How to Write Great Radio Commercials for Smaller Markets

Sep 25, 2011
Dan McCurdy

Mic and Headphones - Dan McCurdy

There are ways of writing advertising copy that apply to other mediums that apply equally well to radio but radio has advantages for smaller advertisers

Every advertiser wants their radio commercial and advertising campaign to work however they judge the results. This applies even more so in local markets when budgets are restricted. Advertisers with smaller budgets are keen that any investment they make reaps the rewards they expect. Understand the expectations of these businesses and exactly what they want to achieve and a copywriter can write good radio that can become great radio advertising.

Writing Radio Ads for Smaller Markets

There are notable and unique differences between working on advertising campaigns that might run across a nation as part of larger marketing strategy, and a campaign booked by a business trading solely in a local market with a more restricted budget. There are however a number of common objectives for anyone advertising in a marketplace regardless of the size its operation. These objectives include:

To build the brand
Establish the brand proposition
Reinforce the brand / company image
Increase market share
Keep ahead of the competition

An advertiser with a more restricted budget might perhaps want more immediate results if only to maintain the business’s cash flow.

A Good Radio Ad is One That Works

There are no strict templates for writing a good radio ad. For many smaller advertisers "good" implies "effective," as in "recoups the costs type-good-radio ad." This is largely because every campaign is different and because every client wants different things from their advertising campaign(s), so before any writing begins the process should start with a brief. Good advertising copy for radio demands a good brief, and the creative brief is the conversation between the advertiser and the writer or the exec that starts the whole process. In a smaller market place a creative brief should incorporate the following questions:

What does the advertiser expect from the campaign?
What realistically does the business expect to achieve?
Are the expectations realistic and achievable?
Is the budget final and are any other constraints changeable?

And the Creative Brief itself should provide the following information:

What’s the target market for the campaign?
Who are the ads aimed at?
What do you want them to do?
Why should they do it?

To reiterate, once the expectations from the advertiser are decided and agreed as achievable with the budget, the brief will provide solutions for the end result, an end result that better ensures happy clients.

The Creative Brief and Measuring Ad Effectiveness

What this brief process means is that all this input and expectation will affect the way the radio ad is constructed and can often help the copywriter put together a more effective ad. The business in a smaller market might have a reasonable set of expectations for example:

To sell more products
Increase footfall into their premises
Take more bookings, and increase telephone enquiries
More hits to the business website and increase web orders
Generate more sales and increased profits.

To achieve this, the radio ad must connect with the listener and radio is the perfect medium to do just that. Radio can talk one to one with each listener. If there’s reason enough for the listener and prospective customer of the business to do something, the chances they’ll do it are greatly increased.

Writing Effective Radio Commercials

There is a time and place for rewarding creativity for its own worth and there is a time for rewarding effectiveness. The two are not mutually exclusive, but there is a simple set of directions that can help the effectiveness of an ad campaign restricted by budget or ad duration.

Find a good offer, a good simple proposition from the client.
Put this proposition simply.
Put the proposition with a single voice over.
Or use radio’s great strengths to write a simple SHORT scenario.
Repeat the offer again and what the listener should do to get it.

This can all be done in quite a short ad, even 20 or 30 seconds. Shorter ads do not always restrict the results. In fact research has shown that shorter ads heard more often can often be more effective than those of a longer duration. Great radio ads are those that work; those that work especially for advertisers who can measure the results locally and immediately by the effect on their business.

Dan McCurdy - Dan McCurdy is a freelance writer producer creative and lecturer. Dan is one of the UK's most experienced radio writers and producers. ...