Smart Ways to Promote on Radio and Television

Home > Promote > Marketing > Articles

by Kevin Nunley

How to Buy Radio Commercials

Radio is an excellent buy for many small businesses. It can be very affordable. Radio also allows you to advertise to a very specific audience.

Radio stations format their programming for certain age groups and life styles. Whether you want to reach blue-collar men between the ages of 25 and 35, or white -collar women over 50; there is a radio station for you.
To buy radio commercials, call the sales department of a station that fits your main customers.

Ask about rates for advertising at different times of day. Also ask about package deals, where you get a price break for buying a number of spots over time.

Call several other stations. Compare the answers you get. It also doesn't hurt to talk to an advertising agency or two, but don't feel like you need an agency to buy your own radio spots.

Radio Ad Secret

Radio is one of the small business person's best advertising friends. As big media goes, radio is inexpensive. It can also carefully target very specific kinds of listeners.

Rather than spending your marketing budget on a lot of people who aren't interested in buying from you, radio can hone in on just the kinds of prospects that are most likely to fatten your bottom line. Now here's a radio secret that very few advertisers know about.

Radio stations have a system for determining which commercials get played first during spot breaks. Some stations play the commercials with jingles and music first and save the voice-only spots for last. Others do it the other way around. Most play 60 second commercials first, saving the 30s for last.

It's important for your commercial to be one of the first played. Research shows that after the second or third commercial in a row, most radio listeners tune away. When you buy radio commercials, ask the DJs how their spots are "stacked." Find out how yours need to sound to get played
first.

Your Own TV Commercials

Who says only big business can have TV commercials? That may have been more or less true in the past, but things are changing.

Cable TV systems are dramatically increasing the number of channels they offer. New low-power TV stations are popping up everywhere. Soon, thanks to new digital technology, regular broadcast stations will be able to split their single channel into several.

All these new channels need advertising to survive. Many are offering very affordable rates easily in reach for small business people.

Every town is different, and TV ad rates vary greatly from one station to another and one season to the next. Start by placing a call to the sales departments of cable, broadcast, and low-power TV stations. Keep in mind the kinds of audiences you'll be reaching.