Market Like a Greyhound
It takes an elite greyhound three steps to reach its top speed of 45 mph.
Take a moment to fully appreciate this marvel of nature. One step – two steps – three steps and WHOOSH - you’re sprinting at 45 miles per hour. Keep this amazing statistic in mind the next time you write or read the next script for your radio commercial.
We’ve all seen and heard radio commercials that stretch and labor 20 seconds or more before mentioning the advertiser’s name or what it is that they’re marketing. They get so lost in establishing a clever premise or trying to create a Broadway play they forget that the typical radio listener isn’t sitting and staring at their radio with rapt attention and focus. Listeners are simply going about the business of their day with radio as a complementary companion in sound. And so those commercials that try too hard to be clever will typically fail the litmus test of profitability.
So what can we learn from the elite greyhound?
- Grab the listener’s attention in the opening 3-5 seconds rather than risk them failing to catch every nuance of a lush soundscape that will fail to generate appreciable results or response.
- Establish the itch that your product or service will scratch. Give the listener every opportunity to think, “Ouch. Yeah, that’s me. I have that problem. Now wait a minute – THIS thing will solve my problem?”
- Raise a question. Use a testimonial. Shock with an astounding statistic.
Listen closely to the radio commercials on your favorite stations over the next few days. Notice which ones command your attention early, present a compelling case for their solutions to your problems and then deliver a clear and urgent call to action. Chances are these are the same commercials you hear day after day, week after week. Why? Because they work.
Get to your destination, lightning fast, like a greyhound.
Mark Lipsky, President & CEO