All of us have jammed to some of our favourite songs on the radio, just to turn down the volume when someone starts to speak and thinking it might be a boring weather prediction. Guilty?

Well, if your radio advert is enticing enough, you can be sure that your listeners will not switch off that radio once you have their attention. Radio advertising is beneficial for your brand because it reaches a wide pool of consumers — it is an anywhere, anytime platform that targets and significantly influences its community. 

It is expected that radio advertising will reach an expenditure of over USD$30-million in 2024 — now that is a trend you need to be part of. More importantly, marketers need to realise that radio is not dead and that it's an active medium to communicate with your audience.

So, marketers, why not look into how radio can expand your efforts, reach a broader audience and give you more value for your money?

media update's Jana van der Westhuizen helps you to design the perfect radio advert by looking at the most important aspects that you need to take note of.

Want the perfect radio advert? Here's how:

Tell a story

Have you ever listened to a story on the radio, and you catch yourself making up an imaginary world solely based on what someone has said? Well, that's what we call good storytelling

Yes, you want to sell your brand, but being pushy is never the way to go. You need to have the right tools to create a story that your listeners will love.

How can you do this? Let's find out.

Get a copywriter
A copywriter is skilled in writing shorter and catchier phrases of text. However, they must know your brand, slogans and lingo to still portray the image of your brand in their writing. Basically, their job is to paint a picture with the words they use.

Select the right voice artists
Your text is only as good as the person who is conveying the message — and that would be your voice over artists. Always remember to choose someone that fits your brand image. 

Then, by looking at the text and the goal of this advert, you can then select a person that specialises in acting, announcing or narrating to see which method fits the text best.

Now that we have that settled, we need to see where your brand will be most powerful — and that's why you need to …

Select the right station

Now that you have the perfect text and someone to convey it, you need to decide where you will host your advert. Selecting a radio station is not as easy as it looks. You need to be able to target the right audience that will be interested in your brand. 

Don't just immediately go for the big shots, but do your research on what each radio station offers. For example, Tuks FM would be great if you want to reach a younger demographic that is interested in new opportunities.

But what can make the selection process easier? Ask yourself these questions:
  • What are you selling?
  • Which audience do you want to reach?
  • How much are you willing to pay to advertise?
  • What are the available time slots for your advert?
  • Is this radio station relevant to your brand?
If you can get the answer to these questions, we can start our game plan.

Use social media wisely

With the rise of social media, most radio stations thought, 'Uh-oh, here is trouble’ — but they soon realised how beneficial it is to represent their brand on other types of mediums and not just exist in solitude.  

A radio advert is the beginning of your strategy, and aligning it with your social media or print media messaging is important as it creates coherency and streamlines communication. Whenever that ad pops up on the radio again, they immediately tie it to your brand.

So, how can you support your radio advertisement?
  • Make sure your social media platforms align with the messaging of your radio advert.
  • Update your contact details and ensure that someone is there to help if any queries or interests arise.
  • Get monitoring — with media monitoring, your adverts can be analysed to see if it is targeting the correct audience and if they are in the correct time slot.

Have a clear call to action 

'Don't just listen, do something!’ — yes, that is exactly how your listener must feel. The last important factor to remember is the most important — the call to action (CTA). Without that, your efforts are wasted

So how can you make sure that your CTA does not land up being muted? Well, instruct your listeners on what to do. Your advert should not leave them wondering what its actual purpose was. 

To create a definite CTA, you need to:
  • have a strong use of verbiage as this will attract attention to the correct part of the text
  • not overwhelm your listener with too much information. This will make the CTA disappear from the messaging
  • have only one CTA, and place it towards the middle or to the end of your ad so that it stays fresh on their minds
  • give a clear method on how they can contact your brand, and
  • repeat.
media update.FM, out (frequency lost).

Do you think that radio advertising will help you in your marketing goals? Share your thoughts about it in the comments section.

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Are you serious about creating radio advertisements? Then here are Seven elements marketers should include in their radio ads.
*Image courtesy of Pexels