SHAMRADIO

RADIO IS DEAD! LONG LIVE RADIO!

Or is it? Yeah, it’s fun and certainly more interesting to be dramatic and call an entire medium dead, but truth is, it’s not. It’s just different. Audiences are smaller than they used to be, but also less fragmented. The average person spends 58% of listening time with their preferred station. Their three favorite stations combine for 86%.

And does it matter if overall audience sizes are smaller than they used to be? Who cares how big they used to be? What matters is, how many listeners, how often, how affordable, and how effective a radio commercial can be right now.

And guess what, all the best marketers still lean heavily on radio. Insurance companies like GEICO and Progressive. Fast food marketers like KFC and Dunkin. HBO, Verizon, Snickers, Honda, Amazon (yes, Amazon!) all spend heavily on radio. Why? Because they’re not smart? Or because they have sophisticated analytics that support the idea that radio is a great investment? Put your money on that last one.

You won’t need sophisticated analytics. If it’s done right, you’ll notice the results pretty much right away. And if they’re not there. Change something quickly or just stop.

So, how do you do it right?

Step one. Have a great script/idea. Or hire someone with a track record of great ideas and scripts (hint: a good place to look is that about section up at the top of the page.) And I do mean great ideas and scripts by the way. Good can work. But a great idea, which doesn’t cost more to make or run, can yield exponentially better results.

Step two. Produce the great script/idea. And produce it really, really well. Or hire someone who can help you.

Step three. Plan and buy the media. Actually this should be done in lockstep with step one. Because a great radio idea often has a media component to it. Always write your media plan in pencil not pen, and don’t buy anything until you have settled on the idea. Or, you know, hire someone who can do that for you.

Step four. Make adjustments. If you’ve created a great spot that’s making the cash register sing, of course you have the option of just riding it. But ask the right questions. Should I create new spots? Buy more media? Enter new markets? Buy less media? Am I over-investing?

Below are a few of my favorite radio spots I’ve produced (often with the help of some very talented people). No surprise that these favorite spots also got incredible results.