RADIO ADVERTISING
Contractor 20/20 is a strong proponent of Radio Advertising and Marketing, Mike Morosi is the Expert and will get you Results
Note: this was originally a post I made to the ServiceRoundTable.com.
I have been managing radio advertising for 27 years.
The keys to success in radio advertising are - 4 fold.
1) Proper Targeting - who hears the spots. Both surveys of your own customers and reports from Arbitron will help you identify the radio station that best will reach your target customer.
2) Proper Frequency - how often they hear the spot. For the service side of your company to keep the customers you already have, the customer needs to hear your commercial 2 times a month. Most radio stations maintain a schedule of 20 spots a month. Anytime Monday through Friday between the hours of 6 am to 7 pm will do. To get new customers you need to have your commercial heard 4 times a month; most stations running 40 spots a month will do that. To take customers away from the competition you need to have your spot heard 6 to 8 times a month, running 60 to 80 spots a month. These numbers work for advertising that is need driven, such as a break down. For impulse needs such as kitchen and bath replacement, multiply the number of spots needed by 2.5 to 3 times as many.
3) Effective Copy. The script of a good radio commercial has three parts:
- A statement that satisfies the emotional reasoning behind the consumer purchase (You Deserve a Cadillac).
- A statement that gives a rational reason to buy a product (Cadillac's have great airbags).
A call to action that gives a reason to buy now (Right now, I make no payments and have no interest for 6 months).
- Successful spots can also use customer testimonial and announcer endorsements.
4) Overall Cost. There must be enough listeners of a particular radio station in your service area to support the cost of advertising. In advertising, there is a concept called "cost per percentage point" (CPP) of audience reached. You determine it by dividing the cost of the spot by the size of the listenership per spot. You then have to compare that number to the population numbers to check that the CPP is justified. I know I just lost most of you, but the same way I can't size an HVAC unit without proper training, I don't expect you to understand the science of advertising either!
In conclusion, if you take the right steps you can expect success 80% of the time. A good radio spot should produce sales in it's first week on air.
I am proud to be associated with the largest and most respected contractor groups in the nation as a PHCC/QSC (Quality Service Contractors Industry Partner) and as a Service Roundtable Consult Partner.
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A Final personal note.. The marketing industry has a long dark history of disreputable operators. If you have been in business for a time, no doubt you have your own story to tell. That is why I urge you to check our referrals see for yourself how our counsel has been a blessing to contractors from Coast to Coast. If you do, you will learn how faithful to our clients' interests we are, so different from too many clients' past experiences.
