By Craig A. Huey

Over the last 10 years, consumer and business marketers have realized that direct response radio advertising can help bring them cost-effective leads and orders.

This success can be directly attributed to the proliferation of cellular phones. People who hear radio commercials while they are driving respond quickly to the commercial, instead of waiting until they have reached their destination and have access to a traditional phone.

Another important reason for direct response radio commercials’ success is the segmented nature of radio stations. Each station conforms to a given format: talk radio, news or music. What’s more, radio stations playing music are broken down into music genre categories (i.e., country, classical, rock) and some of those genres are broken down even further, into separate subgenres that each have their own station and audience. For example, the genre of “rock music” can be broken down into “Top 40 music,” “classic rock,” “oldies,” etc.

Advertisers must take into account not only the demographic groups of a particular station, but the way the audience of a given station listens. Radio stations broadcasting talk shows and news have “foreground” programming (i.e., the audience listens closely to the station to hear what is being said). Some stations that broadcast music are “background” (i.e., the listener is usually doing other activities while the music is being broadcast). It’s been found, unsurprisingly, that ads run on “foreground” stations get better response.

It’s also been found that the commercials that come first in a sequence of radio commercials tend to pull the best response, mainly because listeners (especially those driving while listening) will switch stations soon after the commercials begin. A commercial that comes at the end of a sequence is four times less likely to be heard than one that comes at the beginning of a sequence.                   

Other stations are being very innovative, creating listener databases for multiple promotions. One station that caters to direct response has an “ad line”—24 hours a day, any listener may call if he did not hear the toll-free number or details of the commercial.

Radio can be a very productive medium for direct response marketing. Keep in mind the following tips:

Radio reaches a different audience than many other media. And it can be used not only as a stand-alone campaign, but also as a supplement to a direct mail campaign. Try radio. It’s low cost and can be tested without high risk.

For more information, contact Craig Huey at Creative Direct Marketing Group, 21171 S. Western Ave. Suite 260, Torrance, CA 90501. Call 1-310-212-5727, fax 1-310-212-5773 or email inquire@cdmginc.com.