Radio Ad How-To Guide Your biz is ready to take to the airwaves, but how do you actually make a radio ad? Here are the basics.

Editor's note: This article was excerpted from Advertising Without an AgencyfromEntrepreneur Press.

A well-produced radio spot can inspire the imagination likenothing else. Without a video aspect, the listener's mind isfree to wander--to conjure up splendid and impossible scenarios tohold their interest, make them laugh, and, most of all, to payattention! People listening to radio are usually doing somethingelse at the same time--driving, working in the home or at theoffice, or exercising--so they don't necessarily hear everyword in a commercial. It has to be good!

Obviously your production will need to be done at one of thestations you will be using. But once you have tried the productionat a few stations and you feel comfortable with the quality of oneparticular station, use that production facility for as much ofyour work as you can.

These are the costs involved:

• Production fees: If you are using the spot only on the stationthat produces it, you will most likely not be chargedanything.

• Dubs and talent fees: If you take that spot to another station,you will be charged for the talent (the person who does thevoiceover) and a nominal amount for any copies (dubs) of the spotfor the other stations.

One of the wonderful things about radio production is that youhave the option of having each station you use produce its ownversion of the same script. This saves you talent fees and the costof dubs. The message will be the same--but the delivery will end upbeing very different, unless you give instructions that willstandardize the spots.

Standardizing is very important, because you want people to knowthey are hearing a commercial for the same businesses when theyhear slightly altered versions on different stations.

To standardize the sound of the spots done on differentstations:

• Request a female or male voice on all spots.
• Request the same music.
• Spell out the kind of energy you want put into the voice("energetic read" or "laid-back, casualread").

This way, each audience will hear the same words and receive thesame message at little or no production cost to you. While it maybe more appealing to have the same exact commercial on allstations, new businesses do not always have funds to pay even forthe modest cost of radio production. And in that case it is smarterto put whatever money you have into the frequency of the scheduleand run a basic but informative ad. However, if you can manage thecost of having one commercial produced (including talent fee andthe cost of copies to give to other stations you are using),it's a plus to have the same commercial running on allstations.

Length of Spots

Generally, you will be running a 60-second spot. This gives youplenty of time to get your business name and location in at leastthree times. The name and location of your business should bementioned at least twice in a 30-second ad and three times in a60-second ad.

Since radio production is so inexpensive and often free, youdon't have to be worried about changing your ad often. You cantherefore be very specific with each script and make the ad genericor dedicate it to a special sale or promotional event. If you arehaving a sale, give price and item (jargon for "mentionspecific products and prices"), a percentage off, or aspecific brand being sold at a discounted price.

You will find there is little or no room in 30 seconds for cutecomments, sound effects, or even for a two-voice script. Save thoseextras for your 60-second scripts.

If you have lots of information to cover, create either one60-second script or two 30-second commercials, splitting theinformation between the two and rotating both ads throughout yourschedule. When rotating two or more commercials, be sure that theopening, the voice, the music, and the general feeling of the adsare the same, so your audience will hear all of the information inboth ads without being distracted by differences between the two.Remember that there's nothing to keep you from rotating two ormore 60-second spots in the same schedule as well.

Add some 15-second spots to your schedule to build frequency ata lower per-spot cost. Your account executive can help you cull themost important information out of your 60-second or 30-second spotto create this shorter version.

Ready-to-Go Ads

It may not be necessary for you to create ads from scratch.There may be other possibilities.

Franchise operators will often have access to canned radiocommercials through their advertising support system. A singlephone call can put a professionally produced commercial in yourhands within a day or two. Usually there will be an eight- to10-second blank space at the end of these commercials for"tagging" with your local address and phone number.

If you're in retail sales, you may find that distributors ofbrand name merchandise also have professionally produced radiocommercials ready to go and often co-op advertising assistance isavailable in the form of not only commercials but also money.

Whether you have a commercial created from scratch or you'rejust tagging a co-op spot, always ask to hear the final productbefore it airs. The station(s) will be happy to play it for youover the phone or provide a cassette. Feel free to ask that thevoice be more upbeat or that the music be changed to suit you.Listen to it again after the changes have been made. Give yourradio rep as much lead time as possible to avoid a last minute rushon changes.

Once your commercial has been produced, ask your rep to give youthe master reel or CD if you think you might use the spot again inthe future. Radio stations will store the master copies, but on arare occasion one can be misplaced. If your ad has the potential tobe used again, keep it where you can find it in a hurry. Label thebox with the date and title and put a copy of the typed script withit.