How To Get Free Radio Advertising - Part 2

Welcome to part two of 'How To Get Free Radio Advertising'. In part
one we investigate how to get in touch with the radio station manager
and how to bring up the subject of getting free on-air radio
advertising.Doing it this way makes saying 'yes' or 'no' very easy for
the manager, because his only decisions are whether he trusts you and
whether he can schedule you in or not. If the manager agrees to give
your proposal his deliberation, put all your material in a package
with a covering letter reiterating what you said on the phone, a photo
of or a free copy of your product and your advertising text.Send it
off or deliver it immediately. Include a stamped, self addressed
envelope, if you want a written reply or your material returned.If
your application is rejected, send him a 'thank you, maybe next time'
note and move on to the next name. If you are rejected often, perhaps
you ought to sweeten your offer a bit by increasing their percentage
of the cut or increasing the price of the product. You will have to do
some research there too, if you do not get it right first time.Doing
business like this is traditionally done using the phone and the
postal service, because radio managers are more often than not pushed
for time. However, it would be feasible to do all this over the
Internet, except sending samples, naturally, if the manager is
comfortable using the Internet.It always amazes me how many people
there are out there in business who do not use the Internet very often
because they do not understand much about it.You could suggest using
the Internet for sending your material over but do not be forceful
about it, because the manager may be too embarrassed to declare that
he cannot use the Internet. It could also be faxed over, but faxes
frequently come out looking tatty and that may spoil your chances. If
in doubt, just post it.If you get a green light to your proposal, be
ready to react quickly, so always have your material bundled up and
ready to go. Never give them time to forget who you are or 'go off the
boil'.You will have to have written your commercials first, but how
long should they be? This is a tricky one, so ask the manager in your
initial discussion, whether they have an advertising policy or
predilection for the length of slots.It could be thirty seconds a slot
or sixty seconds (a double slot). As soon as you know, you can write
your ads: two different adverts for each length of slot.If you want to
be completely pre-prepared, you could compose two fifteen second, two
thirty second and two sixty second ads before you even ring anyone.
And do not forget to read them back aloud several times to check them
for length. Try procuring a couple of friends to read them back to you
as well.The radio station will need you to sign a contract and you
should have a simple contract drawn up too showing your payment
policy, returns policy, dispatch policy, et cetera, et cetera.In
summary, your P.I. Advertising Package should contain the following:
1. a cover letter 2. a sample or product literature 3. two thirty
second and two sixty second adverts 4. your P.I. advertising contract
5. a stamped, self-addressed envelope.In conclusion, I want to suggest
a couple of tips. When you are composing your adverts, try to
incorporate a catchphrase of some kind so that you can use it in your
off-air advertising to remind people that your product has been
advertised on-air. Spend a lot of thought composing your commercial:
radio station managers are busy, professional people and they cannot
afford to waste valuable air time on failures.If your item sells and
makes money for them, you will be welcome back, otherwise you will be
ignored. Put a few adverts in the paper and fliers through the doors
to pre-warm people to your up-and-coming radio advertising campaign.