Radio advertisement is far from being a new concept; in fact, radio advertising has been around for a very long time. Yet, often times business owners and organizations overlook the very real marketing potential that radio advertising offers. Radio advertisements reach individuals when they are in their homes, in their cars, while they are on the Internet, and can even reach them in a public setting. For example, while people are waiting in the doctor’s office for an appointment in Los Angeles, or even while they shop, radio advertisements are often played in the background. Such a time is an excellent time for Los Angeles business owners and organizations to get their message heard by the public.

Radio advertisements are based on the idea of creating an audio-only environment and placing the listener inside of it. A typical radio spot features a professional voice-over artist reading descriptive copy over an appropriate bed of background music. Important information may be repeated several times over the course of the spot, such as contact phone numbers, addresses, website URLs, or a geographical reference. As one spot of radio advertising ends, another spot begins and the process continues until the program resumes.

We learned here that a good commercial is not necessarily one you’ll remember. It’s the one that makes you spend.

Below are some other positive reasons to use radio:

·        Affordable -- when you compare spot to spot, radio tends to be one of the least expensive media out there. However, one spot ain't going to do it. To reach your target market, you need to purchase several spots. That's why radio can also turn into one of the more expensive media. However, there are ways to keep your costs in line yet still reap the benefits of radio -- for instance, buying less spots but running them all in one or two weeks, so your customers are more likely to hear your message.

·        Psychological, if you voice the commercials yourself -- hearing your voice makes people feel like they "know" you. (Hence the popularity of audio on Web sites. In fact, marketing gurus claim just by adding audio to a site substantially increases how many people buy.)

·        People tend to buy from people and businesses they know and trust. Hearing your voice helps them feel as if they know you. These psychological aspects may be another reason to consider running a few radio ads in your local market even if you have an Internet business.

·        Speed -- you can get your spot up and running in no time.

·        Loyalty -- listeners choose stations based on the music or shows they like and they tend to be quite loyal to that station. If you know what your customers enjoy listening to, it's an excellent way to reach them. (I include both music and talk shows in this.)

·        Good support medium -- radio works really well when paired with other marketing mediums (like print, direct mail or television).

·        But for every positive, there's a negative. In the spirit of being objective, here are a few for radio:

·        Background medium -- radio tends to be on in the background, which means it tends to be ignored. Generally, your target market needs to be exposed to your ad more times than other marketing media before they'll act upon your message.

·        Little staying power -- the lack of visuals again keeps radio from "sticking" with people. At least, that's what some of the marketing gurus say. But, here again my marketing consultant friend differs. She thinks it's that subconscious thing again.

·        And if you can write a spot that creates pictures in your customers' heads, you can actually work this to your advantage. In fact, according to my friend, if the picture is defined enough, not only will people remember it better, but they'll also think it was a print ad instead of a radio ad. (More on the art of creating pictures using words in later issues.)

·        Hard to track – it's impossible to know exactly how many people are tuning in at any given time.

If you are investing in radio advertising with a view to driving more traffic to your website, it is essential that your website doesn’t let you down. Having succeeded in motivating high numbers of visitors to your website, you want your visitors to be immediately captivated by the design, you want it to be easy to use and it needs to be visually appealing so that it stands out from the bland image projected by your competitors.

It is also imperative that it performs in the search engines, so that people surfing the Internet, find it and as a result of your radio advertising, instantly recognize who you are and choose to visit your site as a result.