Last week I mentioned 7 sins of radio commercials and I mentioned what I often recommend.

Let’s dig deeper.

Advertisements are simply invitations that you pay for.

These invitations can be designed to create awareness of your business, product, or service.

Or these invitations can be designed to invite people to take a specific action.

But no matter what the purpose is, remember that the purpose is to create a positive marketing message that is memorable to the target that you want to reach.

While I was pushing conversational ads last week as one of my favorite ways to effectively do this, there is another strength of radio advertising that is unique, but very difficult.

The conversational approach that I mentioned relies on the Word Of Mouth/Referral concept.  Listening to the radio is usually an individual experience.  When Pat Miller, my afternoon talk show host on WOWO Radio tells you about his experience with (Insert Advertiser), you hear it as a friend telling you about a trusted business that you too can trust.

We do referral and word of mouth all the time with friends and family.  Radio is word of mouth with a bigger mouth.

But what’s that other strength of radio advertising that is unique, but very difficult?  Theater Of The Mind.

When done correctly and effectively, Theater Of The Mind radio is more powerful than any print ad, TV ad, or internet related ad.

Theater Of The Mind uses words that form pictures in the listeners mind that brings the ad alive.  We actually can see the story visually in our minds.  It ties into our logical, mental and emotional being and by reaching us on multiple levels, we have a stronger bond with the ad and hopefully the advertiser.

Also this “visual” that each listener creates in their own mind is unique to them.  You don’t need to create an ad with different visuals for different audiences because the listener is creating the visual as it relates to them.

Like I said, this is very difficult.  When I was working full time in Detroit creating radio marketing campaigns, this was only used for a small percentage of my clients.  It takes work, it takes patience and it requires commitment.  Not everyone can do this and not everyone should.  But it is an option to consider.

Speaking of considering, do you want to consider radio advertising in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area?  Contact me at Scott@WOWO.com or 260-255-4357.   I work with a very limited number of clients but am always open to consider you or make recommendations for other ways to invite people to become your customers.