Page 198 - Duct Tape Marketing

182 Part III: Creating and Placing Ads

Wanna be a star?

Think long and hard about serving as your own build a story around you, thereby making your
ad talent. Even if you’re your firm’s best advo- appearance part of your message and not just
cate, you aren’t necessarily its best spokes- a substitute for paid talent? Do you want to be
person. Do you have the best voice and the spokesperson? If you’re considering selling
appearance to serve as your own on-air talent? your business in the future, will your presence
Can you commit the time? Can your advertising in your advertising help or hinder that effort?

ߜ Attend the editing session. Editing is where dollars burn quickly.
Make and approve decisions on the spot to avoid the need for a repeat
session.

Review your ad outside of the studio with its perfect sound system and lack
of interruptions. Sit in your car, preferably in traffic, or in your living room
while kids race through after school. Turn your ad on while others are
around to see whether they stop to tune in. Turn it on halfway through to see
if it still presents a coherent message. Then review it a dozen more times to
see whether it can hold your interest without driving you to distraction.

Producing Radio Ads

In 30 or 60 seconds, a good radio ad grabs attention, involves a listener,
sounds believable, creates a mental picture, spins a story, calls for action,
and manages to keep the product on center stage and the customer in the
spotlight — all without sounding pushy, screamy, obnoxious, or boring.

Done perfectly, a radio ad is a one-on-one conversation with a single target
prospect, written and produced so well that the prospect hears the introduc-
tion and says, in essence, “Ssshhh, be quiet, you guys, I need to hear this. It’s
talking to me.”

Writing to be heard

Great writers tell you to write out loud when you create radio ads. Here’s how:

ߜ Use straightforward language that is written exactly how people talk.
ߜ Write to the pace people talk, not to the pace at which they read.
ߜ Include pauses. People need time to think, and the announcer needs

time to breathe.