Filtering Posts by Category: Radio Month

The Nuts & Bolts Of What You Need To Know About Radio. All It Takes Is An Open Mind, Some Specific Know-How, And Patience.

Alrighty, it’s time to get down to business. HOW TO EXECUTE A RADIO CAMPAIGN.

Step 1: Make The Right Buy

Written by Rich Harshaw

I’m writing an entire article on this topic next week, focusing in on how to choose stations and how to negotiate with reps. But one quick comment as you contemplate implementing radio in your contractor-marketing efforts: start with just one station. I recommended in an earlier post that you immediately allocate 10% of your budget to FARMING, and in particular, broadcast media, and in particular, radio. For most companies, 10% is going to buy MAYBE one or two stations and no more.

Here’s a rule of thumb: one good, fat buy on one station is better than two skinny buys on two stations. Remember, you’re trying to have an ongoing conversation with your prospects—frequency and consistency are the key. And you have to commit for the long haul. You can’t jump in and out of radio—it won’t work. You have to let your prospects hear your message, get comfortable with you as a solution… then wait for them to have the problem you solve. Don’t expect that everyone’s going to suddenly want to replace their windows just because you’re now advertising. IT TAKES TIME!!!

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If You’re Trying To Figure Out Where To Spend Your Contractor Marketing, Here’s A Quick, Concise & Objective Comparison To Help You Decide.

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!

Written by Rich Harshaw

On Wednesday I built a pretty strong case of why radio is a great place to start your advertising FARMING campaign; if you’ haven’t read that, please do so now before continuing today.

Today I’m going to compare radio against other advertising media to help you see the relative pros and cons of each. This comparison isn’t meant to be exhaustive—it’s meant to be a good overview.

After that, at the end of this posting, I’ll answers a few radio FAQs, then you’ll be on your way.

Featherweight: Radio vs. Magazines

I can think of a million reasons to stay out of magazines, and only a couple to opt in. Here we go:

Targeting Ability: If you’re a contractor, there are not really any magazines I can think of that you should be in. The whole point of a magazine is to create extremely niched content for enthusiasts of various kinds: car magazines, running magazines, decorating magazines, etc. By definition, most of these are national in their scope. The few local magazines that exist usually are pretty flimsy editorially, and there are far more effective ways to reach that same target market. Verdict: ★

Cost: It’s all over the map—but generally pretty expensive. Possibly worth it if you’re New Balance and you want to reach runners. Probably not worth it if you’re ABC Contractor trying to reach people who want to replace their windows. Verdict: ★
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Most Contractors Have “Tried & Failed” On Radio Before… But I’d Like To Convince You To Try Again—This Time, The RIGHT WAY.

“But we’ve tried radio in the past… and it didn’t work!!!”

If I had the proverbial NICKEL for every contractor that’s told me that, I’d have thousands of nickels.

Usually, the bad radio experience goes something like this:

• Contractor contacts station and negotiates “great rates” on “popular” station.
• Contractor “writes awesome ads” and has them “professionally” produced.
• Ads run for a period of 2 weeks to 2 months and almost no calls come in.
• Contractor gets frustrated, proclaims “radio doesn’t work,” and spends marketing dollars elsewhere.
• Contractor gets hostile when I even bring up the topic of radio.

Which is approximately like this following:

• Guy goes and buys expensive golf clubs that are said to work great, even for novices.
• Guy chooses a beautiful golf course that’s reasonably priced near his home.
• Guy plays golf once a week for 2 weeks to 2 months and never breaks 130.
• Guy gets frustrated, proclaims “golf doesn’t work” and spends his time doing other things.
• Guy gets hostile when I even bring up the topic of golf.

Look—radio isn’t broke… just like golf isn’t broke.
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“If I ever see Christine Cook in person, I’d like to punch her in the face.”

Every man has a breaking point, and I’d just reached mine. It occurred on a recent Saturday evening just after 7 pm at the Outback Steakhouse in Grapevine, Texas. I was enjoying my usual Outback Special, medium well, and chatting with my wife when a television somewhere in the distance echoed the noxious sound.

♪ Sleep Experts. ♪

Sleep Experts—as in, that stupid commercial that’s on every TV station and every radio station every five seconds. As in “I’m Christine Cook, President of Sleep Experts.” As in, the mattress store chain that seems to have a perpetual sale, and that will always give you a “free box.” As in “I’m Christine Cook, and I’m going to invade your earspace every waking moment until you finally give in and buy a freaking mattress from me.” THAT Sleep Experts.

♪ Sleep Experts. ♪
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