I’m not one for analogies usually.  But…I find a lot of similarities between cooking and making a radio commercial.  (I dabble in the kitchen a bit and I’m sure there’s an alt universe version of me that can put Gordon Ramsay to shame, or at least Chef Boyardee.  But I digress.)

So, how are they similar?  Both require recipes, both require ingredients and both are only as good (or as bad) as the quality of those ingredients.  Grab a cookbook and randomly pick a recipe.  Run through the list of ingredients and suddenly that “simple” chicken dish ain’t so simple.  So how complicated could it be to write a radio commercial?   Believe it or not, there really are only four elements to a successful radio commercial.

So, how are they similar?  Both require recipes, both require ingredients and both are only as good (or as bad) as the quality of those ingredients.  Grab a cookbook and randomly pick a recipe.  Run through the list of ingredients and suddenly that “simple” chicken dish ain’t so simple.  So how complicated could it be to write a radio commercial?   Believe it or not, there really are only four elements to a successful radio commercial.

1)      The Grabber. Conventional wisdom is you have :10 to grab the listeners attention at the start of a commercial.  What are some examples of a Grabber? A series of thought provoking questions.  Some ear-catching sound effects.  Some witty dialogue between characters.  Whatever you use, if you haven’t grabbed a listener’s attention by the :10 mark, you’ve lost them. They’ve stopped paying attention and the odds are against you getting them back and paying attention to this commercial.

2)      The Body.  This is where you say who you are and what you do.  Here’s where you present your product/service.  And KEEP IT SIMPLE.  That’s the most important element to know.  You’re relying on a listener to remember all the information they’re hearing.  The only visual cues they’ll have are the ones you’re painting in their mind’s eye.  Keep the words simple.  Keep the concepts simple.  Don’t get bogged down in the 57^th best benefit /feature.   Tell the listener who you are, what you do and how you’re going to rock their world and solve all their problems.

3)      The Offer.  Who doesn’t love somethin’ for nothin’?  It can be the tipping point for someone to give your product/service a try.  Free shipping.  BOGO (buy one get one free).  Call now and get 35% off your entire order.  Sign up now for a 30 day risk free trial.  Whatever the offer is, it could push an on-the-fence listener into being a listener who becomes a customer.

4)      The Call-to-Action.  What is it you want the listener to do?  Again, KEEP IT SIMPLE and REPEAT.  REPEAT.  REPEAT.  For direct response, is the listener going to a web site? Calling a phone number?  Being directed to a store?  Telling them once is not enough.  Telling them twice isn’t enough.  They need to be told three times (at a bare minimum) what to do.  And even then, they’ll need to hear the commercial at least four times before they actually hear the commercial.

So that’s it.  That’s all there is to writing a successful radio commercial. Simple, right?  So get crackin’.  And when you realize there are 15 steps missing in the above, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you out.

Ian Cohen is Production Director at The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the RSS link above. Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com