by Dr. Kevin Nunley
Index
of Articles
Anyone who has ever put
down hard-earned dollars for commercials can tell you
the difference between a good commercial and a bad one.
Good commercials work. A few plays on the air and prospects
are flooding through the doors and ringing the phone.
A bad commercial does
just the opposite. It sits there. No response. No results.
Only a painful invoice to pay 30 days later.
Whether you are advertising
on television or radio (or even newspapers), a few simple
guidelines can save you from the no-results commercial
trap.
Make your offer attractive.
All the advertising in the world won't attract buyers
to a product or service that they don't need, is of poor
quality, or is over priced. On the other hand, even a
little advertising will bring surprising response for
an offer that prospects immediately understand to be a
very good value.
Put your commercials
only on the stations and programs your prospects use.
There's no point in wasting your message on people who
wouldn't be interested in your product or service. Make
your media choices match the audience you are trying to
reach.
Make sure you commercial
copy is well written. This last point could be the most
important. A really well-written commercial will work
just about anywhere. Surprisingly, copy writing is the
one factor that is most often left to chance.
When George the tax accountant
buys his radio commercials for the spring tax rush, he
leaves the commercial copy up to the station's sales rep.
Sure, George supplies the rep with a list of points he
wants included, but it's the sales guy who actually puts
his points to paper for the announcer to read. Some broadcast
sales people are good writers. More than a few can't form
a complete sentence. After all, they're sales people,
not copywriters.
Insist on working closely
with your ad sales rep. Write your own copy, get a ghost
writer to help you, or stand over the shoulder of the
sales rep while she writes it. Use these safeguards to
insure effective copy.
1. Keep sentences
short! That's the way people talk in real life. Long,
extended sentences make your copy too complicated. Long
sentences also force the announcer to rush so he doesn't
run out of breath. Listen to the commercials on your favorite
radio station. You'll be surprised at how often announcers
have to break for breath in unnatural places due to over-extended
sentences.
2. Don't cram too
much information into your commercial. It's better
to put in less copy so the announcer can read slower and
more clearly. Rather than throwing lots of details at
the listener or viewer, focus on a few key points you
want them to remember.
Read your copy OUT LOUD,
as the announcer will, to see if it will fit into the
thirty or sixty seconds allotted for your commercial.
Very often commercial copy will be way too long and the
announcer will indiscriminately leave out sentences to
make it fit.
3. Finally, keep your
copy client-centered. Tell the viewer or listener
how your product or service will make their lives better,
easier, or sexier. Don't depend on the listener to figure
out for himself how the "gizmo 2000" will make him happier.
EXPLAIN HOW it will make him happier. Then take some time
to say more on just how happy he will feel. Concentrating
on the listener's life and emotions gets most people's
attention better than anything else. Radio and TV work
particularly well for this kind of advertising.
Most commercials either
work or don't work due to one of the few points I've mentioned.
As a business person, knowing these and watching out for
your interests in the commercial making process will help
insure your commercials are a big success.
