Radio Direct Response: Direct Response Radio Advertising Agency | Blog Zone

Our agency often works with successful DR marketers making their first foray into radio. To ease the transition, we point out the similarities in the DR radio process to those that make a direct mail campaign profitable.

In direct mail, everything begins with the creative and the offer. Usually, you test multiple versions of the mailer. Then, you forever tinker with the headline, body copy, offer, font, colors and envelope size to beat the results of the control piece.

The same holds true in radio. There are dos and don’ts for how to properly structure a radio commercial. And a thousand different ways to creatively deliver the message. And tweak the offer. And test against your “control.”

Next, comes the media. With direct mail, choosing the “right” list can make all the difference between success and failure. Knowing which of the 10 available “Kentucky Republicans” mailing lists will deliver the best ROI can help you to turn a profit and take steps to replicate your success.

Likewise in radio. There are “good” radio stations and there are “bad” ones. The “good” stations and networks are those that historically deliver results for DR advertisers. The “bad” ones often look great on paper, but fail to deliver qualified leads and sales.

A strong DR radio agency can help you past the perplexing guesswork, so that you’re using proven media, enabling you to focus on testing only your message and your offer.

Like direct mail or any medium new to your marketing mix, it’s rare that you’ll hit a home run with the first swing of the bat. Just as you’ll test different headlines and fonts and offers in direct mail, making DR radio work requires the same patience and diligent foresight in planning.

Those who under fund their radio campaign – or pull the plug prematurely – often spend the rest of the year hearing their competition up and down the dial and scratching their heads wondering what the heck they did wrong.

More often than not, the turning point in a successful DR radio campaign comes before the first ad ever airs.

Those who commit to the medium, temper their expectations and manage the test to learn from each phase will make the right “game day decisions” to boost results and achieve profitability. Then, they’ll reach that glorious day when they can virtually throw money at the medium, having mastered the formula to get back their investment with interest.

Just like direct mail.

Mark Lipsky, President & CEO
Radio Direct Response

This entry was posted on Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 10:49 am and is filed under Mark Lipsky. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.