone, update you social media, manage your schedule, act as an alarm clock etc... read entire blog post here:

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/dominiquegarcia/2011/08/local-radio-station-to-debut-worlds-first-artificial-intelligent-radio-dj/

Dominique was impressed with the software and thought it had the potential to be programmed to run an on air shift on the radio. Denise gets her first on air shift August 24 on KROV 1pm CST, the HD-2 or on the stream at http://www.krovfm.com/

Horrible idea for an industry that is already suffering from consolidation, budget cuts, fragmentation etc. The last thing the radio industry needs is another money saving technology that will cause more talented people to lose their jobs and less interaction with our listeners. Doesn't our country have enough people out of work already? Why do we continue to do things that have the potential to drive the industry into extinction.

What makes radio thrive is personality, the emotional connection we have with listeners, the way we engage our listeners, the connection a personality has with his/her audience is one of the most powerful connections in media. This emotional connection is what drives revenue, this connection is what works for advertisers and this connection will be completely lost by going the cheap route of digital automation.

When Rush Limbaugh tells his audience that he is sleeping great because of the bed he bought at Sleep Train - his audience responds buy buying beds from Sleep Train. When Brian Sussman tells his listeners that he purchased windows from a company he trusts - his listeners call American Vision Windows and say "I want to do business with you because Brian Sussman did business with you". When Ronn Owens tells his audience that they will get a great deal on a hotel room at the Handlery when they stay in the City, his listeners don't think twice about making a reservation there.

Dominique goes on to say "The idea and concept was never meant to blatantly disrespect any of my colleagues by creating a situation in which it would place their jobs in jeopardy." and then he goes on to say "radio owners may find the idea intriguing since it can save companies millions of dollars."

How will it save companies millions of dollars? By putting thousands of personalities out of work..that's how.

I'm sorry, but this is not the solution to save radio. Going back to our roots, being active in the community, delivering compelling content and delivering measurable results for our advertisers is what will save radio. If our advertisers do not have success, stations will not survive. Advertisers like Sleep Train, American Vision Windows and The Handlery hotel continue to use radio because the live, human, socially interactive radio personalities drive paying customers to their businesses.

If radio stations need to rely on Denise to endorse or promote a products to drive revenue - they might as well turn off the transmitter.

Denise will kill music radio, people will continue to flock to their ipods and Internet radio and what will be left? Interactive talk radio driven by personality and passion.

Radio Ads Work....and they work better on talk radio.

follow me on twitter @radioadsworksf

justin@radioadswork.com

Engagement Vs. Exposure

2011-08-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

When it comes to delivering your company's important marketing message to consumers, do you want your target market to be engaged with the message or simply exposed to it?

In today's ultra competitive marketing landscape it is becoming increasingly more difficult to cut through the clutter and get your marketing message to be seen and heard and more importantly acted upon.

As consumers, everywhere we turn there are marketing messages being hurled at us - Newspaper, TV, Radio, Billboards, Coupons, Text Messages, Email, Online Display Ads (on just about every web page you visit), Facebook, Hundreds of Daily Deals, Mobile ads within apps, shopping carts, Coffee Sleeves, Bathroom Stalls, Ad Words etc etc etc....marketing messages are out there - everywhere.

As business owners, we are faced with the challenge of choosing the most effective form of marketing that will deliver the best return on investment. And as you can see, there are hundreds of choices. Most companies can not afford to spend thousands of dollars on a branding campaign that simply gets their name/brand/logo exposed to their target consumer group.
In today's tough economy business owners need an effective message that will convert their target market into paying customers relatively quickly. The way to increase the probability of customer acquisition is to attract the customer, grab or occupy their attention and please them with your message so they will have the desire to do business with your company So, when it comes to delivering your company's important marketing message to consumers, do you want your market engaged with your message or simply exposed to it?

Engage: Verb

1. To occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons).

2. To attract and hold fast.

3. To attract or please.

Expose: Verb

1. To present to view; exhibit; display.

There is no question that if your message is consumed in a way that your customer is actively involved, engaged and paying attention to your message they will be more likely to do business with you than if they were just exposed to your message.

Can we agree that when customers are engaged with your message it is more powerful than if they were just exposed to it?

Now, when it comes to choosing a platform that will deliver your message in a way so customers will be engaged with it, what do you choose?

When evaluating marketing platforms, which forms of marketing truly engages customers with advertiser messages?

Online display? - No - passive, low click through rate. Exposed

Direct Mail? - No - perceived as "junk mail". Exposed

Facebook Ads? No - not interactive, low click rate. Exposed

Pandora/Internet Radio? No - It's an ipod with commercials - no emotional connection - Exposed

Shopping Carts? - We can see the ads, but we are looking for stuff to buy and put food on the table, certainly not engaged with the message - Exposed

AM / FM Traditional Radio? Yes and No. Formats that are background, easy listening, music driven vs. personality driven and several options for getting your favorite music or artist - I lean to Exposed vs. Engaged on this one.

Spoken word formats, Sports, News, Talk Radio. These formats engage the listener. They involve the listener as a participant in a conversation. People actively listen to gather information or call in to make a comment. Just like having a phone conversation with a friend or relative - you are actively listening, involved in conversation, consuming information.

Talk radio grabs the attention of the audience and when an advertising message is delivered either by the talk show host or the station announcer, the listener is in an environment where they are paying attention to what they are hearing, their attention is occupied - they are engaged with the station, they are engaged with your message.

Once again, I ask - When it comes to delivering your company's important marketing message, do you want your target market to be engaged with your message or exposed to it?

KGO and KSFO radio are two powerful stations with a loyal listener base that engages our listeners each and every day - your message will be heard, listened to and acted on when you deliver your message on these platforms. We have hundreds of clients experiencing great success. Your business can benefit from a custom marketing campaign that delivers results because our listeners will be engaged with your message.

Put our stations to work for you.

email: justin@radioadswork.com

Why Advertise?

2011-08-16T08:56:00.001-07:00

Why does your company advertise? Can you afford not to?

If your company does not advertise, here are some reasons that may change your mind....

1) Advertising motivates people to shop and buy from YOU.

2) Advertising allows you to target your best prospective customers.

3) Advertising allows you generate an increase in market share.

4) Advertising allows you to position your company within the market.

5) Advertising allows you to expand your market reach.

6) Advertising allows you to establish a relationship with new customers.

7) Advertising allows you to break through the competitive clutter.

8) Advertising allows you to make a lasting impression.

Possibly your company is already advertising and is experiencing some of these points above.

Radio advertising is a great way to enhance your current marketing efforts and is a great way to reach a targeted demographic group in a powerful way. Find out how you can develop an impactful marketing campaign using radio - visit www.radioadswork.com

Join The Fight Against Hunger

2011-06-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hunger in the Bay Area, Did You Know?

- 1 in 5 adults in the Bay Area are at risk of hunger and 1 in 4 children are at risk.

- For every $1 received, food banks in the Bay Area can distribute $4 worth of food

- Demand for food assistance in the Bay Area has increased by 45%since 2008

- KGO Newstalk 810 is joining forces with Bay Area Food Banks to fight hunger in 2011.

- KGO Fights Hunger Day is Friday, September 16 and will consist of a live radio event dedicated to raising awareness and much needed funds for local food banks in all nine Bay Area counties.

Why KGO?

In keeping with our long-standing tradition of taking on causes that effect so many within our listening audience, we believe that in 2011, we couldn’t find a more timely, meaningful challenge than helping to fight Hunger. In terms of “Listen More, Know More”, those that tune in will gain a new understanding of the Hunger issues facing us all and what each of us may be able to do to help. In an age when broadcasters look at their bottom lines more closely than they do community service, KGO is committed to making a positive change in one of the critical issues of our time. On August 22, listeners will hear (and see on-line) our commitment to covering this complex story, lead by KGO’s award-winning Broadcast Journalist and Host, Gil Gross, through a series of captivating special reports and interviews. “KGO Fights Hunger Day” culminates on Friday, September 16. “KGO Fights Hunger Day” is a live radio event dedicated to raising awareness and much needed funds for local food banks in all nine Bay Area counties. Consistent with our “Cure-A-Thon” approach to generating individual and corporate donations, that day we’ll host a series of live interviews, special reports, and both on-air and online features will direct listeners to donate by calling a special phone bank or online. KGOradio.com, KGO’s Facebook page and other social media platforms will link to the food bank partners throughout the area.

How Can Your Company Get Involved In The Fight Against Hunger?

As we began to more closely investigate the enormity of Hunger in our region, we discovered valiant efforts on behalf of many interest groups, corporate philanthropic, as well as individuals. The more we examined this issue, the more it made sense for us to extend to you and your company an invitation for a true partnership with the ultimate objective to position your company as a leader in the fight against Hunger. Dependent on the level of client underwriting, assets we’re prepared to implement include on-air/online promotional mentions, sponsorships of live call-ins from select area food banks and Gil Gross live remote from a food bank in all day live fundraiser on 9/16, creating a strong association with your company, the fight against Hunger and KGO.

Radio is a powerful platform that allows advertisers to reach people on an emotional level. Your message associated with cause related efforts can make an even larger impact on current and future customers.

Find out how you can be part of the effort to raise awareness and money to help fight hunger in the Bay Area.

justin@radioadswork.com

Advertising Headache

2011-06-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

I can certainly understand how figuring out a marketing and advertising plan can be a huge headache for most companies - especially in today's current landscape.

Long gone are the simple choices of just TV, Newspaper and Radio. Now there are thousands of different ways to reach consumers. It is incredibly fragmented, so where the hell do you start?

The first plan of action should be to find a platform that will serve as a foundation for your message.

Here is a list to choose from:
Network TV
Cable (hundreds of channels)
Newspaper
Local weeklies
Radio (40+ stations to choose from in the SF market)
Shopping carts
Yellow Pages
Back of receipts
Coupon books
Direct Mail
Satellite Radio
Billboards
Taxi tops
Coffee Sleeves
Bathrooms
Local Events
Trade Shows
Google Ad Words
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile Apps
Text Campaigns
Radio Station Websites
TV Websites
Newspaper Websites
1,000 other websites
Pandora
You Tube
Movie Theaters

The list goes on and on and on.

This is enough to make a business owner or Marketing director go completely insane when trying to put together an action plan.

How do you sift through the clutter? More importantly, how do you set your company apart and connect with your potential customer?

Rule of thumb: people make buying decisions emotionally. If you can make an emotional impact on your prospective customer, you have a much better chance of that person responding to your message.

Traditional media does this best and has been doing it for years. Most of the messages we are bombarded with online and on our mobile devices are seen as intrusive and are often ignored. And there is no emotional connection being made between the targeted customer and the company.

Whether or not your company needs to been seen(or heard) by the masses - at the end of the day, you need to reach people on an emotional level in order for them to make that purchasing decision and do business with you.

Now here is my pitch for radio.....just so you know it's coming :-)

Radio reaches people every day, every hour of the day and in most cases, is a companion to people. Listeners are drawn to a specific format because they like the music, enjoy listening to a personality, want to be informed etc. People have favorite radio stations, favorite songs, favorite talk show hosts. Radio provides an emotional connection with consumers more than any other media platform on the planet. Radio stations allow businesses to reach specific demographics, male, female, old, young, wealthy, credit challenged, educated, etc.

Radio can serve as an excellent foundation for your message. Find the right station that will reach your target demographics - build your emotional connection with these consumers, then assess what other support might be necessary from the extensive list above.

Radio is powerful
Radio connects
Radio works

How will you use Radio to help grow your customer base?

Thanks for listening.

justin@radioadswork.com

Another Radio Success Story

2011-06-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Radio brings new customers to local Bay Area winery. Just a few weeks ago, KSFO launched a new, local food wine and travel show called Edible Escapes. The program airs from 11a-1p every Sunday.

After speaking to a local winery about the program, we learned that they had an open house BBQ and wine tasting event coming up in less than 2 weeks.

After a quick negotiation and a small investment by the winery, we put together a focused marketing campaign to help them promote the event and reach out to a new potential customer base on KSFO 560 AM. The first introduction to the audience was through a 15 minute interview on Edible Escapes where the winery was able to tell their story. This was followed up by several promotional messages throughout the week to promote ticket sales to the open house. In addition we ran a leader board display banner on the KSFO website.

This short campaign ran over a 6 day period.

The on air messages delivered over 188,000 impressions against adults 21+
The online display delivered over 28,000 impressions
The banner was clicked on 64 times - in a 5 day period

The event was a huge success with over 1,000 tickets sold.

Of course not all of the people were there as a cause of the radio and online exposure, however, the exposure the winery received far exceeded their expectations. Partnering with KSFO allowed them to reach a new audience and sell tickets to this new customer group.

What made this marketing venture a success?
1) Local, specialty programming with a targeted demographic
2) Long form advertising integrated into the fabric of the radio product - on air interview on relevant programming - much like product placement on TV
3) Reaching the right audience - KSFO caters to an upscale adult crowd with a high disposable income and active lifestyle.
4) Marketing professionals with the clients best interest at heart.
5) Proper on air message
6) Reaching the audience through many avenues - on air, interview and online display.

I have been in the radio business for over 15 years - mostly in sales. My ultimate goal is to work with local Bay Area businesses and help them increase their revenue through effective marketing campaigns. Sometimes the assets I have to sell are not always the right solution for my client or prospect. There have been times where I have told a prospect that my products may not be the right solution based on their budget or who they are trying to reach. On the other hand, if there is a fit between the demographics of the station and the clients budget can make an impact - I will find a way to build the best possible marketing campaign to deliver the best results.

Spoken word radio engages listeners, develops a bond with listeners and can help shape their purchasing decisions. You can effectively surround these consumers with a multi platform campaign that includes: radio, online audio, online display, social media and event marketing - all under one roof......

contact me at radioadswork.com to start building a marketing solution for your business.

justin@radioadswork.com

The Power of Local Radio

2011-06-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Check out this story - the initial goal was to generate $15,000 to $25,000. By teaming up with KSFO radio Fisher House was simply amazed at the outcome.

KSFO 560 AM is very proud to announce that through the generous donations from KSFO listeners, over $135,000 was raised for the Fisher House Foundation!

KSFO, a proud supporter of the United States Military, has partnered with the Fisher House Foundation throughout 2011 to raise awareness and funds through a series of broadcasts and programs for the brave men and women and their families who have been affected during the continuous fight for our freedom both past and present. On Friday, May 27^th, the first phase culminated with a Live broadcast of The Brian Sussman Morning Show from the Fisher House located in Palo Alto, CA, featuring stories and interviews from residents staying at the house.

Fisher House provides no-cost housing and the comforts of home for family members while their loved ones rehab and recover from various injuries and ailments. There are fifty-two Fisher Houses in the U.S. and two in Germany. Twelve more houses are currently under construction or in design.

KSFO 560 AM is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for the Fisher House Foundation throughout 2011 so even more military families can benefit from their unique services.

This shows the power of radio, the power of a good cause and the responsiveness of an upscale demographic with a disposable income.

With the right message, your company can also tap into the spending power of this audience!!

Arbitron Kills Another Format in SF

2011-01-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

After two years of the new radio ratings methodology, another format dies in the San Francisco market. KDFC aired the Classical format since 1947, making it the longest running format in the Bay Area. But due to a dip in the ratings (which many would argue is from a flawed ratings system) and a shrinking advertiser base, the format can no longer be justified on a commercial radio station. Starting Monday, 102.1 will simulcast the Classic Rock format that is currently heard on 98.5 KUFX (KFox).

This is a growing trend across the country as more and more stations change format to "play the ratings game". Ultimately it is the the consumer that loses, however the radio industry feels the impact too. When formats go away, it pulls consumers away from the medium. some of those listeners will find other stations and other formats to enjoy, but when they specifically want Classical they have no choice but to turn to other content providers such as iTunes, online stations and satellite radio.

The Classic format isn't totally dead. It will move to 90.3 (KUSF), a non commercial signal that USC recently purchased from USF. Although the format will still be around, the signal is limited and does not cover the 9 county metro. So, consumers of Classical music will likely seek other ways to get thier fix.

What does this mean for listeners and the radio industry?
As a radio professional I hate to see this kind of thing happen. Mainly because it takes people away from the medium and gives consumers a reason to go elsewhere. Commercial radio is supported by our advertisers and we live by a flawed ratings system that has a major impact on ad revenue. This has caused hundreds of format changes across the country in the past two years and it has hurt the industry more that it has helped.

And what does this mean to advertisers?
KDFC appealed to an upscale consumer with disposable income and now those consumers are finding their entertainment elsewhere. So in the world of advertising, those companies that relied on reaching out to that upscale consumer on KDFC also needs to find a new way to reach them.

That upscale 35+ consumer can still be reached effectively on the radio. If your marketing efforts relied on the Classical format and platform to persuade consumers to use your services or products, you can still get to them in a powerful way. AM radio in the SF market appeals to a very similar consumer group - stations like KGO, KSFO, KNEW, KCBS and KNBR. So if your company has advertised on a Classical station to generate leads - all is not lost....take a look at the AM stations in your market - chances are you may even get better results.

www.Radioadswork.com

Justin Chimienti
Radio sales guy and marketing specialist.

A Beer, A Race, and a Very Fast Plane

2011-01-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

So, what do a beer a race and a very fast plane have in common? These are all tied to local events that can get your company message in front of targeted consumer groups.

First BEER:

KGO's 2nd annual Craft Beer and Fine Food Celebration will take place April 2nd at the vacant Barnes and Noble location at Jack London Square. There will be approximately 2,000 people attending this event that will feature 30 different craft beer and microbrews and food from local restaurants.

This event will also benefit the Alameda County Foodbank.

If your company is looking to feature a product or service that appeals to beer and fine food enthusiasts in a fun atmosphere, then this is a great event to showcase your wares.

This event will be promoted heavily on KGO and KSFO radio reaching over 1.5 million Bay Area consumers.

Second....a RACE:

Did you know that 2011 marks the 100th year of the Bay to Breakers foot race from San Francisco's Bay to the Breakers at the Great Highway. This is one of the largest attended events in San Francisco with 50,000 participants and over 100,000 spectators along the route.

Both KGO and KSFO are the radio media sponsors and there are endless opportunities to get your company involved with such a historic event. There are opportunities to deliver your company message on KGO, KSFO, on air interviews, website exposure, Greater Body Expo booth, on the race signage and product distribution and post race sales and sample opportunities.

This is a historic race and if you want to get involved, the sooner the better.

This event is just around the corner, taking place on May 15th. To get involved and have a custom marketing campaign designed, contact me at justin@radioadswork.com

Lastly....A Very Fast PLANE:

Top off your Bay Area event marketing tour with a special event like Fleet Week. This is where thousand upon thousands of people flock to the embarcadero waterfront with the majority of spectators gathering at the Marina Green. An estimated 1.2 million people will look to the skies during the two day arial event honoring US Naval Avation with a spectacular show by the Blue Angles. (Fleet week actually takes place October 6 to 11, but the main event will be on the 10th and 11th)

2011 is also a big year for naval avation, as it too celebrates its 100th year.

KSFO is the radio media sponsor of Fleet Week and we have booth space opportunities that can get your product and or services front and center on the Marina Green. This area will attract upwards of 400,000 people over the 2 day weekend October 10th and 11th.

If you would like to get involved and secure a space early, we are offering discounts for booth sponsors booking by February 28, 2011.

All event opportunites include media on KGO and or KSFO as well as exposure on kgoradio.com and ksfo.com

These are fantastic events to showcase your company, products and services and when paired with two of the most listened to radio station in the Bay Area - your marketing campaign is sure to be a home run.

For more information please contact Justin at justin@radioadswork.com

Radio Station Website Traffic On The Rise

2010-10-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

From Today's Inside Radio:

Surf’s up: radio websites attracting more users.

The percentage of U.S. adults that have visited a radio station’s website in the past month rose to 17.7% in 2010, up from 12.8% in 2006, according to the Media Audit. The study of 80 markets also finds that nearly three-quarters of radio website visitors are considered heavy or moderate listeners, listening to radio for almost three hours per day on average. The findings demonstrate the sales value of station website advertising when bundled with on-air audiences. According to the study, 88% of monthly radio website visitors have made one or more e-commerce purchases in the past year, compared to 63.1% of heavy radio listeners. What’s more, 36.7% of radio website visitors make twelve or more online purchases in a typical year — 61% higher than heavy radio listeners. “Advertisers looking to bolster awareness, online transactions and website traffic could do well by combining radio spots with radio website ads, rather than advertising on radio alone,” the study concludes. The adult alternative format indexes the highest among monthly station website visitors – 33.8% of adult alternative listeners have visited a radio station website in the past month, followed by alternative (31.6%), sports, (29.4%), news/talk (27.1%), rock (26.9%), public radio (25.8%), hot AC (25.8%), classic rock (25.7%), contemporary Christian (25%) and dance CHR (24.4%). The top markets for radio website visitors are Minneapolis-St. Paul (25.4%), Orlando (22.1%), San Jose (21.4%), San Francisco (21.3%) and Seattle-Tacoma (21.3%).

Advertising on the KGO or KSFO websites are a great way to make a deeper connection with upscale Bay Area consumers. KGO and KSFO listeners frequent our websites for information, contests, event updates, news updates and to listen online. With a combined unique audience of over 500,000 visitors any advertiser can effectively tap into this potential customer base. If you would like to develop a custom online program, please contact me.

Convergence of Radio and Social Media

2010-10-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Here are two great tidbits of info from Inside Radio. More proof that the convergence of Radio and Social Media can exponentially increase your brand awareness. Radio and Social Media combined is definately greater than the sum of its parts.

News and News Talk formats are natural fits with Social Media.

Inside Radio Deep Dive: Twitter in radio’s newsroom. What started out as a way to send a “short burst of inconsequential information” has become an indispensable tool in today’s news ecosystem. Twitter is helping media outlets not only distribute news but to track it down. Due to its speed, ease of use and soaring adoption rates, Twitter is among a growing number of platforms used in newsrooms to report breaking news or update a story. “A new battleground between news organizations has become email blasts and text alerts, yet Twitter is one of the fastest tools to disseminate breaking news information,” Bonneville all-news WTOP-FM, Washington (103.5) news director Mike McMearty says. “A ‘not guilty’ tweet from a courthouse can be sent to tens of thousands of subscribers in a matter of minutes.” CBS Radio all-news KCBS, San Francisco (740) has not one but four Twitter accounts. Twitter.com/kcbsnews serves as the main extension of the station’s all news brand, a place to tweet one-sentence stories and updates as they come in. Morning anchor Stan Bunger has his own account, where he retweets stories and posts his take on the news. KCBS also has separate Twitter accounts for weather and politics. “It’s a great way for the station to extend its brand and connect with listeners,” PD Ed Cavagnaro says. Like music stations, news outlets use Twitter to drive web site traffic and on-air listening. KCBS often puts a link in its tweet to a longer, more fleshed-out news story on its web site. It also uses Twitter, sparingly, to promote live news events carried on-air. In addition to breaking news, Clear Channel talkers “The Big One” WLW (700) and WKRC (550), Cincinnati use Twitter to encourage tune-in for specific topics. But social media in the newsroom comes with its challenges, including a learning curve for veteran reporters. “It’s a tough thing for some journalists to get used to,” consultant Gabe Hobbs says. “But it can be used as a two-way system, to get news out and to find out about news that is breaking.”

“Ignore social networking tools at your own peril.” Roughly a third (34%) of the public say they went online for news yesterday — on par with radio, and slightly higher than daily newspapers, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted from June 8-28. When cell phones, email, social networks and podcasts are added in, 44% of Americans say they got news through one or more internet or mobile digital sources yesterday. One-in-five (19%) regularly (7%) or sometimes (12%) get news or news headlines through social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. By comparison, only 3% of the public regularly or sometimes gets news from Twitter. However, among users of each of these sites, there are fewer differences in news consumption. As many Twitter users say they regularly get tweets about the news as social networking users who regularly get news through social networking sites (17% vs. 16%). And Twitter users are more likely to follow news organizations or individual journalists; 24% of Twitter users do this compared with 16% of social networking users. Millennium’s Eric Scott believes stations that ignore social networking tools do so at their own peril. “People are using it to communicate with one another and they want to use it to communicate with you,” he says. “If you’re not using the tool that everyone else is using in your audience to communicate with one another, you’ll go the way of the dinosaur.”

Source: Inside Radio

2010-2011 Event Marketing Opportunities

2010-10-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of aligning with a radio station to market your products and services are the events the station is involved with. Ever year KGO and KSFO is involved in many custom and heritage events with attendance from an intimate setting of 500 to huge crowds of over 200,000.

Each of these events can give your company a tremendous amount of exposure on the air, online and of course on site. Booth space and sponsorship opportunities are available and with enough lead time we can really customize your marketing efforts using all marketing elements to drive customers to your store or website.

If you would like more information on how to get involved with any of these events - please contact me.

Here is to a prosperous 2011 and beyond!

ALL STAR DEBATE – Date: TDB

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE WINE COMPETITION – February 19, 2011 – SF

NAPA VALLEY MUSTARD FESTIVAL – March 12-13, 2011 - Napa

NEW ZEALAND WINE DISCOVERY – April 30, 2011

PACIFIC COAST DREAM MACHINES SHOW – April 2011, Half Moon Bay

KGO CRAFT BEER AND FINE FOOD FESTIVAL – April 2, 2011 – Jack London Square

PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS WOMEN OF CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE – May 10, 2011 – Moscone

MARIN SONOMA CONCOURS D' ELEGANCE – May 15, 2011 – Marin

WALNUT CREEK ART & WINE FESTIVAL – June 4-5, 2011 – Walnut Creek

PALO ALTO CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE – June 25-26, 2011 – Stanford

PINOT DAYS – June 2011 – Fort Mason

NAPA VALLEY FESTIVAL DEL SOLE – July 15-24, 2011 - Napa

SAUSALITO ART FESTIVAL – September 2-5, 2011

MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL – September 16-18, 2011 - Monterey

GIRLS NIGHT OUT – Fall 2011

RACE FOR THE CURE SUSAN B. KOMEN – September 25, 2011

FLEET WEEK – October 8-9, 2011 – Marina Green SF

GENE BURNS COOKIE EXCHANGE – Oct-Dec 2011

UNION SQUARE HOLIDAY ICE RINK Nov – Jan

The Fast Track To Social Media Success is....

2010-09-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Social Media is becoming more and more popular as companies look for new ways to engage their potential customers.

The challenge is that many companies either do not understand how to use Social Media or they just don't have the time. More and more Social Media marketing agencies are coming out of the woodwork and they are wooing many businesses and capturing their marketing dollars by doing all of the social media grunt work for them.

This may be a great way to get started - but once you are "in the game" then what? You still need to gather a following, and for most consumers, what is the benefit of following a mattress company, or jewelery store, or tire company etc - let's face it, it's just not sexy. Furthermore, how do you grow your following? Option 1 is time.....wait it out just like eveyone else. Not everyone can be Ashton Kutcher or Justin Bieber.

Your company could do it the old fashion way and just follow every Tom, Dick and Harry out there - but if your company relies mainly on local customers - this just isn't going to be the key to your success. There are even some tricks out there that can allow you to follow certain people on Twitter just by keywords that they are posting, however it still lacks local appeal.

If you really want to get on the fast track with your Social Media and dominate your local market, align with a local media outlet that has a built in "following". The most similar medium to Social Media is Radio. Radio appeals to people on a very personal level. People relate to radio through their favorite music or their favorite talk show host. For example, if your best friend tells you about an amazing experience they just had at a fantastic new restaurant, the likelyhood of you trying that restaurant in the next week would be very high. If they tweeted it or posted it on Facebook or Yelp - again, the likelyhood of you trying that restaurant would be pretty high. Why? Because you know them, you trust them and you believe them.

If someone you follow on Twitter (most likely someone you dont even know) says something positive or negative about any company - you will probably take it with a grain of salt. On the other hand, if your favorite radio personality tells you about their favorite restaurant the chances of you trying out that restaurant is also relatively high. Why? Because you believe this person, you trust them, in most cases you feel like you know them since you have listened to them for years. It also may depend on the format of station they are on. Talk radio personalities tend to have an even stronger impact on their listeners or "followers". We see this every day in the radio business and personality live reads or endorsements are one of the most powerful messages on the radio.

Now, how do you use this information to put your Social Media marketing campaign on the fast track??? Add a radio componant - it's that simple :-). If you can stand the test of time, then by all means - wait it out on Twitter and Facebook. But if you want to put together a really effective campaign get radio on your side - tap into the hundreds of thousands of followers that tune in every day and convert them to your followers. Just like the restaurant example, if one of my radio personalities started asking their listeners to follow your company on Twitter or join your Facebook page because of the benefits of doing so - chances are pretty high that they will and you will be on the fast track to social media success.

Now, if every time a radio personality opened his or her mouth and said follow this company on Twitter and that company on Facebook the concept will begin to lose its appeal and effectiveness. So the early adopters of this concept will reap the benefits......so who is in?

In Response to 6 Reasons Why Social Media Works

2010-06-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Below is my response 6 Reasons Why Social Media works posted by Katie Lance - My responses are 1a), 2a) etc.....

6 reasons why social media works
From Future of Real Estate MarketingBy Katie Lance, Thursday, June 24, 2010.
Inman News

I have been thinking a lot about social media lately. Inevitably when I talk to someone outside of the social media/Facebook/Twitter world I always get a few snickers or questions like, "Does that really work?" Believe it or not, I don't just cross my fingers and hope it works!
Here are some of my thoughts. (I know some of these are so basic, but they are the heart of why I wholeheartedly believe in what I do and what motivates me everyday.)

1. People are connected to you because they have volunteered to hear from you. Think about it: They clicked a button and chose to listen to you and be connected to you. They have raised their hand and said, "Please send me messages about your business!" If you have 500 people on your list, imagine a room of 500 people who asked to listen to you.
1a) People listen to a specific talk radio station because they chose to tune in to that specific station. Think about it - they turned on their radio and they tuned into a specific radio station and they are connected to that stations personality and they are listening to that personality and all he or she has to talk about. The listener likes what the radio personality has to talk about, they trust that personality and they will most likely talk about what the personality had to say with their friends or social network. Imagine a room not filled with 500 people, but with 50,000 people - thats the power of radio - RADIO is social media - especially talk radio.

2. You should post content that is interesting to you -- that you would want to share. People share info because they want to, because there is very little "pitch," and because they feel good about passing it on. Social media is a reputation and client builder.
2a) Radio delivers content - it is interesting to the talk show host and it is interesting to the people who choose to listen - otherwise, they would not be listening. There is no pitch - its simply a conversation a talk show host is having with their thousands of listeners. Often times they will take calls and banter with their listeners and often times listeners will talk to their friends "did you hear what Ronn Ownes had to say today" etc. The information is passed on, in conversation and sometimes through social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. I'm not bashing Facebook and Twitter. They can enchance and boost radios messages. But, they wont replace the power of radio - only make it more powerful.

3. Do you find yourself marketing to the same people over and over again? Social media exists for sharing and expanding your reach. It's one of the ways you grow your audience without paying a single dime.
3a) Yes, social media is a low cost way to reach a customer base. Don't forget, that radio is social media - it reaches a target demographic on a personal level. People have favorite radio stations, favorite talk show hosts. Radio can cost several thousand dollars to deliver a message, however it is only expensive if it does not work. and the fact is, radio would not exist if it did not work. Radio helps many businesses generate thousands of qualified leads every week. Radio already has an audience - its a place a business can go to expand their reach immediately.

4. Social media is very different than e-mail. E-mail is definitely important, but different than social media. When you forward an e-mail, you typically send it to just a select few people. But when you retweet or share something, you are forwarding to your whole audience.
So when you post something interesting, and your friend re-posts it to her 100 friends, and then someone re-posts it to her 1,000 friends, and then someone else re-posts it to 10,000 friends ... this is the power of social media! This is not happening on TV or radio -- there is no way to share information easily until it comes to social media.
4a) Radio delivers interesting content every day. When listeners discuss what radio talks about to their friends at the water cooler - it is a retweet. When a radio personality talks about a resturant they just patronized and what a great meal they had or they tell their audience about their bed or they talk about their favorite new gadget they just got from AT&T - it is a powerful message - this information is shared easily and it is on the RADIO.

5. When someone posts a testimonial on social media, that is social proof. Do you ever read a testimonial on a printed page and wonder if it is real? When you read a testimonial or review on a social media site, from someone you are connected to, it can be easier to gauge if it's authentic.
5a) see 4a) - radio has been delivering testimonials for years and they work tremendously well. when your favorite radio personality tells you about a product or service - it is believable. They just delivered factual information to you about the traffic, weather, a news item etc etc etc and when they deliver an advertiser message - it is heard as factual and it works for advertisers. Its authentic. and when this personality tweets or makes a facebook post about the same advertiser - it is just as powerful. difference is that the radio audience is thousands of times larger than anything on FB or Twitter. Yes, FB and Twitter are growing, but as it grows, so does the clutter. Can you really sift through 1,500 tweets a day - we can barely get through 100 emails a day at work.

6. Social media lives on. Yes, it may only be visible in your feed for an hour or so, depending on how many followers you have, but beyond that, it can live on via search tools.
6b) Social media lives on, but unless you are tweeting on a consistent basis - all of those messages even the ones that "live on" in cyberspace will jsut get lost in the clutter. Social media can learn from a medium that has been doing social media since it began.

That's my 2 cents about social media. It's not going to replace radio or TV, but in conjunction with it, a company can deliver a very powerful and effective message. Believe it!

comments welcome.......

Radio & Social Media

2010-06-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Social media has grown considerably over the past few years. Most people have taken the leap into Facebook to communicate with family and friends while others have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.

I was reluctant to jump on the fast moving Facebook train, but I did about a year and a half ago, and I must say that I am glad that I did. For me Facebook has turned out to be a great way to connect with family and old friends. It has also proved to be a creative outlet for me for posting pictures I take with my SLR camera and for posting funny quotes. as far as Facebook being a marketing tool - it's not really the place for me. I'm against subjecting my friends and family to my business messages - there are other places for that - like my blog and my website http://www.radioadswork.com/

As for Twitter, I never really understood it or how I would use it or why anyone would want to "follow" a celebrity or care about what a friend is doing every second of the day. But maybe it can be use effectively as a marketing tool - maybe.

Last week, we had a guest speaker come into our sales meeting to speak to us about how big media (Radio / TV) and social media are here to stay and how they benefit from each other.

This was an enlightening experience for me and immediatly after the meeting I activated the Twitter account that I had set up a couple of months ago but never did anything with it. (Radioadswork1)

I have been working in radio for my entire professional career. I know radio is a powerful way to reach people. Radio can help businesses reach a target demographic and reach them on a very personal level. Most people have a favorite radio station, a favorite format, a favorite personality or talk show host etc. When these people hear advertisements on their favorite station or hear about a product or service their favorite radio personality talks about, they are more likely to buy or try that product or service - much like if your best friend told you about an experience they had with a product or service. - That is how powerful radio is and how it can be for your business.

Now...back to Twitter and Facebook. Effective marketing tools? Yes and no.

My feeling is that Radio - IS facebook and twitter. Radio raches hundreds of thousands of people each week - on a personal level. Radio talks about the things people want to hear. It's engaging. And people react to what they hear on the radio. When someone "tweets" it could be the equivalent to a radio host talking about a paticular subject. When a listner tells a friend about what they heard on the radio - it could be the equivalent of a "RT" or Retweet. To me THAT's social media. People talking to each other face to face, not through an electronic device. Talking through an electronic device is, frankly, anti-social.

So, how does big media and social media work together?? big media and social media compliment each other. big media can help drive the numbers of "followers" on Facebook or Twitter. It's another way for the consumer / listener to be reached. When a listeners favorite radio host says follow me on Twitter - they probably will. Then when that host Tweets - "I just had the most amazing stay at XYZ hotel" - the likelyhood of that listner/follower of booking a stay at XYZ hotel is exponentially greater. This is how social media compliments big media and makes it effective for an advertiser to reach a consumer on an even deeper personal level.

When Facebook and Twitter become Spam. A recent personal experience. I have a friend that is in real estate. Every one of his posts on Facebook is about real estate, mortgages, home prices, trends etc. For me, since I use FB as a social tool, not a business tool, these posts become annoying to me and I either ignore them or I hide them. Then these messages are not as effective because they are no longer reaching me.

On another note, I recently posted some pictures of my family and me at a place that allows visitors to jump on trampolines for $10 per hour. We had such a good time I posted a few pictures of our experience on Facebook. A friend of mine saw my pictures and took his family the very next day. It was not a solicitation, but the experience that provoked my friend to want to go as well. This is how big media and FB can synergize - not by posting 22 times a day about "what's happening", but showing a friend or follower your experiences and how they mught benefit as well.

Twitter on the other hand. Short messages that in most cases have a link to a larger message. Problem is that we live in a short message world and if we are following 15,000 people, we dont have time to read that many short messages. Which means we are going to be VERY selective about what short messages we read and even more selective about the long messages we read.

Honestly if someone is follwing more than 30 or 40 people it is almost impossible to keep up with all of the messages. In this case a "twitterer" would most likely follow only his or her top 10 favorites. So in reality if a company has 20, 30 or 40 thousand followers and then tries to monitize that relationship by selling the value of their posts to a potential advertiser - they really do not have that many actual readers - they will be lost in the twitter clutter. This is not to say that the messages won't be powerful - however the audience is much smaller than what it may appear to be.

So - moral of the story. If you want to reach people on a personal level - with a powerful social marketing tool - use radio - its the original FB and Twitter. and if you want to enhance your marketing to a select few "followers" use radio and market to their twitter & FB fan base and you greatly increase your chances for gaining a new satisfied customer!

Upcoming Events

2010-05-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some upcoming events that KGO and KSFO are part of. Coupled with an on air and web campaign - presence at any of these events can get your message in front of several thousand consumers!

KGO All Star Debate:
June 25, 2010
Walnut Creek Lesher Center
Attendance 780
Opportunities to have a table and or pass out information at the event

Palo Alto Concours d' Elegance KSFO event
June 27, 2010
Sanford University
Attendance: 12,000+
Booth Space Opportunities

Pinot Days - KGO event
June 27, 2010
Fort Mason, San Francisco
Attendance 3,500+
Booth Space Opportunities

Sausalito Art & Wine Festival - KGO Event
Sept 4-6, 2010
Attendance 40,000+
Booth Space Opportunity

Monterey Jazz Festival - KGO Event
Sept 17-19, 2010
Monterey
Attendance 40,000+
Booth Space Opportunity

Girls Night Out - KGO Event
September, 2010
Santa Clara Convention Center
Attendance 1,000+
Booth Space Opportunity

Fleet Week - KSFO Event
October 9-10
San Francisco
Attendance - 1 million+
Booth Space Opportunity

For information on any of these events or how to get involved or fro sampling opportunities, please contact Justin Chimienti @ 510-910-1846

Why Advertise??

2010-05-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

In a challenging economy, why is it important to continue to invest your hard –earned money in advertising? Because advertising is a business’s most important link to the consumer – and savvy business owners may actually intensify their marketing efforts to increase sales or meet other critical financial objectives. Here are some things to think about:

Advertising Creates Store Traffic
Continuous store traffic is the first step towards increasing sales and expanding your base of shoppers. The more people who come into the store, the more opportunities you have to make sales. A National Retail Federation survey found that for every 100 items shoppers plan to buy, they make 30 unanticipated purchases.

Advertising Attracts New Customers
Your market changes constantly. Newcomers to your area mean new customers to reach. For people earning more money, changes in lifestyles and buying habits occur. The shopper who wouldn’t consider your business a few years ago may be a prime customer now.

Advertising Encourages Repeat Business
Shoppers don’t have the store loyalty that once did. Shoppers have mobility and freedom of choice. Your must advertise to keep pace with your competition. According to the National Retail Federation: “Mobility and non-loyalty are rampant Stores must promote to get former customers to return and to seek new ones.”

Advertisers Generate Continuous Business
Your doors are open. Employees are on the payroll. Even the slowest days produce sales. As long as you’re in business, you’ve got overhead to meet and new people to reach. Advertising can generate traffic now… and in the future.

Advertising is an Investment in Success
Advertisers give you a long-term advantage over competitors cut back or cancel advertising. A survey of more than 3,000 companies found that advertisers who maintained or expanded advertising over a 5-year period saw their sales increase an average of 100%, and companies that cut advertising grew at least half the rate of those who advertised steadily.

Advertising Keeps You Competitive
There are only so many customers in the market ready to buy at any one time. You have to advertise to keep regular customers and to counterbalance the advertising of your competition. You must advertise to keep or expand your market share or you will loose to more aggressive competitors.

Advertising Keeps Your Business Top-of–Mind
With shopping, many people postpone buying decisions. They often go from store to store comparing prices, quality and service. Advertising must reach them from steadily through the entire decision-making process. Your name must be fresh in their minds when they decide to put YOU on their list and ultimately, buy.

Advertising Gives Your Business a Successful Image
In a competitive market, rumors and bad news travels fast. Nothing sets the record straight faster than advertising; it tells your customers and competitors that your doors are open and you’re ready for business. Vigorous and positive advertising can bring shoppers into the marketplace, regardless of the economy.

Advertising Maintains Morale
Positive advertising boosts morale. It gives your staff strong, additional support. When advertising or promotion is suddenly cut or cancelled, salespeople and employees may be alarmed or demoralized.

Advertising Generates Income for your Business
Advertising works. Businesses that succeed are usually strong, steady advertisers. Look around. You’ll find that most aggressive and consistent advertisers are almost invariably the most successful.

Content - Pay Vs. Free?

2010-02-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

The Internet sure has changed the way companies do business - including radio stations.

Radio still remains the only medium that you can get for free. All others - Internet, TV, Magazines, Newspaper etc etc etc, you have to pay to get the content (and the advertising).

The use of the Internet allows all of these mediums to provide their content to consumers where the consumer can access it at their leisure.

Media outlet websites certainly get their fair share of website traffic, and the content that is provided through the traditional means (on air) can also be accessed online.

There is a tremendous appetite for free radio - Millions of people tune into their favorite radio stations every week. Over a million people listen to my two radio stations alone (KGO 810AM and KSFO 560AM) each week. Accessing radio content online through streaming and podcasts is becoming more and more popular. Podcasting is basically radios DVR. This allows people to listen to their favorite radio talk shows - essentially on their time.

Even with the incredible number of downloads for podcasts, radio's regular on air audience still remains high.

No matter how you slice it or dice it, there is a huge appetite for radio - on air and on the web - and for the time being they both remain free.

When it comes to content - content that you can only get from one source - what is the real value of that content?

Consumers want the content and they want to be able to have access to it as many ways as possible - on the computer, on the TV/radio, and on their mobile devices.

Problem is that all of these ways of distributing the content cost money. And in a world where everything seems to be in decline - especially ad spending, it is becoming more and more costly to distribute content.

People are willing to pay for content (and broadcast quality)
-Sirius XM
- direct TV
- Tivo
- digital cable

These consumers are paying for
- entertainment choices
- convenience
- quality signal

So there is no question that the consumer, if the content is compelling enough - or a must have, they will pay for it.

As I stated before, radio (traditional AM and FM) is the only entertainment medium that consumers do not have to pay to get the content, it remains free.

Putting the content online and on mobile devices offers quality and convenience. So if a radio station decides to require a premium to access their content online or on a mobile device because they are offering quality and convenience and options - would the consumer be willing to pay for that quality and convenience?

My bet is that they would - if it is done properly. Traditional radio has yet to charge for their content. It will forever remain free (ad supported) on air - but the days of free content on the web are numbered. It won't be long before a radio group gets smart and finds a way to generate revenue with their content online (through subscription vs. ad support). People spend thousands of dollars every year to receive content when and where they want it. I think radio is missing a revenue stream - not from advertisers, but from consumers. The appetite is there - if the consumer wants it bad enough, they will find a way to get it and if they can't get it for free - they will pay a small fee to get it.

Your thoughts on this issue are welcome.

-Justin Chimienti
http://www.radioadswork.com/

Radio Ads Work Commercial

2010-01-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

I believe in radio - I use radio and streaming to generate leads - you should too!

Radio Advertising

2010-01-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my radio blog – Radio Ads Work. My name is Justin Chimienti and I have been in radio advertising sales for over 12 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have worked for all types of stations with all types of formats and it is my goal to provide my readers with useful information that can help them make educated decisions when developing a radio marketing campaign.

Along with my website, www.radioadswork.com, I will use this blog to keep my readers up to date with information on my stations, unique campaigns that have been successful for our advertisers, market information, upcoming events, news and other pertinent content. (My website is currently being updated and is under construction – I hope to have it live soon.)

Before I dive into my first rant, I would like to pose to you the question – what topics of discussion would you find useful related to radio and radio advertising? In order for me to make my blog as relevant to your needs as possible, your feedback is critical. Feel free to post something here or email me at Justin@radioadswork.com

Now on to my first rant……

……so radio ads work right? Well, not exactly. A lot of the time they don’t work but in order for them to work for your company, understanding why they don’t work can lead you on the right path to understanding why they do.

Why Radio Does Not work…..

1) The “test” trap. Typically when advertisers “test” radio or a specific station to see if it will generate calls, they are set up to fail from the start.
• Advertising simply does not work this way. Testing radio for a week or two is as effective as going to the gym once a week and expecting to put on muscle mass or to lose weight.

• No matter what type of advertising you choose for your company, just like exercise, frequency and consistency is key.

• The best way to “test” radio is to gather information on who advertises on radio, how consistent are they, what is their message, what time of day are they on, how many times per week does their commercial air etc. These are the best clues to help you determine how and when to use radio. Find similar businesses to yours and use what they are using. They have paved the road for you – find businesses that are successful and mirror what they are doing.

• Testing radio just to see if it will work is simply a waste of your time and money. The fact is, radio works if done properly – This has been proven over and over by companies that advertise on the radio - make the commitment and it will work for you too.

2) Wrong station or format
• The beauty of radio is that it is very targeted. There are several different formats that are programmed to attract a certain type of person or consumer.

• When radio does not work possibly the message if falling on deaf ears i.e. not reaching the correct consumers. If your business is selling a beauty product, you probably don’t want to be on a station that is programmed to attract a male audience such as a sports station. Or if you are trying to reach homeowners, advertising on a station that mostly attracts a young audience would not be the ideal choice.

• Matching your product or service to the station(s) that attract the consumers you are trying to reach is very possible. The San Francisco market has over 90 radio station signals - one or more of those stations is going to have the right format that attracts the consumers your company wants to reach.

• Simply put, in order to catch the right kind of fish (consumer) you must fish in the correct pond (correct station)

3) Unrealistic Expectations
• Unrealistic expectations more often than not can be the culprit for why a radio campaign is deemed unsuccessful.

• If the expectation is to get 10x calls the first time your superbly written and awesomely produced radio commercial airs – you are certain to be disappointed.

• Radio is a frequency medium and it takes time and consistency for your radio campaign to start working. (in fact any type of advertising you do will take time and consistency to work – so patience is a must)

• Efficiency of your advertising works much like the efficiency of your automobiles fuel consumption. When you first step on that accelerator, your fuel consumption is very poor, but once you reach cruising speed, your fuel consumption is much more efficient. The same holds true for your radio campaign – at first your cost per call or cost per lead will be high, but once you have developed a presence on a station and built equity with the audience, your cost per call/lead will be much better than when the campaign first started.

4) It’s the Message
• Like in real estate – it’s “location, location, location” in advertising, it’s “the message, the message, the message”

• There are a lot of do’s and don’ts when it comes to delivering the right message on the radio:
• Don’t:
• Write too much copy – a message that has too much copy has to be read fast and does not allow the talent to put any “personality” or tone or emphasize certain word or phrases – it comes across as insincere and not believable.

• Mentioning address, phone number and website – too many ways to contact you will confuse the listener – give them one way to reach you and pound home the message, repeat, repeat, repeat. Use a vanity number or website, they are easier to remember and you will experience results sooner.

• Change copy just because you are sick of it. Often times advertisers change copy way too much, either because they are sick of hearing their same message again and again or they think it has lost its effectiveness. Fact is you will probably hear your commercial more than the average person – just like the campaign, you have to give your message time to stick with the listener. If you do change copy, make sure there is a good reason to do so, like an update in the offer, special sale, grand opening etc.
• DO:
• Tell YOUR audience what’s in it for them – yes, when your commercial is airing – you have the microphone – this is your platform to invite YOUR audience to your store or website – tell them how they will benefit from your product or service.

• Have a call to action – tell your audience to do something – visit the store, call, visit the website, make their own coupon and bring it in etc (have ONE call to action, not several)

• Have an offer that is so compelling that it sets you apart from everyone in your industry.

• Use the power of personality endorsements – Having a personality endorse your product or simply read your copy has been a proven path of success. You can certainly build equity, trust and credibility with an audience over time without a personality endorsement, however having a well know personality that already has built in trust with his or her audience read your commercial will speed up the effectiveness of your campaign.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated. Please feel free to email with any questions or comments: justin@radioadswork.com