Turn on and tune in to the radio revolution

Radio can be a great medium for marketing. A sustained campaign can build awareness and develop your brand. A short, punchy campaign can bring in the leads. More and more people are tuning in now, thanks to terrible TV and advances in digital radio. Nearly six million people in the UK listen to the radio through their TV sets alone. In total, commercial radio has a reach of over 30 million people - that's a lot to hear your message. But many companies get it wrong, and cannot understand why sales flop.

Sequence is the key to a successful radio campaign. A promotion won't be half as effective as it could be unless you've first built awareness of your company and brand. Trying to build awareness, establish brand values and promote a particular offer in the same advert will confuse your audience and waste your money. You've only got an average of 30 seconds to get your message across.

If you are new to radio, establishing who you are and what you do is the most important part of your campaign. Make sure you build your brand before you start to think of making offer-related adverts.

Radio advertisements must be frequent enough to achieve critical mass. It can take up to 5 repetitions before an individual listener even registers your name. And repeated exposure is needed to turn awareness into action.

Advertising on your local radio station is particularly useful if most of your customers live in or around your area. Radio stations can provide detailed demographic information on their audience. Asking your current customers what stations they listen to can also help. The majority of radio listeners stick to one or two stations that suit their taste.

The following points can help refine your campaign:

• Choose the right time slots - most people listen to the radio at the same time every day.
• Make sure your message is short and easily grasped - many people may tune out well before your 30 seconds are up.
• Humour can be effective, but what can be funny the first couple of times can weary and irritate potential customers by the tenth repetition. Help from an advertising agency can be effective but costly.
• Make sure your script grabs Attention, stimulates Interest, builds Desire and demands Action - the AIDA principle. Test it first with people in your target market.

When you hear people talking about your advert you'll know it's beginning to work.

Radio advertising should not stand alone - it should be one element of your marketing campaign. Make sure you reinforce your message with other marketing communications if you want it to work.

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