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It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It

April 24, 2015

There is an old commonly used adage, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” In the radio business, no adage rings more true with regards to creating effective radio advertising. In order for an advertising campaign to work on the radio or in any communication medium, a few key pieces of infrastructure must be in place to be successful: a strong advertising campaign with the right amount of penetration aimed at the advertiser’s targeted demographic, good production value, and strong copywriting. The last piece of the equation is often overlooked when creating advertising material.

If you decide to undertake writing radio ad copy, here are five very important and useful tips to craft a strong advertising message:

  1. KISS Method. Keep It Simple Smartie. A typical :30 second radio spot is 80 to 90 words. An effective ad wants to hook the listener within the first third of the message.
  2. What are you selling? Ensure that the audience has a clear idea of the product that you are selling or the cause that you are trying to promote. The spot should decisively drive an action. It should not be obscure or leave the audience guessing.
  3. It’s OK to get personal. Radio ad copy should not sound systematic or contrived. The radio copy should be tailored to that radio station’s specific format and create a genuine human-to-human interaction in order to elicit a genuine response from the listener.
  4. No Need for TMI. Try to refrain from using too many statistics or being long-winded. Good radio copywriting is simple, creates a cause for action, and then drives an action.
  5. Promote! Accentuate your product or service’s positives, and promote why a listener will need your product or service.

While these tips help to make strong and effective radio copy, there are other elements that can be used to make sure that your listeners hear what you mean to say. Use the comment box below and share some of your suggestions!

Information from these websites contributed to this post:
http://www.nimic.com.au/2012/02/tips-for-writing-an-effective-radio-script/
http://www.commercehouse.com/effective-radio-advertising.php

-Lauchin D. Williams Jr, Research Specialist

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