DR Radio Advertising: What Works?

By Jeff Small and Brett Astor

What works in direct response radio? It's one of the questions we hear most frequently. It's also one that's a challenge to answer.

The good news is the reason it's such a difficult question stems from the fact that the list of what works in direct response radio is so long--much longer than the list of what doesn't work. Products and services categories that have found success with direct response radio advertising include: financial services, intellectual property/informational products, nutritional supplements, beauty, fitness, seminars, hard goods and retail.

This also is a challenging question to answer because the query itself is a bit misleading. It carries two underlying--and false--assumptions. The first is that radio advertising itself is the center of the business success. The second is that there are hard and fast rules regarding what will or will not "work" in radio.

Addressing the first assumption, we must realize that the type of advertising employed is a tactic in support of achieving business goals, not a business model itself. Radio advertising, like any advertising medium, can most powerfully impact one part of the business: the customer acquisition. Direct response radio, TV and print--properly executed--can deliver a new customer at the lowest possible cost, or CPO. It's up to the rest of the business model to cultivate that new customer into one that has as great a lifetime value as possible.

The second assumption is dispelled when we recognize that employing set rules simply can't accurately assess the potential of direct response radio. For example, the biggest misconception about radio advertising goes something like this: If a product has to be demonstrated before anyone will be interested, it won't work on radio. Yet, this has been disproved again and again. Let's take the classic direct response category of skincare.

There was a time in the DR world when everyone thought that skincare products could only be successfully advertised with DRTV or print because potential customers just had to see the before-and-after images. But that assumption has now been shown to be completely incorrect, with skincare companies making hundreds of millions of dollars from direct response radio advertising.

These skincare marketers have proven that when radio creative is done expertly, it is possible to capture attention and create a vivid impression in people's minds, and convey information that entices the potential customer to take an action.

For those direct response marketers who just want to know if they have a chance of achieving profitable growth with DR radio, we offer this advice: 1)Make sure you have a unique product or service; 2) implement a plan to maximize the lifetime value of the customers you'll acquire; and 3) be sure to test. As we've demonstrated above, the list of what works in radio advertising isn't set in stone. You can't know for sure whether you'll be successful until you test.

Jeff Small is CEO and Brett Astor is vice president of Strategic Media Inc. They can be reached at (207) 871-9958.