How effective is radio advertising?

[Nick Chapman]

I just got quoted a super deal through a local major station. And what I would consider a mojor slot(during a popular morning show).

How effective is radio advertising? Is it worth the investment?

Nick

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

Sure would be an interesting test to run some radio commercials and see what kind of response you get. We've never run any commercials but we listen to radio a lot and we do listen to the ads. We can't remember ever purchasing anything we heard about in a radio ad but mostly because we don't need the product or service whatever it is.

If you try this, your wording is going to be the most important factor as to whether or not your ads are successful. You're going to want a hook, most of the popular radio ads that people remember have a jingle that they anchor in people's minds. It appears that the more successful ads are also long term investments, as in you'll probably have to run the ads for some time before they saturate the audience enough to have an effect.

Also, whether for a radio ad or any kind of advertising, remember people think like this,

"What's in it for me"

So make sure you copy, or your words can answer that question.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

Good points Mike.

To tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous about it. But it's a small initial investment, and not too bad on the price to keep the ad going. I'm just not sure how effective it would be. Like you, I have never bought anything from a radio ad.


Nick

[Nappers]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

FWIW,

When my wife had her espresso business, we had a radio ad. We paid I think $150.00 a month. We had slots in the early A.M. for those commuters on the way to work and trucking down the highway. I also made appearences at the radio station to give away stuff to the 3rd caller, trivia question or whatever (my wife didn't want to do it). It was fun to go on the radio (I was told I had quite the radio voice). It's a country station. We had several people, truckers and locals come to us because of the radio ad. I met the AM D.J. and we became friends kind of and I think he played our ad more than normal. I used to make coffee drinks for the whole office and bring day old turnovers for them to munch on on the give away days. We would give away free drinks and chocolate espresso beans etc.

What I guess I'm saying, it's a good write off, not too bad of an investment, not sure on your area how big it is, but our area, Siskiyou County we reached most of our county along I-5 and into So. Oregon into Ashland. Not sure if your station would let you, but once in a while you can go and give away a percent off, or something free or something like that (I went every Friday). It was fun, you would not believe how many people would call to get something free. It also gives a chance to talk about the business, kind of like a free ad for the day. We called it freeby friday at our local station. I was able to talk about where we were, what we sold, where we got our turnovers and our monthly special etc. If you could go, you could talk about your business, what you do, explain how your car looks with swirls, then when people got out of their cars they would peek at them........never know.

Depending on price, a lot of people listen to the radio. we are lucky and have 2 local FM stations and some faded out ones from Redding and Medford. LOL.

Aaron

[Nick Chapman]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

I live in a very busy city(Dallas, Tx), and specifically, I live in a very high end suburb(Grapevine, Southlake).

My goal in advertising is to reach out to people that either can't or won't clean their own vehicle. They would rather pay someone else to do it for them. What better way to reach them than radio? Think about it, when do you listen to your radio the most? In your vehicle. If they hear an ad for a mobile detailer, wouldn't that promote them to take a look at their vehicle when they hear your ad? Driving down the road, hear an ad for a mobile auto detailer, take a peek at their dirty interior as they're driving down the road. All they have to do is pick up the phone. This way, you would provoke them to use your business, rather than taking out a yellow page ad, and waiting for them to decide that they need a detailer.

I doubt I'd be willing to go on the radio myself(I'm kind of the shy type). But I would love to get some kind of major exposure, and promote my business.

[Mort Corey]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

Like Mike said, you're really going to have to come up with a hook.....something to make them remember a phone number or a name that they can look up on line or in a phone book later. Without the hook, likely thay'll just remember it's time to get the car washed.

I tried readio advertising for about a six month period and the results weren't pretty....just a lighter wallet. Perhaps a longer time exposure would have produced better results but I decided to cut my losses and explore other avenues. Good luck either way.

Mort

[Ryan L.]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

Its really hard to say...for me, I almost never listen to the radio. Unless my MP3 player is dead on battery, I'm listening to that. So for somebody to try and reach me through the radio is almost impossible. I'm sure that I am not the only one in this category, so maybe take a poll in your area as to how many people actually listen to the radio and if they do, see if they actually listen to the commercials.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

Besides reaching your audience, you need to get your MWR - Most Wanted Response and you need to know if your add is working and you would do this by tracking new leads against some kind of known standard.

Figure out what you want your MWR to be, would this be calling you on the phone? Or visiting a website for more information? Or both?

If it's a phone number or a website address, people need to be able to remember it so they can either call it or type it into a web browser.

Just some ideas...

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

I think it would be effective, with the right "Hook". By that I mean, I can't remember ever hearing a radio ad for mobile detailers. If the right hook was presented, it would be memorable. You would probable get the type of cliental your after. Because the business types are always multi-tasking and probably listening to the radio. Good luck , hope it works for you.

[Mort Corey]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

Just an additional thought about the "hook".....since toll free numbers are pretty cheap these days, perhaps a hook could be "call 866-car-wash" or something more clever along the lines of your business. With a separate phone line you'd also be able to better track the response.

Mort

[Lydia]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

I agree, it would take the right "hook". If I hear a funny commercial, I'm wayy more likely to listen to it and remember it than some commercial that only talks about how great the company/services/etc. is. JMO though.

[yalerd]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

It's kinda of hard, it could work.
Give it a try, see what happens.

[Nappers]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

You need a good ad guy to make the commercial for you to make it catchy.

"You pay a lot of money for your car, you want to keep that new car finish huh? But, don't have the time or know how?"

"Well then so and so detailing is your ticket to a show car finish."

"They offer a 5 step cleaning process that removes all contaminants from your paint and remove those pesky scratches and blemeshes from your paint to keep that show car shine."

"Call 555-1234 and mention this add."

"First step is to wash your car gently with soap designed for you cars' paint."

"We then clean your paint to remove embedded particles from your paint, giving your paint a smooth texture to work with."

"We then polish your paint to a finish with a reflection that is breathless!"

"To finish, we put 2 layers of wax on your car to protect it from the elements."

"Call so and so detailing at 555-1234 and mention this add."

"So and so detailing, making your world brighter, one car at a time."

"Visit us at blah blah blah @ such and such.com

Just talking outloud..........

Have fun...

Aaron

[agp56]

Re: How effective is radio advertising?

I personally used a mobile service once based off their radio ad on a sports talk station. This was before I got bitten by the detailing bug. They had a website set up with cars & I checked a couple of references. I inherited a low mileage car that had not had much exterior or engine room care in its whole life. They did a good job - but not as good as I now know how do thanks in part to THIS FORUM.