How to write a killer radio spot

Are you taking advantage of the medium—or making your targets tune you out?
 
Perennial predictions to the contrary, radio is not dead. The airwaves are alive and well; in fact, thanks to the Internet, traditional broadcast stations have increased, not decreased, their reach.
 
Sometimes radio is the perfect medium for your message. And we’re big fans of it. Consider some of its numerous advantages: It’s relatively inexpensive. It’s all-engrossing: unlike a print or banner ad that must compete with others on the same page for attention, your radio spot owns the airwaves for the entire duration it runs. You can get some decent audience tailoring by choosing your format. You can go hard sell, soft sell, whatever you like, and really get your brand’s personality across.
 
And here’s our favorite facet of radio: Production-wise, it’s the great equalizer. Your only tools are voices, music, and sound effects—the exact same tools as competitors who may have millions of dollars more than you. Makes no difference. Indeed, you can produce a radio spot that’s better than those created by big-budget ad agencies. No one listening will know.
 
Here, then, are some best-practice tips for making a great radio spot:
 
Consider your audience. This is always Step One. What problem of theirs are you trying to solve with your product, service, or solution? What’s their typical personality?
 
Consider the listening venue. This is a cool tip we’ve never suggested in any other article—because it simply wouldn’t have applied. But your radio listener has a certain taste in music. You’ll be buying airtime on a station that’s formatted for pop, rock, country, or whatever. So key in to what the listener likes, so they tune in to your spot rather than tune out.
 
Another consideration: Where are they doing this listening? Would they be in the car for the a.m. or p.m. rush hour? At the office during the day? Or out running sales calls? The better you can envision the setting, the better you can tap into that person’s psyche.
 
Consider the tone. Who do you want to be? Fun? Funny? Serious? Dramatic? We’re all all-too familiar with hard-sell automotive retail spots: “Hurry! Sale ends Sunday five p.m.!” Sometimes you really need to push people hard. Most times, however, you don’t. You want to build a layer of awareness and motivation.
 
What’s the call to action? Do you want them to call? Visit your website? Or just get to know your brand better? These will affect what you script and produce.
 
Consider the mandatories. Do you have an address you need to get your listeners to? And does that address have a landmark? (“Just off Exit 42!”) Are you required to have a disclaimer (“Equal housing lender, registered FDIC”)? Do you already have a jingle with, perhaps, a sing-in, and a sing-out? A tagline? Write down each one of these and time them. Then subtract that total from the total running time of your spot (e.g., 60 seconds). You’ll quickly see that you don’t have a lot of time for probably a lot to say.
 
What’s your production budget? Sure, we noted above that radio is inexpensive to produce, but that doesn’t make it free. How many voices, male and female, can you afford? Can you afford pricier union talent? Can you use canned/library music or can you afford to produce an original jingle? Take this into account before you start scripting; you don’t want to write something you can’t afford to produce.
 
Script it! Notice how the “writing” step always comes toward the end of these best-practice checklists? If you do your prep well, this stage will go faster and smoother. And it should be more fun.
 
Start big. Brainstorm. Write down lots of ideas for situations, characters, puns, jokes, plays off of current news items or pop culture memes. Jot down snippets of dialogue. Go for volume: write lots of ideas. Don’t pre-judge. Don’t worry about length or timing. Don’t worry about formatting. Just be creative here. And you can think “big budget,” too: While your TV budget may not be able to afford, say, a castle set and a screaming mob, that’s easy to do on radio, with just a reverb and some sound effects.
 
Hone. After you’ve done the above steps, you’ll end up with a script that’s probably way longer than you need. That’s fine. Save it, copy it, and create a new version to cut down. Time the results. Repeat this process as many times as necessary. Keep the older versions, because you never know when you might cut too much and will want to restore an older passage.
 
Test. It almost goes without saying (so we’ll say it here) that you need to read your script aloud. See if any phrases look great on paper but are actually tongue-twisting trip-ups.
 
Format. Once you’re happy with your script, you can format it. There are plenty of formats to choose, but it’s basically like a play: the characters (and/or announcer) and their lines, the cues for music and sound effects (often in ALL CAPS), and so on. (And help your production company get inspired. Instead of writing, say, “A WOMAN IN HER CAR,” give them details such as “WE OPEN WITH A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN FIGHTING CITY TRAFFIC TO GET TO A MEETING—STRESS, HONKING HORNS, CHIRPING BRAKES, LABORED BREATHING…”). It’s also often helpful to have line-numbering enabled in your word processor; this will save time in production. (You can tell the announcer, for example, “Let me direct your attention to Line 22.”)
 
Consider more than one version. Your audience may span more than one radio-station format. And different formats often dictate different versions (indeed, the standards-and-practices department of an easy-listening station may well reject a hard-sell spot that’s fine for Top 40). You can also create what’s known as a “donut spot,” because it has a “hole” in the middle. This is a portion with no announcing, and just background music/sound effects. The hole would get filled by station talent (the on-air D.J., for example), based on a very short script you would supply with the spot. This also works well for end tags that have location-specific addresses, phone numbers, or offer expiration dates.
 
Consider getting help. Radio is a special animal. It can be tricky. And not everyone is comfortable scripting in the “theatre of the mind.” Since you may not get much practice at it, it could prove harder, or more time-consuming, than it should or could be. You can save time, and rededicate yourself to core activities, by enlisting professional help. The results will be the best you can get, and the investment will pay strong dividends. Contact us and let’s get a quote in your hands. 

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