Radio Ads
- Thread starter Birdman300
- Start date
- 3,863
If anyone needs a great contact in Radio, my friend sells a lot of unused spaces from the big boys and his spot pricing is REALLY good. I have multiple campaigns running right now in multiple states. Radio takes some time and patience, and you really need to work with the right people to get it right.
I've never done radio myself, but this is what I've heard from everyone who has had success with it. You can't always expect results right away, and have to have the patience to wait for people to consistently hear your name/brand and eventually results will happen if you execute it properly. Frankly, it costs a lot more money to see success with it than most people are willing to spend. I know some very big producers who get most of their business from the radio.
I think the radio ad would be good in one way and that is to do an "urgent message" to seniors about "getting ripped off and paying 15, 20, sometimes 30 or 40 dollars more per month for their life insurance", "if you recently took out a whole life insurance policy and want to find out if you are one of the ones that overpaid, call us at 1888-888-8888", "again don't get taken advantage of, call 1-888-888-8888", "get justice now"!
The message should be an immediate driver. One message got no calls; we changed the ad and the first time it ran my phone rang.
The problem is, there aren't that many seniors listening to the radio, but you are paying the rates for all the other people who are listening. That's why life insurance does well (broad demographic) but "final expense" or Medicare does not.
Where are the seniors? At home watching TV. Leave CNN or Fox News on during the day, lots of ads for Met Life FE, AARP, Humana etc.
The problem is, there aren't that many seniors listening to the radio, but you are paying the rates for all the other people who are listening. That's why life insurance does well (broad demographic) but "final expense" or Medicare does not.
Where are the seniors? At home watching TV. Leave CNN or Fox News on during the day, lots of ads for Met Life FE, AARP, Humana etc.
I did a 4 week radio show for financial planning where I had people who called in, and all itdid was cost me money. I've done marketing for final expense, and even mailers are not a huge return. You're better off buying a list and contacting them individually. People will not call you because you can save them money. They will buy on emotion when it comes to FE. They buy onnlgic when it comes to car insurance. You are better off going to their house to try to book an appt, and then you get to sit and create a reationship with them and you will do alot more business based on trust.
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- 3,863
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How is physicians mutual junk?
- 1,227
I headed up a co-op with a group of agents for 90 days on KLIF in Dallas, TX (Health Care Reform). We broke even, however, elected not to proceed. We felt fortunate to break even. There were 6 of us.
- 29,485
I have some years of experience selling radio (newspaper, direct mail and other media as well) and here's the scoop. First of all; you are correct about the talk radio station you mentioned but ask for the numbers. The rep can print out the arbitron ratings for you. This will be an unbiased and factual account of listeners on each of the radio company's stations. In fact; get a rep from the other radio station in town and have him or her do the same. There is more listener "traffic" during certain times of the day and you will pay more during those times. There are other factors involved in a successful radio campaign and he can share that with you. If the rep seems like he doesn't know a whole lot - tell him you want to have a chance to sit with the sales manager for the next visit. My advice to my mother would be - don't buy the cheap spots. There are cheap spots that run during the times of the day when there is not much 'traffic'. Keep your money. Also; don't run a few ads. It's not a line when a salesperson tells you it takes at least 3 times for a listener to hear your ad before they respond. Don't waste your money unless you have a good spot (ad). Ask the rep to come up with ideas for a campaign and write the spots for you -unless you are a creative genius yourself. Creative people sell advertising so give them a shot - it's usually free. When I sold radio it was also a free service to actually have the ad voiced-over (recording actually created - with music and everything. Don't waste seconds on your spot with your phone number. Every single person wants their phone number in their ad and as a rep you just say "YES" so you can close the deal BUT ITS STUPID NOBODY WRITES IT DOWN OR REMEMBERS. Say your name 3 times instead. If you can ever afford a 'jingle' have it made! It's called Music Imagery - It works! In fact it can be cut to different sizes..for example 4 seconds whenever they do the weather in the morning. Catchy!
BTW It's better to do a ton of 4 second spots during rush hour -even if its just you saying your name and website ..oh and DON'T SAY "WWW" before website name) than a couple of longer ads tossed here and there. Alas; the combination is better. Again; it's a waste of money seriously if you are not doing it right. Do this: Same listener, same station hearing your ad over and over and over. That's the ONLY way -even if you only run it for 3 mo. Don't spread it out. Remember your market (demographic) when choosing the music playing in back round, the words you use, pacing etc. Also; someone else talking about you is way more effective than You talking about You. Testimonials. People you have helped will LOVE to hear themselves on the radio. They'll do it for free (but give em a Starbucks card anyhoo).
Nice paragraph ! I wonder how many will try to read that...I know I sure didn't.
