Marketing Toolkit

Radio Ads

Radio advertising can be an effective promotional tool, especially in smaller markets with their own local stations (as opposed to small markets which receive radio signals from stations in bigger cities nearby). 

Radio advertising is usually affordable, and budgets can be somewhat flexible. Approach your radio ad representative with your budget in mind and see what they have to offer. 

Shorter ads of 10 to 15 seconds that are run on a frequent schedule are successful at building awareness. Shorter ads that sponsor a scheduled news segment, such as weather, sports, or news, are highly effective for this. Longer ads (usually 30 seconds) can help you share important information in a little more detail. 

The radio station will almost always produce your ad for free and will often write it for you. If you do write your ad yourself, the format you provide the text in is less important than getting the messaging right. Keep these ideas in mind:

• Write things out: Write your ads as the announcer will read them. Spell out numbers (“two dollars” instead of “$2”) and complete URLs (“Bluegrass Ride dot org” instead of “Bluegrassride.org”)
• Repetition wins: Repeat the name of your service and contact info such as URL (first choice) or a phone number (if it’s an easy number to remember). 
• Benefits matter: Focus on the benefit for the listener. How does your service make their life better? Shorter ads should be benefits-focused while longer ads can include more information.
• Send listeners to learn more info: Use your ads to send listeners to your webpage or another source of up-to-date information.
  

Samples

:15 ad sample

:30 ad sample

:00-:11 [INFO] El Dorado Transit now provides fast service from Placerville to Sacramento, five days a week, for only five dollars each way. 

:12-:20 [INFO] Board in downtown Placerville every hour beginning at six in the morning. The last trip returns from Sacramento at eight PM.

:20-:24 [BENEFIT] Ride in climate-controlled comfort without fighting traffic. Enjoy the passing scenery or work on the free wifi. 

:25-:30 [LEARN MORE] Find out more at El Dorado Transit dot org, that’s El Dorado Transit dot org

Public Service Announcements (PSAs)

Public service announcements are promotions radio and TV stations are required to run in service to the community. PSAs are best for important, time-limited announcements or new information.

Competition for the airtime to run PSAs can be stiff but it’s worth providing short scripts to the station with the hope they’ll include it. Formatting your PSA will make it a little more likely the station will run it. Submit PSA scripts to the public affairs director (unless you have a closer contact) in the format below. Fifteen-second spots are the recommended length.