10 Copywriting Tips for Online Radio “You have to advertise on internet radio!” “Internet radio is a gold mine for leads!” You may have heard these statements from your ad agency, your internal marketing guru, your elective surgery patients or your millennial-aged loved ones. Guess what: they are all right. Internet (online radio) is one of the hottest advertising tickets around. A study by Edison Research in 2015 showed that over 50% of Americans (age 12 and up) listened to internet radio every month. This percentage has doubled since 2010, and there is no slowdown in sight. Music-on-the-Go These people aren’t just listening on their computers; they are also listening in their cars, on their smart phones and on tablets. This means they are connected to their favorite music with limited interruptions at home and on-the-go. This also means you can reach a captive, highly targeted and segmented audience almost any time through internet radio ads. 75% of internet radio listeners want to hear ads about things that interest them. They would rather have access to free online radio and listen to the occasional targeted ad as opposed to paying for a subscription. 10 Tips for Writing Internet Radio Ads So what’s the best way to get internet radio listeners to really hear your message? It all comes down to content. You have to speak their language and write content to break through the clutter (grab their attention). Here are some tips to try (you may have to experiment a bit to find just the right angle for your elective surgery practice): Wake them up: the listeners might be in a music-induced daze. Your message needs to grab their attention…make them want to hear more. Paint a picture: everyone loves a story…if it’s interesting. Draw listeners into your message by humanizing your product or service through storytelling. Just don’t be hokey. Create the action: use words that are visual and active. A statement like “achieve clear vision” is way less interesting than “gaze into your girlfriend’s eyes without lenses.” Proceed with caution: if you decide to work humor into your ad, just remember that sometimes the jokes fall flat. And sometimes people become easily offended by humor. Try out your spot idea on several different people outside your practice first to see how they react. Of course, steer clear of religion or politics unless you really want to cause a stir! Run screaming from platitudes: no one cares if you’re the “best in the business” or that you’ll “treat them like family.” Those are clichés (platitudes) that only eat up valuable word counts. Speak to benefits: rather than get caught up in the me-me-me angle (telling people how great you are), tell the listener how your service or product will make their lives amazing…why they would be crazy not to call you right away. Match the message: if you are promoting LASIK vision correction, deliver your message to a millennial audience and talk about specific value LASIK would add to their lives. Compel action: always include the next step for people to take with your practice. If you give them some compelling reason to move forward, they will. Freebies usually do the trick, but it doesn’t have to be tangible – it can be a free self-evaluation, a free consultation, etc. Make it easy: if you want listeners to take the next step (like completing an online self-evaluation), make it super easy for them to know how to get there. Make use of the corresponding banner ad for your message (click to call) and include your web address. Unless you have a really easy vanity phone number to remember, people listening will probably focus in on your web address better than a number. Say it quickly: be concise with your wording so you can get all of the important details in your message. For a 30-second spot, keep the maximum word count at 80 words total. This means you don’t have time to list out all of the features of your product or service. You need to be more general and pique interest through benefits in which people can relate. In the end, internet radio isn’t that much different from regular radio in that people still love to listen to music. However, you have a much better chance at targeting your message to the audience you want to reach and the listeners are more likely to tune into your short music interruption as opposed to changing the channel. Make your interruption count: write content that makes the ad just as enjoyable as the music. If you need help writing compelling internet radio content, contact Fast Track Marketing. We have proven success with our ads for medical marketing and can help your elective surgery practice succeed as well. Our experts can also help you with your internet radio media buy.