Advantages
Radio messages are mobile. They can be heard at work, on the beach, in the shower, in the dentist's chair or even while shopping in your store.
Radio is an intrusive medium. A listener does not have to be actively involved in getting your message to hear it.
Radio allows for target selection based on:
- Geography - listeners will be in a concentrated area defined by the station's signal,
- Time of day - the audience will change between morning drive, midday and overnight programming.
- Format - different audiences can be reached by choosing different formats such as talk radio, alternative rock, blues rock, classical, or easy listening
Depending on availability, it's often possible to get an ad on a station on short notice. This allows advertisers to react to sudden developments, such as selling fans when there is a heat wave or responding to a competitor's special offer.
Your message can run with as much frequency as you choose (or the station's format allows). For example, you could run an ad once a day for a year or twice an hour for a day.
Radio is mostly local in its appeal. You can tie your message into local events, weather, or locations to heighten the relevance of your message to the listener.
Your radio ad has a voice. It can be friendly, serious, sad, childish, macho, humorous - whatever suits your message. Above all, the voice can be conversational, a quality that makes it very easy to listen to and understand.
Radio time is relatively cost-efficient to purchase.
Radio ad production is fairly simple. Send a finished spot, a script or a fact sheet to the station and they will take it from there. Many will create the spot you want to run on their station for free.
Disadvantages
Radio has no visuals. Don't use it to talk about a product that a listener may not already understand. Some ads use "the theater of the mind" very effectively to create pictures in a listener's head (like when you hear a pop can open and someone drink). Be careful, though. This type of ad should be done well and may call for a professional writer - an extra expense that is well worth it in the long run.
Some radio audiences may be fragmented. For example, if there are four stations in the market that appeal to women 25-49 years old, then an advertiser may have to buy all four to effectively reach that group. This can be cost prohibitive.
Air clutter is a problem. Your ad may be first, second, sixth or tenth in a commercial break. This can detract from the attention level.
There is no hard copy. Your ad airs and then it's gone. If a listener missed an important piece of information, like a phone number, there is no way to know when it will be on again.
Station-produced ads use station talent. It's free and that's good, but you run the risk of the ad sounding very similar to other ads produced by the station and also to the DJ's regular on-air conversation. This sameness can detract from the listener's attention level.
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