I have two questions I'm hoping to get some feedback on.
1. How often do you recommend an ad be change or updated
2. What would you say to an advertiser who wants to track how well an ad is doing for them by "mentioned you heard us on such and such radio for an additional % off your purchase"! Is there a better way to go about it?
Like Rhonda said...
I have some that have not changed significantly since we began 9 months ago and others that are changed depending on the time of day.
In the second example, I have a new store opening at 10am next Thursday, so the ads on Monday and Tuesday say, "Thursday"; Wednesday's ads say, "Tomorrow". On Thursday the morning ads say, "this morning at 10" and then after 10am they will say "now open".
Thank you for your feedback Scott.
Thank you for your feedback Rhonda.
When a client (especially a new one) wants to put an additional % off for mentioning the station, I tell them it's our policy not to include the verbage. Two main reasons, 1. What if everyone or even half of your ads had that verbage in? It would be a big turn-off for your listeners. 2. What % off would make a listener mention your station...10%...20%...50%...75%? To one listener 10% might be a good deal or another not so.
Thanks Bill.
Scott, you bring up one of my pet peeves, and that's running an ad for ANY event that's date-specific, that fails to keep current as the day arrives: "this Saturday..." "tomorrow...." "today...." Congratulations on getting it right!
Seriously, this is such a small additional step for salespeople/copywriters/producers to take. Yes, it involves extra time and work. But doing so affects how the message is perceived by the listener; and it conveys to the advertiser that the station and its reps care enough to pay attention to small (but important) details and to do things right.
There is no justification for doing otherwise.
A compelling offer is much better than a request for assurance that the ad is being heard. Often these "tell us you heard it on ____" tag lines come across as a sign of insecurity on the part of the advertiser: "Please, please tell us you heard our ad."
Ugh.
On any given day, your station is airing some ads that are getting good results for their advertisers, as well as others that are not. Same listeners are exposed to both ads. What's the difference? The message. The offer. Some are compelling, others are forgettable. That "free $50 bill" is a cute way to illustrate this, but it may come across as flippant -- which hopefully is not your intent.
In a shopping mall are many stores. Theoretically they all have a crack at the same traffic, shoppers walking up and down the mall. But the reality is, some stores will get a lot of traffic and others not so much. Is that the Mall's fault? Hardly. Your station is no different. The listeners are there. Focus on helping your advertiser create an irresistible offer, a compelling reason for your listeners to visit his store. Discourage him from trying to gauge the effectiveness of the station by tacking a wimpy request for listener feedback to the end of a weak spot.
Hi Rod,
When the advertiser suggest using "mention this or that" on their ads I always discourage it. Instead I help them focus on the ad and making that a call to action. I do believe that their intention in wanting to use that is to see if the ads work. Well, we all know radio works, we just have to make sure its used correctly. Their message has to be compelling enough to cut thru all the clutter. I also tell them there are better ways to use precious seconds of air time. It typically works.
I wanted to get feedback because I've been hearing this often and I wondered if I was addressing it correctly.
