Commercials 101: How to Create a Radio Commercial

Did you know 83% of Americans listen to the radio on a regular basis?

As a business owner, if you aren’t leveraging radio marketing to widen your reach and grow your business, you could miss out on many potential customers. 

One thing that holds many businesses back from embracing radio ads is feeling overwhelmed about understanding how to make one that works. So keep reading to learn how to create a commercial for the radio that stands out in no time!

Determine Your Target Audience

Creating a radio ad is a bit different from creating digital ads or other types you might be familiar with.

Because radio ads are often localized, you might need to hone in on your target audience compared to other ads you run. Take the time to determine who you’re trying to reach and why.

If you’re trying to direct people to a local storefront, your message will be completely different from simply telling people about your website or online store.

Keep Things Short and Sweet

Your radio ad length will likely be around 30 seconds or less. So focusing on keeping your message as short as possible while still providing the listener with valuable information is the key to a successful ad.

Be sure to focus on the benefits your product or service will bring the listener. Avoid spending too much time introducing your business. People can easily do a quick online search to find more basic information if the ad grabs their attention.

If your business lends itself well to something sarcastic or funny, throwing something in there like that can make the ad more memorable. 

Remember that people are most likely driving their cars when they hear your ad. So if you want them to remember to look your business up later, they need to be able to recall the information with ease.

Having a short message to repeat your business name, location, website, etc., more than once can help too.

Have a Strong Call to Action

As mentioned above, your commercial needs to encourage listeners to take action. Some great commercial CTAs include:

• Command words
• Words to evoke emotion
• Free consultations
• Fear of missing out (sales, new product releases, etc.)

Your ad should have a purpose beyond simply introducing the public to your business. 

Don’t Be Unnatural

The biggest thing you should remember when considering how to create a radio ad is being natural is crucial. 

If a radio ad is too in your face, people get turned away from your business. Mentioning the products you sell or services you offer once is enough for them to understand what your business is about.

Repeating it too often can make people tune it out or change the station. So instead, try working your message in as naturally as possible, so people don’t feel like they’re being sold something and instead feel like they’re discovering something they need instead.

Stay True to Your Brand Voice

The radio advertising industry is projected to have a $19.58 billion market size this year. That’s a massive bump from previous years.

It can be easy to assume no matter what your ad sounds like, just having one alone is all it takes. But, in reality, focusing on your brand voice is essential if you plan on using radio ads regularly to promote your business.

Knowing what your business stands for and what it doesn’t is a crucial first step before writing any commercials. You don’t want to give people the wrong idea, especially if you have multiple different ads running.

Your brand doesn’t change when the commercials do, so staying consistent matters. Here are a few more tips about maintaining your brand voice throughout your commercials.

Record Quality Audio

If you’ve ever listened to a recording with poor quality audio, you know how frustrating it can be. Usually, it’s so distracting you have no idea what the message actually is because all you can focus on is how bad it sounds.

If your commercial audio quality is poor, assume your results will be poor too.

Using quality recording equipment and choosing the right person to record the ad is necessary. Eventually, your ads might be defined by the speaker you choose, so choosing wisely at the start is essential.

Choose the Right Station

You can create a compelling ad with a fantastic call to action and beautiful recording quality and see zero results if you choose the wrong station to play your ad.

If your target audience is middle-aged people with disposable incomes, running an ad on a popular teen music radio station doesn’t make sense. 

You should understand which stations your audience is most likely to listen to and target them. 

Click here to learn the ten most important tips for creating compelling ads so you can get started on the right foot and wow people with your ads from the getgo.

How to Create a Commercial: Well Crafted Radio Ads Bring Stellar Results

If you wondered how to create a commercial to catch people’s attention on the radio, this article laid everything out.

If you follow the tips mentioned here, no matter what your business is, you should be able to craft a unique commercial to catch people’s attention. 

If you’re ready to hop into radio advertising as soon as possible, contact us today to learn about our radio ad production services, so your audio quality enhances your commercial instead of taking away from it!