10 Ways to Screw Up Your Radio Advertising

Radio advertising is an effective way to reach a local audience, and with exceptional targeting. However, like any advertising method, radio advertising is prone to mistakes that can hurt the effectiveness of a campaign. If you want a successful marketing campaign, you will need to take measures to avoid these common radio advertising mistakes. Here is a closer look at what you shouldn’t do in your advertising efforts.

1. Fail to Define Campaign Goals

For your campaign to be effective, you must set goals that will guide the campaign. The goals will determine the message and tone of your ad, and also give you key metrics to use to measure its success. Be sure to choose goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-restricted (SMART goals) so you can clearly measure whether or not the ad is successful.

2. Skip Audience Research

In order to effectively reach your target audience, you must know who they are. A clear understanding of your target customer allows you to craft ads that will resonate with them and reach them where they are. As a result, your audience will be pulled in and compelled to take a specific action, like purchasing your product or service.

3. Choose the Wrong Radio Station

While playing your ad on several stations increases its frequency and potential reach, you must also make sure it only plays on stations that the people you’re trying to reach are listening to. Once you understand your target audience, you can choose stations wisely, maximizing your advertising budget. Keep in mind that many radio stations have detailed information about their listener demographic that you can use to match up to your target audience and make a good choice.

4. Overlook the Various Ad Opportunities

Many marketers focus primarily on paid advertising spots, or radio commercials, which are very beneficial. But this is just one way to reach the local market using radio. You also want to leverage endorsements with popular radio personalities; consider podcast sponsorships as an option (with a focus on local podcasts); and even consider traffic sponsorships, which are particularly valuable in a high traffic community like Chicago. All of these give you another way to build trust with the audience and engage radio listeners, many of whom will tune out traditional ads but will listen closely when a favorite radio personality speaks.

5. Run Ads Inconsistently

One of the most powerful factors of radio advertising is frequency, and you need to find the right balance to be effective. Remember the Rule of 7, which says an individual needs to hear a message seven times for it to stick. In radio, around 6 to 20 exposures is necessary, so you will need frequent mentions on the station(s) you choose.

6. Don’t Set a Campaign Budget

It’s easy to spend a fortune on radio advertising. But you need to be wise when setting your budget to ensure you are getting a good return on investment (ROI) for your advertising efforts. Your campaign budget should account for the ad creative, the right frequency, the timeslot, and any other elements that are necessary to make your ad successful. Failing to set a budget can lead to overspending, which will hurt your ROI.

7. Run Radio Campaigns Separately from Other Marketing Tactics

Radio advertising works best when it’s combined with other marketing tactics, like social media and digital advertising, to create a cohesive marketing plan. Using radio and digital advertising together, for example, can boost your advertising results and offer great ROI.

Radio can even be used with television advertising to boost your branding efforts. In fact, those who heard an ad on the radio are 35% more aware of the corresponding TV ad than those who see only the TV ad. Overall, combining radio with other venues will increase your advertising ROI and your overall branding success.

8. Forget to Add a Call-to-Action

When people hear your radio ad, do they know what they need to do next? Review your goals to determine the action you want your listeners to take. Then clearly and persuasively ask them to do it with a concise yet strong call-to-action (CTA). Include one method of contact – like a social media handle, phone number, email or web address, or brick-and-mortar address – that’s memorable, so your listeners can take action based on your ad.

9. Fail to Test or Measure Your Ad Campaigns

You have goals, a budget, and a plan, but how do you know if you’re attaining those goals? Only through testing and measuring your campaign can you determine if it is effective. If you have SMART goals, they should be measurable, so make sure you monitor and measure your results so you can tweak your ad for ultimate effectiveness.

10. Doing It Yourself (DIY)

Finally, one of the biggest radio advertising mistakes is trying to do it yourself. You need a partner who has the tools and the knowledge of radio to help you plan, implement, and test a successful campaign. Hubbard Chicago knows what works, and what doesn’t, in radio advertising, and they are ready to be your trusted advertising partner as you seek to enjoy the benefits of radio advertisement for your business.

Radio advertising, when done effectively, can expand your reach and make your marketing messages more memorable. The key to success is avoiding these all-too-common radio advertising mistakes. To reach millions of engaged radio listeners in the Chicago market, connect with a radio advertising partner like Hubbard Chicago that will help you succeed.